SHELTON — It wasn’t a foreign concept, but Kiley Talley didn’t have familiarity with track and field.
She came from St. Joe’s, a private middle school in Chehalis, to Onalaska High School last fall. Her friends nudged her in the direction to do track. They viewed the shot put and discus as Talley’s go-to events.
Without even seeing her throw.
“That summer, one of my friends gave me a discus and they’re like ‘Just throw it,’” Talley said. “Started throwing it at home. I guess I could be good at this.”
Talley has gone from a rookie to a potential Class 2B favorite in the shot put.
The right-hander unleashed a throw of 36 feet, 6.75 inches to triumph in the shot put – her third straight victory and second consecutive personal best – at Saturday’s 65th Shelton Invitational at Highclimber Stadium.
In nine meets where Talley has thrown the shot, she’s registered seven wins. After a fifth place performance of 33-10.25 at Chehalis Activators, her best throws since have been over 35 feet. Her best throw on Saturday came on her second attempt.
“Right away, she gravitated towards the shot put,” Loggers throwing coach Abel Isguerra said. “More than anything, (she’s) passionate about the sport. She’s very gifted.”
Behind a 1-2-3 finish in the pole vault, Bishop Blanchet outlasted Tumwater 119-101 in the team race. Onalaska was the other local to place top-10, tying for eighth with North Mason at 26 points. Centralia, Rochester and Black Hills all had at least one point-scorer on the day.
Ashlyn Hufana, Cassidy Hedin, Reese Heryford and Ava Jones broke their own meet record in the 800 relay by three seconds, running a blistering 1:43.54. That same quartet ran sub-50 in the 400 relay.
They all had success in the individual events, too.
Jones (200), Heryford (400), Hedin (300 hurdles) and Hufana (long jump) all picked up wins. Heryford’s time of 60.11 seconds was a new season-best.
“All of us have our individual events, so I'm really proud of us all,” Hufana said.
A sophomore after qualifying for three events at state last spring as a freshman, Hufana has done a lot more winning. She set a new long jump PR at the gearUP Eason Invite of 17-05.50 then went over 17 feet four of her six attempts on Saturday.
She increased her lead in the event on her last three jumps.
“I’m really proud of myself,” Hufana said. “I’ve come a long way. I wanted to work on my form, getting a consistent mark.”
Thunderbirds senior McKayla Clary threw 118-10 to win the javelin for the third consecutive meet. Ever since hitting her PR at Activators, she’s turned in consistent best throws of over 117 feet.
“Just improving my form and the basics has really helped,” Clary said. “Just going back to the roots is what is helping me.”
Hufana (100), Alexandra Broome (800), Abigail Krause (shot put) and Tumwater’s 1,600-meter relay all finished top-three. It is a reloaded group that is attempting to get back atop the Class 2A throne after back-to-back state titles in 2022-23.
“It was a good check,” T-Birds head coach Jordan Stray said. “We’re deeper in some events this year. We’re still seeing improvements this late in the year.”
One of the primary things Talley wanted to work on was footwork. She and Isguerra honed it in through the offseason. While it remains a work in progress, Talley has been happy with the results. She was also the discus runner-up.
“The more I worked at it, it was more comfortable,” she said. “I wanted to get stronger.”
Of the throwers ranked in the top-10 in both the shot and discus, Talley and Brewster’s Paige Wulf are the lone sophomores. The top-four in the discus are all from District 4.
“I have all the faith in her that she can compete,” Isguerra said. “She’s up for the challenge. She doesn’t like to lose.”
The reigning district champ in the shot put, Talley aims to keep improving heading into the final four weeks of the season. She believes in taking things day-by-day and throw-by-throw.
“I put myself in a good mindset,” Talley said.
Emalie Jacoby (javelin and long jump) recorded two top-eight finishes. Centralia’s highest finisher was Anna Jones, sixth in the 400. Rochester’s Brooklyn Alfonso (javelin) and Black Hills’ Anneliese Dale (100) placed top-eight.
