As Beatrice Asomaning made her way to the ring, her competition in the 4A state discus finals started to talk amongst themselves. Asomaning entered the meet the clear-cut state leader in the event, but had fouled on her last two attempts.
The unusual miscues from the Olympia High School senior gave the rest of athletes a little bit of hope and they started asking each other who would be the first of the group to crack the 130-foot mark and challenge Asomaning for the crown.
Asomaning, unfazed by her previous two attempts, ended the chatter rather quickly as she delivered a throw that reached 146-07 and calmly headed back to join the other athletes who by now were no longer wondering who would take home first.
Whatever slight window of opportunity they saw moments before, was emphatically slammed shut by Asomaning. She successfully registered marks on three of her seven attempts in the discus finals at the state championship meet. All three would have easily claimed her the first-place medal.
Asomaning entered the 4A state track and field championships at Mount Tahoma High School as one of the overwhelming favorites. She did not disappoint, capturing her first state title by winning the discus.
“I just came in with the mindset to do my best and if that’s good enough to win, that’s good enough to win,” said Asomaning, who will compete at the University of Washington in both the discus and shotput next year. “Every time out this year, I was just looking to improve.”
Asomaning’s personal best throw this year of 150-03, set at the South Sound Classic on April 20, was more than 12 feet farther than any other 4A competitor in the state. A month before that, she had cracked the 140-foot mark. It became obvious then that she was the one to beat in the discus this season.
“The second meet I threw 143 and checked Athletic.net and it was No. 1 in the state by a pretty large margin,” Asomaning said. “After that I was just trying to push myself and not really look at what anyone else was throwing.”
Asomaning’s winning throw was 17 feet better than runner-up Katherine Potts of Glacier Peak and almost 20 feet ahead of third-place finisher Brenna Board of Jackson. Asomaning followed up her state title in the discus by collecting a sixth place in the shot put with a throw of 40-00.50.
The Bears also received fifth place finishes from freshmen Ava Wolin (400) and Katelyn Rigg (800) and a sixth place from senior Camryn Wilson in the javelin to finish eighth overall in the team standings with 24 points.
Tahoma easily claimed the 4A girls state title with 98.5 points. Lake Stevens (45 points) and Kentwood (43) finished second and third, respectively.
Olympia also had a pair place at the 4A boys’ state meet with junior Will Anderson grabbing fourth in the 400 (49.12) and senior Drew Thompson picking up seventh in the triple jump (43-04.75).
Yelm got runner-up performances at the 3A girls state meet from Carissa Stovall, whose throw of 138-00 claimed second place for the senior, and Abigail Carlson, who was second in the high jump. Carlson, a sophomore, notched a jump of 5-05.00. Mount Spokane senior Katie Rhodes won the event with a height of 5-06.00.
Timberline senior Jessica Neal placed sixth in the high jump (5-00.00). Arianna Bush gave the Blazers a second in the triple jump (38-00.50), while Timberline’s Ashley Babkirk (seventh, 100) and Abigail Pedro (eighth, shot put) also placed.
The Yelm boys had a pair of fourth-place finishers in Chayton Miller (javelin) and Elliot Clary (discus). The Tornados also got a sixth from Bryce Cerkowniak in the 3200.
North Thurston sophomore Samir Amin posted two top 10 finishes at the 2A boys meet, finishing eighth in the 800 and 10th in the 1600, while Timberline had Jamarcus Graham place fifth in the triple jump and Cedric Horsman claim ninth in the high jump.
At the 2A girls meet, River Ridge’s Taylor Woodworth had a strong showing. The sophomore finished second in the 400 with a time of 57.61. Selah junior Olivia Martin won the race in 56.59. Woodworth also was eighth in the 200 and joined Raquel Robinson, Taryn Lucas and Jordyn Thomas to help the Hawks’ 4×400 relay team collect a fifth-place finish.
River Ridge’s Dasani Robinson placed fourth in the girls javelin.
Matthew Jenkins was the Hawks’ top placer at the 2A boys meet, finishing second in the pole vault after clearing 13-00.00. River Ridge’s Drayden Alexander was seventh in the 400, ninth in the 200 and joined Jacob Miller, Penjamina Mapu and Isaiah Parker to give the Hawks a seventh place in the 4×400 relay.
