Whatcom County track and field athletes earned eight state titles in the season’s final weekend May 23–25, led by three individual championships from Bellingham High School.
Senior Sofia Calabretta won both the girls 100- and 200-meter dash titles, while junior Hunter Deschenes won the boys 110-meter hurdles event at the 2A/3A/4A state championships at Mount Tahoma High School in Tacoma.
Calabretta clocked a time of 12.15 seconds in the 100-meter event and a time of 25.72 seconds in the 200-meter — edging Cedarcrest’s Laine McKenzie by six-tenths of a second for her second title. Deschenes ran the 110-meter hurdles in 15.21 seconds for his victory.
Gallery: 2024 Class 2A state track and field championships
Lynden sophomore Sloan Dickson won the girls 800-meter run title, finishing with a time of 2:15.40. The Lions’ girls team, fueled by four other top-three finishes, took third with 56 points as a group. East Valley (Spokane) won with 67 points. Sehome was fourth (54) and Bellingham was fifth (47).
Sehome’s 4X400 relay team of Keira Reeves, Amaia Reid, Madeleine Hill and Jayda Darroch took first with a time of 4:00.34. Lynden’s team of Sloan Dickson, Faith VanBrocklin, Olivia Holmes and Kiki York took second (4:01.05).
Two Whatcom County relay teams and one individual also won titles at the 1B/2B/1A state championships at Zaepfel Stadium in Yakima.
Nooksack Valley senior Cian Coppinger won the boys discus title by a whopping 16 feet, posting a top mark of 179-6. Coppinger also finished second in the shot put (50-11).
Lynden Christian’s girls 4X200 group of Josie Hendricks, Sadie Muljat, Etta DeJong and Estela Hernandez captured the top spot with their time of 1:46.35 — beating Freeman by four-tenths of a second.
Meridian’s boys 4X100 relay team Josh Elmer, Jase Klinkhammer, Caleb Young and Kasey Brennan won the event with their time of 43.44 seconds.
Here are some other highlights, by school.
Lynden Christian
LC senior Tabby DeJong, who won the girls shot put last season, finished second with a mark of 42-6.50. Sophomore Nickolas Luce also took second in the boys 3,200-meter run (9:34.07).
The Lyncs’ 4X400 relay team of Alina Veltkamp, Morgan Delgatto, Muljat and Hendricks took second with a time of 50.48 seconds.
Junior Ellie VanLoo took third in the girls discus with her mark of 119-0.
Sehome
Maxton Rush was the top Mariners’ top individual finisher, placing second in the boys long jump (22-1.25). Finishing third was Bella Connell in the girls 100-meter hurdles (16.19), Jayda Darroch in the girls 400-meter run (57.05) and the girls 4X200 relay team (1:45.06).
Squalicum
Tegan Daughters was the Storm’s top individual placer, taking third in the boys 200 (22.33), while the boys 4X400 was also third (3:26.26).
Bellingham
Sophia Koch was second in the girls 1600-meter run in a time of 4:57.84, while Genevieve Blum was second in the girls triple jump in a leap of 34-5.50.
Lynden
Jared McRory took a three-way tie for second in the boys pole vault (14-6.00). Faith VanBrocklin was second in the 300 hurdles (45.48), along with the girls 4X200 relay of Reta VanderMey, Ella Frerichs, VanBrocklin and Kiki York (1:44.02). The girls 4X100 relay also placed second in 50.19 seconds.
Meridian
Klinkhammer was second in both the boys 200 and 400, with times of 10.67 and 49.77, respectively. He was beaten in the 100 by Seattle Academy’s Reggie Witherspoon, who set the 1A meet record with a time of 10.49.
Logan Ignacio finished third in the girls two-mile with a time of 11:27.89.
Nooksack Valley
Cian Coppinger placed second in the boys shot put with a throw of 50-11.00.
Connor J. Benintendi is a former CDN sports reporter, send tips and information to newstips@cascadiadaily.com.
