SHELTON — For Josh Schlecht, it could have been a trying senior track and field season.
He suffered an elbow injury playing three-on-three basketball. Being a 400-meter specialist, it wasn’t an injury that could be brushed to the side. He had to wear a cast for six weeks – it got taken off two weeks ago.
So when the Tumwater High School boys track and field standout crossed the finish line in the open 400 on Saturday afternoon, he wasn’t shy at expressing his emotions.
“It has been my main goal,” Schlecht said. “Today felt really good and I finally felt fully healthy. Seeing the clock, it was a little emotional. All that work finally paid off.”
Schelcht broke 50 seconds at the 65th rendition of the Shelton Invitational at Highclimber Stadium, triumphing in the event and vaulting his way to third best in all of Class 2A. He upended Evergreen Conference rival Isaac Garcia of Aberdeen.
From a sixth place finish in the 400 at the state meet in Tacoma to sub-50, Schlecht doesn’t take for granted the time he put in to get to this point.
Still, his goals are higher.
“My coaches have talked to me about getting out faster,” Schlecht said.
Tumwater, behind five victories and five runner-up finishes, claimed the team title with 107 points to clip Olympia. Onalaska placed eighth with 30, Tenino finished 13th with 12 points while Rochester (5), Oakville (4) and Centralia (4) secured top-25 team placements.
Blake Kirkpatrick was responsible for three of the five wins, joining Schlecht, Reid Crumley and Xavier Bunn to win the 1,600-meter relay. Kirkpatrick also triumphed in the open 100 and 200. Crumley took the 300-meter hurdles victory.
“This could be one of the better groups of boys we’ve seen in many years,” T-Birds head coach Jordan Stray said.
Coming off a fourth-place finish at the state meet last year, Tumwater believes it has the pieces to contend for a state championship. It has a top-10 ranking in 10 of the 17 events and nine of them would score in a simulated meet.
Computers won’t determine a title. A group reloaded with depth, top-end talent and senior-laden, will.
“They’re at a whole new level that we haven’t seen in a while,” Stray said. “They push each other in practice everyday. Doesn’t matter what level they’re at.”
Malijah Tucker (shot put), Aaron Paul (high jump) and David Malroy (long jump) each placed second, as did Tumwater’s 400 and 800 relays. Bunn hit a new PR of 42-06 in the triple jump to take third while Dylan Gilliland and Jacob Dillon tied for fifth in the shot put.
“We’re a potential state winning team,” Schlecht said. “Everybody has put in a ton of work.”
Onalaska’s Luke Barrick won the pole vault with a top clearance of 14 feet even. He passed on every height until 14, where he cleared it on his first attempt.
He was the only remaining in the field. Olympia’s Logan Gerrits missed all three of his shots at 13 feet.
“I always come in at 14, it is what I’ve been consistent at,” Barrick said. “I have a super strict warm-up plan. Rewarmup (is) strict. Keeps me in shape.”
The junior’s three chances at 14-07 failed, but the last one, he clipped the bar. He feels he’s on the right track with the C2BL Championships two weeks away.
“I need to get a little more technical,” Barrick said. “I have lots of time. Once I figure out how to get a nice tall take off and a nice top end, my goal is to get the state record of 15-07.”
Tenino’s Carson Schall triumphed in the 110 hurdles in 15.62 seconds, his fifth victory in the event this season. He’s run sub-16 in the last five races. The senior also placed seventh in the 300 hurdles.
After not making the finals in either event at state last year, Schall is using that as his prime motivation.
“Think about it everyday,” he said. “What is a good story without a little adversity?”
Rochester’s Gunnar Morgan finished fourth in both the 1,600 and 3,200-meter runs while Oakville-North River’s Lewis Kosar, the returning Class 1B discus champ, took fifth with a new PR of 144-03.
Centralia’s 1,600-meter relay of Jacoby Corwin, Adam Leon, Evan Thummel and Ethan Weiher took fifth in a new season best time of 3:42.57.
