Washington state high school reclassification

I had been hearing for awhile about how the WIAA wanted to reclassify the schools in each division.

They want 66 schools in 4A, 3A and 2A; 65 schools in 1A; and 62 schools in 2B and 1B. Currently, there are 78 in 4A, 68 in 3A, 55 in 2A, 63 in 1A, 66 in 2B and 59 in 1B.

Saw this over on the Tacoma News Tribune:

How Washington’s high schools will be classified for the 2010-11 school year is becoming more clear. WIAA executive director Mike Colbrese said Saturday that all 13 Metro League schools will compete in Class 3A. Eleven of the league’s schools will opt up to 3A.

That’s significant for a handful of South Sound schools and every school that’s near the cut-off for 3A and 2A. According to the preliminary enrollment numbers released by the WIAA on Nov. 30, current 3A schools Franklin Pierce, Sumner and Bonney Lake, plus 4A schools Decatur and Wilson stand a good chance of being reclassified into 2A. However, Franklin Pierce, Decatur and Wilson are among the 59 schools that have until Dec. 15 to decide if they want to compete in the classification their enrollment places them in, or opt up to a larger classification. Bonney Lake and Sumner have said they will compete where they are slotted, which looks like it will be 2A.

On Jan. 4, the WIAA will release the list of the new classifications, but schools will have one last opportunity to opt up. But if a school has already opted up, it can’t decide to go back down to the classification its enrollment originally placed it in.

The Bonney Lake and Sumner moves, along with possibly Franklin Pierce would be big news for the SPSL 3A that could lose three teams. My old high school White River is in that league. And it seems the division they are in changes all the time. When I was in school we bounced leagues all four years I was in school.

High School Sports Feature: 3A SPSL/WCC Sub District Track Meet

Yesterday was the first half of the 3A South Puget Sound League and Western Cascade Conference Sub District meet.

I wasn't able to make it out for it, but the match proved to have a number of high lights. Thanks to athletic.net for keeping us up-to-date on the results.

The finals in field events for boys were: Discus, pole vault and long jump.

Let's start with the pole vault. It was no surprise that Gabe Cadero-Smith of Yelm High School walked away with the gold in the event. He had lead among all the participants in the league all season. At the meet he jumped 13 feet 6 inches for the win.

White River's Austin Shirey, who I featured last week, finished in a three way tie for third at 12 feet even. The top seven performers in each event will move on to districts next weekend at Mount Tahoma High School.

In the long jump the victory went to Spencer Marr. Marr, of Clover Park High School, dominated the performance with a distance of 21 feet 2 1/4 inches. Second place was Quentin Sison from Timberline High School with a jump of 20 feet 7 3/4 inches.

Over at the discus Darrien Creamer won with a throw of 155 feet 11 inches. The junior from Peninsula High School has the fourth best throw in the state this year at 168 feet 5 inches. However, two of the throwers in front of him are also in 3A.

The only final from the running events was the 1600 meter. Marcus Dickson of White River won the event in 4:26. Dickson is only a freshman.

The rest of the events will be decided this afternoon.

On the girls side the following field events were final: high jump, long jump, javelin and shot put.

Over at the shot put pit Tiara Killmer of Bonney Lake won by almost three feet with her throw of 39 feet 11 inches. Second place was Christi Ometu of Auburn Mountainview with a throw of 37 feet 1/4 inch.

The javlin was won by Sasha Weber of Timberline. Weber let loose a throw of 114 feet 7 inches. Weber is also only a freshman.

Weber also took away the gold in the high jump. She won at 5 foot 6 inches which was 6 inches higher than second place.

In the long jump Stephanie Schreiner from Enumclaw High School won with a jump of 17 feet 1 3/4 inch. Second was Briana Welsh of Timberline at 16 feet 1 inch.

On the track Ashley Taylor of Yelm High School won the 3200 meters by 11 seconds with the time of 11:31. Second was Theresa Edwards of Bonney Lake in 11:42.

Today are the finals in the rest of the events and it will be decided who moves on to Districts.

