Bainbridge High School freshman excel at 800 meters

A pair of 3A state-best times highlighted last Thursday’s three-way track meet among Bainbridge, Rainier Beach and Lakeside.

Problems with the computer timing system resulted in the use of handheld timers, and overall team results were not available by press deadlines.

The first state-best clocking came in the girls 800 meters, which matched Spartan freshman Isabel Ferguson and Lakeside sophomore Madeline Rathbun. Ferguson’s 2:26.03 at the Kitsap County Classic the previous weekend was the top 3A mark up to that point, while Rathbun recorded a 2:16.69 in finishing second in last year’s Star Track.

Rathbun jumped out to an immediate lead, followed closely by Ferguson and fellow Spartans Pearl Terry and Anne Taylor. Rathbun clocked 68 seconds for the first lap, with the others right behind. By 500 meters it was down to a two-girl race.

Rathbun opened a slight margin at 600 meters, but Ferguson closed the gap and tried to swing wide and pass coming out of the final turn. Rathbun matched the move and accelerated down the homestretch to win by about five yards in a time of 2:22.6. Ferguson finished in 2:23.5 – currently the second-best 3A clocking – and Terry (also a freshman) recording a 2:27.9 to put her in the 3A top ten.

Said assistant coach Garry Osmond: “Isabel ran a perfect race. She gave her [Rathbun] all she could handle.”

Ferguson played a key role in the other 3A best, this one in the 4×400 relay. Running the second leg, she took the baton nearly 10 yards in arrears to Lakeside. She made up the deficit in the first 120 meters, then steadily pulled away and finished with nearly a 30-yard edge. Terry and Taylor, running the last two legs, maintained most of the margin as the team clocked 4:12.0. Lakeside finished in 4:15.7.

No exact splits were available for Ferguson’s leg but coaches estimated it at 61 seconds. She and Terry also high jumped, with Ferguson placing second at 4-8 and Terry clearing 4-4 for fourth.

The closest race was the boys 1600, with Zach Haus and Willie Wenzlau running virtually side by side for most of the race. Wenzlau opened up a lead in the final straight but Haus began sprinting about 50 yards out and caught him at the tape. Both were timed in 4:57.3. Haus, a transfer from Minnesota, later registered a comfortable win in the 3200 in a time of 11:03.0.

The Spartan boys 4×100 relay team fell behind to Rainier Beach in the second leg, but a bad pass between the Vikings’ second and third runners let Bainbridge close the gap. When the Beach anchor fell during the final exchange, the Spartans cruised home to an easy win in 45.3. Team members were Kiyle Playter, Anthony Carter, Kyle Szarzynski and Edward Hawley.

Brad Wilmot was a double winner, taking the high jump with a leap of five feet, four inches and the triple jump with a mark of 38-3 ½.

James Herman led a 1-2-3 Spartan sweep in the shotput with a throw of 42-6. Zane Sackett was second with 39-5 ½ and Jordan Gaphni third with 36-8.

Other Spartan winners: Haley Brandt-Erichsen, long jump, 13-8 3/4; Zane Sackett, discus, 104-7; Annie Taylor, 1600, 5:38.2; Ryan Vogel, 800, 2:06.2;Milander,Sheldon,Crane,Sheldon BI “A” 1:55.7.

A brief ceremony before the start of the meet dedicated the “Logan Line” at the finish, in honor of Pat Logan. Logan coached Bainbridge runners for several years before dying of an apparent heart attack last fall, and many runners have dedicated the season to his memory.

The team hosts Chief Sealth and West Seattle on Thursday, and travels to Mt. Tahoma High for the Tacoma Invitational two days later.