Seven Whatcom County high schools met at Lynden High School for the Bedlington Twilight Invitational track and field meet on March 24, with five athletes posting new state-leading marks.
Lynden, Lynden Christian, Blaine, Ferndale, Meridian, Mount Baker and Nooksack Valley were all present at the meet in addition to fellow Northwest Conference teams Burlington-Edison, Oak Harbor and Sedro-Woolley. North Mason and La Conner also had a few athletes compete.
Lynden captured the boys title with its score of 139.5, edging Oak Harbor’s point total of 138. LC girls finished first as a team (124.5) while Lynden and Oak Harbor tied for second (123).
LC sophomore Avery Vanweerdhuizen’s new personal record time of 16.39 seconds in the girls 100-meter hurdles leads the state in Class 1A, according to Athletic.net, while senior teammate Andrew Luce posted top times in the boys 800-meter (1:57.07) and 1600-meter runs (4:27.46).
Luce finished second in both events last year at the state meet behind Klahowya’s Kelton Gagnon, who has since graduated. Vanweerdhuizen got faster with each meet last season, finishing third in the 100-meter hurdles at state but topping out at 16.54 seconds.
The door to a state title has swung wide open for both runners this season.
Lynden sophomore Faith VanBrocklin’s time of 49.30 seconds in the girls 300-meter hurdles placed her at the top of the 2A rankings but fell short of her personal record time of 47.94, which she ran at districts last season. VanBrocklin finished eighth in the event at state a year ago.
Meridian junior Jase Klinkhammer is also warming up to his previous personal best in the boys 200-meter dash, but the sprinter’s time of 22.94 seconds currently tops the 1A state rankings.
Klinkhammer finished second at the Bedlington Twilight behind Lynden senior Porter Wilhite, who clocked a new personal record time of 22.63 seconds. Wilhite currently sits second in the 2A rankings in the 200-meter dash and high jump.
Blaine sophomore Josiah Weeda posted a new personal record time of 44.56 seconds in the boys 300-meter hurdles and currently leads the state in the event at the 1A level.
Lynden junior Kuyper Assink’s mark of 141-4 in the boys discus notched him a first-place finish — nearly 16 feet ahead of the second-place mark — and placed him fifth in the 2A state rankings. Lions sophomore Kiki York finished first in the girls 200-meter dash, slotting her third in the state.
NV was led by first-place finishes from senior Kate Desilets in the girls 100-meter dash (13.15 seconds) and sophomore Kate Shintaffer in the long jump (15-9).
Ferndale seniors Adrian and Andrew Finsrud tied for first in the boys pole vault with their 12-0 marks.
Mount Baker didn’t have any top placements, but the Mountaineers have some promising throwers on the boys side.
Seniors Ethan Larson and Landon Smith finished second and third in the shot put with marks of 44-0.5 and 42-4.75, respectively. Junior Alex Maloley also finished second in the javelin with a mark of 142-1.
Other athletes to watch
Lynden senior Troy Petz, the defending 2A state long jump champion, remains in pursuit of his school’s all-time record of 23-4 after setting a new personal record of 22-11 on March 15. Petz finished first at the meet on March 24 but posted a 22-8, still more than two feet ahead of the second-place finisher.
Lynden’s 4X200 girls relay team of Maliah Mitchell, Ella Frerichs, York and VanBrocklin currently holds the top 2A time in the state at 1:47.34, which they set on March 18. The team did not run together on March 24.
Meridian junior Dane Beishline (16.18 seconds) and sophomore Tate Hanson (16.77 seconds) currently hold the top two boys 110-meter hurdle times in the state at the 1A level so far this season. The pair finished second and fourth, respectively, on March 24.
Full results from the Bedlington Twilight Invitational can be found here.
A previous version of this story did not state Blaine as a Whatcom County team present at the Bedlington Twilight Invitational. The story was updated to reflect this change at 3:50 p.m. on March 26. Cascadia Daily News regrets this error.
