In the animal kingdom, the panther is known to be swift and silent. That also applies to its namesakes at White Pass High School, whose six-member girls contingent was swift enough to take seventh place in team scoring at the 1A State Track Meet, yet silent enough to somehow be omitted from mention in the state track roundup that appeared in The Chronicle on Monday.
Also left out of Monday's story were several state medalists who placed fourth through eighth in their respective events during the Saturday portion of the state meets. The top eight finishers in each event at all state track meets are awarded medals.
The Panther girls piled up 29½ points in the 1A meet, just a half-point behind sixth-place Freeman. King's won the girls 1A team title with 57 points at the combined 2A/1A/B meet, which began on Thursday and concluded Saturday.
Junior sprinter Britany Hood led White Pass by placing third in both the 100- (13.49) and 200-meter dashes (26.79) and fourth in the 400 (59.62). Leanne Lamping added a fifth-place finish in the triple jump (32-5€), Ashley Roady took sixth in the high jump (4-8), Kim Morris was seventh in the discus (102-0) and the Panther girls 800-meter relay team of Roady, Lamping and Kristen Andrew, with Hood on the anchor leg, took fourth (1:48.43).
"I couldn't believe that only six girls could place us so high at such a big meet," said White Pass coach Darin Dean. "It was great.
"Britany had already set five school records this year, and she broke two of those at state, with the 800 relay team, and in the 400. She's the first girl at White Pass to run that event in under a minute — breaking the one-minute mark was a big hurdle for her, and she was really excited about it."
"I didn't have any seniors on this year's team," added Dean. "I'm really excited about the possibilities for next year."
Also at the 1A girls meet, Julie Parsons scored all 10 of Onalaska's points with a first-place finish in the high jump (5-2), while Winlock's Gena Rogerson was second (5-0).
Kelsey Dunne of Adna earned a state title in the 100 hurdles (16.22) and Napavine's Raychel Wilson placed eighth (18.41) for her team's only point at the meet. Adna also got a sixth-place finish from Melissa Elder in the 300 hurdles (48.90), and Toledo's Amy Layton was second in the 800 meters (2:22.17).
The 2A girls meet saw Tenino tie Montesano for 29th in team scoring with seven points, while Rochester scored four to tie Eatonville for 32nd.
Ashlee Fitch was fourth for the Beavers in the 300 hurdles (47.11) and Emily Peterson took seventh in the shot put (36-5€), and Rochester's points came from the fifth-place finish of the Warrior girls 400-meter relay team (51.0).
The B girls meet saw Mossyrock tie for 13th in team scoring with 18 points, behind the 93-point championship effort of Mount Vernon Christian. Morton tied for 26th with seven points.
Three of those seven points for Morton's girls came in Saturday's pole vault event, where Samantha Frazzin was seventh (7-6) and Priscilla Powers took eighth (7-6).
Mossyrock's Cassandra Lucero took second in the 800 (2:21.81) and fifth in the 400 (59.98) on Saturday to go with her third-place finish in Friday's 1,600 meters.
In 2A boys action, Rochester and Tenino tied for 37th place in team scoring with three points each, as Rochester's Davis Johnson took sixth in the discus on Thursday and Tenino's Lucas Massey was sixth in Thursday's 3,200 meter run.
Winlock posted a top-10 finish in the 1A boys meet, placing eighth with 27½ points while Freeman won the title with 82. Onalska finished 14th with 16 points and Toledo tied for 32nd with two.
John Prigmore led Winlock's Cardinals on Saturday, taking second in the shot put (49-6€), while Andrew Wallace finished eighth in the 1,600 meters (4:38.90).
For Onalaska, David Myrup wsa second in the 110 high hurdles (16.1) and third in the 300 hurdles (41.2) and Chase Buffington placed seventh in the long jump (20-9€), and Toledo's Danny Wood took seventh in the javelin (168-10).
In Saturday action at the B boys meet, Andrew Sampson of Oakville won the 100-meter dash (11.67) and was second in the 200 (23.42) to account for all 18 of his team's points, which left them in a 13th-place tie in the team scoring behind the 77 of first-place Pomeroy.
Morton tied for 19th with 14 points, Pe Ell tied for 28th with six, and Mossyrock shared 31st place with five points.
Morton's Jesse Morgan had a second-place finish Saturday in the 300 hurdles (41.06), Pe Ell's Jason Canales was third in the 400 (52.18), and the Mossyrock 400 relay team of (add names) took fourth (45.87).
