Local Athletes Break the Ice in Rainier

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No fewer than 28 schools — ranging in classification from 1B all the way up to 2A, with one friendly Canadian squad thrown in to boot — came out to the stadium behind Rainier High School on Saturday, as hundreds of athletes got going at the Rainier Icebreaker.

Among the crowd were six local squads: the host Mountaineers, along with Pe Ell, Napavine, Onalaska, Tenino, and Rochester. The Tigers finished sixth as a team in the final girls’ results — and first among 2B schools — while Rainier took fourth for the boys.

Leading the way for Lewis and South Thurston Counties individually came three area athletes to take first in their respective events. On the track, Pe Ell’s Carter Phelps won the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 43.11. On the field, Napavine’s Keira O’Neill placed first in the girls high jump, clearing 5 feet, while Tenino’s Trinity Tafoya won in the shot put with a huck of 36 feet, 5 inches.

O’Neill also took fourth in the girls triple jump, hopping, skipping, and jumping her way to 30 feet, 9 inches. Maddie Dickinson finished fifth for the Tigers in the girls long jump (14 feet, 7 inches), and Trinket Ettner was fifth in the shot put (30 feet, 7.5 inches). Max O’Neill had the best result on the boys’ side for Napavine, running the 100-meter dash in 11.76 to finish sixth.

Phelps added a third-place finish in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 17.52, while Charlie Carper led Pe Ell’s girls team with a 7th-place time of 13.84 in the 100.



Behind Tafoya, Tenino got a third-place time of 53.68 from Paisley Garcia in the girls 300-meter hurdles, while Carson Schall got fourth in the boys 110-meter hurdles (18.23).

Rochester ended its day led by two second-place finishes. One came on the track, with Ashton Rodriguez covering the boys 100-meter dash in 11.65 — two-hundredths of a second in front of third place — and another came on the field, from Emily Weddle in the girls shot put (33 feet, 8 inches). Jaden Nichols earned fourth place in the boys shot put at 39 feet, 9.5 inches).

Kelsi Haas led Onalaska with a second-place spot in the girls pole vault, clearing 10 feet.  Isaac Fitch was third in the boys 400 meters (55.49), Riley Carter took third in the boys 300-meter hurdles (44.17), and Brooklyn Sandridge finished third in the girls long jump (14 feet, 9 inches) and fifth in the girls high jump (4 feet, 8 inches).

Host Rainier didn’t come away with any individual wins, but stacked high finishes. Matthew Kenney took second in the boys discus, tossing the weight 146 feet. James Meldrum cleared 9 feet in the boys pole vault to tie for second, and was fifth in the boys 800 with a time of 2:15.49, while Josh Meldrum tied for third in the high jump (5 feet, 8 inches). 

Acacia Murphy earned third-place finishes in both the girls 100-meter dash (13.49) and the high jump (4 feet, 8 inches), and took sixth in the 400 (1:06.22) for the Mountaineers, while Chase MacFarland was third in the boys triple jump (38 feet, 7 inches) and fourth in the long jump (18 feet, 3.5 inches). Zander Peck threw the javelin 135 feet, 3 inches to finish fifth in the boys’ field, and Hunter Waltman was sixth in the boys 400 (56.97).