High School Sports Feature: White River Track and Field

For today's JustSON High School Sports feature I headed out to Buckley, Washington to my old high school. White River High School.

Now when I was in high school I was good in the classroom but my main love was track (actually field) because you see, I was a pole vaulter.

For those of you who have never pole vaulted, I'm sorry. It is a thrill like no other but it takes a certain type of person who can compete at this sport. You have to be driven. Even after breaking my elbow pole vaulting my freshman year I was still drawn back to the sport. After a year of rehab, I made it back for my junior and senior years.

Well today, I was in for a treat as White River took on Enumclaw and Auburn Mountainview in a three team meet.

Naturally I spent the meet over at the pole vault pits. My former coach is still the pole vault coach there so it was great to see him.

But before I get to the battle that took place at the pits, I must congratulate the White River Hornets boys track team on their perfect season. They finished 8-0 on the year and hands down won the South Puget Sound 3A crown.

I found this amazing, back when I was in school (I graduated in '03) the team would win one track meet a year. And that was against Fife High School every year.

But this team had some amazing things happening they beat Enumclaw 82-62 and Auburn Mountainview 91-54. I cover more of the rest of the teams highlights in a bit. But first, back to pole vaulting.

There were 12 vaulters to start the meet (four from each school). And even as the bar rose to 10 feet, there were still 11 in the competition. At 12 feet there were just two. Austin Shirey of White River and Clifford Newman of Enumclaw.

At this point the rest of the track meet had ended and soon most of the participants in the meet were lining the runway of the pole vault pit to watch the battle for first. It was a great site to see.

Newman cleared 12'6" on his second attempt. (You get three attempts at each height). His coach had said that his previous personal record (PR) was 11'6".

Shirey missed his second attempt at 12'6" and was down to his last chance. His previous PR was 12'.

As he walked back down the runway for his third and final try at 12'6", the White River team was cheering for him and hollering their support. With that, Shirey stared down the runway, picked up his pole and cleared the height.

Newman went on to win the event at 13 feet, but Shirey earned himself a PR at the meet today. Also, keep in mind Shirey is only a sophomore.

Here are some of the photos I snapped at the meet today. Click on each photo to make them larger:

Austin Shirey clears 12 feet as storm clouds move into the area.


Clifford Newman runs to attempt 12 feet 6 inches as fans watch.


Aaron Toman races down the runway on his first attempt at 10 feet.

All in all it was a great day for pole vaulting. And while the pole vault was my highlight at the meet, there were a number of athletes that deserve recognition on both the boys and the girls side.

Another great battle took place on the track in the 300 meter hurdles. Abe Kellogg of Enumclaw won in 39.61 and Kramer Green of White River finished right on his heels in 39.78. It was a fight down to the final step. Kellogg got the extra edge on the final hurdle and it was just enough to hold off Green. Only 22 runners in all of Washington state have ran under 40 seconds in the 300 hurdles this year.

Green actually ranks with the 9th fastest time in the state with his time of 39.49 that he ran at the Shelton Invitational on May 2nd. It is also the 3rd fastest time in all of 3A.

First place finishers on the league champion Hornet boys included Collin Green in the 400m at 50.50. The 1600m relay tean won in 3:25.32. Blake Tidwell won the long jump with at jump of 19'10.5". Grant Peckham won the discus with a throw of 140'0". And Blake Halvorson won the high jump at 5'6".

On the girls side, White River beat Auburn Mountainview 74-47 but lost to Enumclaw 57-66. They finish at 5-3 on the season which should be good enough for third place in the league.

First place finishers for the girls were Lauryn Wate in the 1600m at 5:21.2 and in the 800m in 2:24.7. The 800m relay team won in 1:49.12 and the 1600m relay won in 4:15.79. Ashley Llapitan won the 3200m in 12:24. Hailey Menzel won the pole vault at 8'6".

Next up for the White River track teams is sub-districts. The teams head down the hill to Sunset Chevrolet Stadium in Sumner on May 14 and 16. After that is the district meet at Mount Tahoma High School in Tacoma on May 22-23. The state meet will be on May 29-30, also at Mount Tahoma.