YAKIMA — From the moment Adam Kruger landed in the sand pit on his final jump last May, his goals for his senior season were already set.
The Toledo High School senior envisioned a state championship in the triple jump. Three straight wins in March only raised the confidence meter. Even when his league and district marks were just over 42 feet, Kruger wasn’t concerned.
“It motivated me even more,” Kruger said. “Underperforming at those two meets fueled the fire.”
And Kruger left no doubt on Thursday.
Kruger became the first SW Washington athlete to stand atop the podium at the Class 1B/2B/1A State Track and Field Championships, claiming his elusive state title with a winning leap of 49 feet, 3 inches at Zaepfel Stadium.
It beats the school record set by Niles Jones in 1995 by one-quarter of an inch. And on his last attempt to boot.
“It feels really good and seeing it grow throughout the year, it is hard to describe with words,” Kruger said. “It didn’t feel that good of a jump, to be honest.”
The two times Kruger finished second were to 2A competitors at the Forks Lions Club Invite on April 18 and the Spudder Invite on May 8. Yet it was the final meet before the C2BL Championships that gave Kruger a boost.
His previous PR of 43-05 came after two straight fouls at Spudder. It wasn’t a win, but it served a bigger purpose.
“It is more of a sense of urgency,” Kruger said.
That third jump came in handy once again.
Kruger’s first two marks were just over 40 and 38 feet, respectively. He took the lead on ol’ reliable attempt No. 3 with a 43-05. He maintained the lead all the way through and decided to break a school record in the process on his final jump.
There’s still the long jump to do this weekend, but there is a sense of making up for lost time Kruger experienced afterwards. Being the 2B runners-up in football and going one-and-done in Spokane didn’t sit well with Kruger.
Those feelings of coming up short were wiped away.
“I got to win something,” Kruger said.
District 4 showcased their dominance in the 2B javelin with Adna’s Kade Pearson being the runner-up plus Onalaska’s Brodey Triana and Toledo’s Brody Lawrence also ended up medaling by placing fourth and seventh, respectively.
Pearson’s toss of 167-05 shattered his previous career-best by nearly seven feet. It came on his third throw after fouling his first one and throwing just 143-08 on No. 2, which put him on the outside looking in of the finals.
“I’ve scratched a lot of first throws, so I tried not to overthink it,” Pearson said. “Took my time, took a few breaths. The goal was just to throw as far as I can; I was surprised because I personally didn’t think it was the greatest (throw).”
The sophomore went from an 11th place showing at districts in 2025 to second in all of 2B a year later. He admitted he was in between wanting to play baseball or do track as a freshman.
He dove headfirst into track and never looked back.
“I didn't really try as much last year,” Pearson said.
In the 1,600-meter run, Toledo’s Conner Hill placed 10th overall in 2B and Pe Ell’s Liam McGrath took 16th. Also in the triple jump, Adna’s Landen Cline (10th) and Toledo’s Casen Gale (13th) nabbed top-15 finishes.
