YAKIMA – When the discus left the right hand of Adna High School’s Karsyn Freeman, there were audible gasps from the stands.
It sailed in the sky for multiple seconds before barrelling downwards and leaving a dent in the grass at Zaepfel Stadium.
What transpired was the throw of a lifetime.
Freeman captured her second consecutive Class 2B discus state championship with a personal record toss of 142 feet, 5 inches to breeze by the rest of the 16-person field on Saturday afternoon during the final day of the state track and field championships.
“It is crazy to think about, especially because it is hard to come back the second year, winning it again,” Freeman said. “It feels pretty good. Just trying to focus on yourself; that one was definitely the best. It felt perfect.”
A transfer from Raymond/South Bend, Freeman was warmly embraced by the Pirates community. When the distance on her championship-winning throw was announced, teammate Lillian Boyd rushed to give Freeman a giant hug as she exited out the back of the ring.
It was a 13-foot PR by Freeman, who also registered two throws over 130 feet on her last two attempts.
Her older sister, Karlee, is now one of Karsyn’s coaches. The dynamic has been one both are still getting used to.
“It is iffy sometimes, but most of the time, we’re good,” Karsyn said.
One of the things Karlee, a four-time state discus champion in her own right plus the 2B state record holder, has instilled in Karsyn is to move slower in the ring. Admittedly, Karsyn spinned fast in the ring at RSB.
“She’s done a lot,” Karsyn stated. “I was always speedy, like in the shot put, I always went fast. It took awhile, my technique took a long time and I got the hang of it and realized what it meant at the end.”
Eyes on a three-peat are already being discussed for 2025. Karsyn was adamant she believes her sister’s state record might be standing for a long time.
Still, Karsyn wants to go back-to-back-to-back and isn’t planning on slowing down.
“Working on discus a lot more,” she said.
Rainier secured a team trophy with a top-four finish by piling up 55 points. Coach Rob Henry called it one of the “weirdest meets I’ve been around.” He mentioned how distance standout Madison Ingram had to run with one shoe in Thursday’s mile and Acacia Murphy battled through an ankle injury to medal in the 100-meter dash.
“I am absolutely ecstatic,” Henry said. “Just seemed like left over right, things happened. Kids kept going; it was fantastic.”
One of the Mountaineers that battled through injuries all year was pole vaulter Ella Marvin.
She’s been battling a lingering knee injury towards the inside of her knee, specifically the medial meniscus. Yet in three trips to the doctor, they couldn’t determine what was wrong.
Worriness crept in if she was going to compete this spring. That went away fairly quickly.
“I would have gone against doctors orders,” Marvin said. “I love pole vaulting so much. I can’t sit out. Repeating (the) state championship is too big of a deal. It is non-negotiable; I can heal during the summer.”
The junior defended her 2B pole vault title with a best clearance of 10-06, the only one to clear 10 feet, in the event. She had three tries at a new PR off 11 feet flat, and barely clipped the bar on her second attempt.
“So close,” Marvin stated. “I was happy about them. I can walk away proud.”
Marvin made her season debut at the Leo Rubstello Invite in April. The only time she didn’t win was at the Spudder Invite.
She claimed the C2BL Championships in the dark and set a new school record at 10-10 in the process.
“She’s driven,” Henry said. “You can see the way she practices.”
Rainier picked up huge team points in the discus. Janess Blackburn placed third with a best toss of 121-07 and Haleigh Hanson netted her second state medal, placing fourth. Zaylee Bravo ended up seventh.
Madison Ingram medaled in the 800 and 3,200 plus ran a leg on the Mountaineers 1,600–meter relay. Murphy, also a part of the relay, earned a medal in the 100.
“We went through and we had points figured out,” Henry stated.
Winlock’s Victoria Sancho secured three top-five finishes in the 100 and 200-meter dashes plus triple jump. She netted new PR’s to place second in the 100 and dropped nearly half-a-second to finish third in the 200.
Sancho took fifth in the triple jump.
“I’m really happy with how I ran,” Sancho said. “First thinking about (the schedule) it was a little stressful. Between my triple jump and 200, I knew everything was going to be OK.
Napavine’s Keira O’Neill grabbed fourth in the triple jump as did Adna’s Sorena Neilson in the 100 hurdles.
In 1B, Mossyrock’s 400 and 800 relay garnered medals by placing seventh and fourth, respectively.
