It’s a difficult question to answer for any high school track and field athlete. If given the choice, would you rather win an individual state title or a team state title? Fortunately for Capital’s Amanda and Hana Moll and Tumwater’s Alyssa Duncan and Natalie Sumrok, they didn’t have to decide. They got both.
Amanda Moll received state titles in pole vault and long jump and Hana Moll in the 100 hurdles to power Capital to the team championship at the Class 3A state girls track and field meet, while the Thunderbirds received titles from Duncan in triple jump and Sumrok in javelin to help Tumwater capture the crown at the 2A meet.
The Cougars finished with 54 total points in the 3A team standings with Garfield (47 points) and Kelso (44) grabbing second and third, respectively. Tumwater easily won the 2A state title with 78 points. Bellingham (51 points) was second with Sehome (45), Ellensburg (45) and Sequim (38) rounding out the top 5.
As expected Amanda and Hana Moll were the story of the pole vault at the 3A state meet with Amanda Moll winning the event with an all-classification state meet record mark of 14 feet, 6 six inches to best the previous record of 14-00.00 set by West Seattle’s Chloe Cunliffe in 2019. It was an impressive performance by the nation’s top two ranked pole vaulters as Hana Moll equaled the record by clearing 14 feet.
Amanda Moll was far from done as the talented junior also claimed the long jump state crown with a leap of 17-08.00 to become a dual individual state titlist.
Hana Moll, who finished second in the pole vault with a mark of 14-00.00, won her own state title by edging Hazen’s Olivia Conklin in the 100 hurdles. Hana Moll crossed the wire in a personal record time of 14.66 seconds. Conklin was second at 14.72.
The Moll sisters, however, weren’t finished yet as they teamed up with Kora Landers and Lucy Heminway to win the 4×100 relay (49.24).
The Cougars also placed sixth in the 4×200 with the team of Landers, Heminway, Karina Greenlee and Addison Harrington covering the distance in 1:47.18.
Landers, a sophomore who set a school record this year in the 100, placed sixth in the event at state (12.63)
Also at the 3A meet, Timberline’s Destinee Robertson placed seventh in both the 100 (12.81) and long jump (16-01.00). The Blazers also received a fifth place in the shot from Abigail Pedro (37-02.50).
Yelm senior Isabelle Wright-Cloran medaled twice, finishing fifth in the long jump (16-06.75) and seventh in the triple jump (35-07.25), while teammate Lilly Lawson was ninth in the discus (103.08).
Rounding out the list of local 3A state placers was River Ridge senior Taylor Dillon, who was 10th in the discus (102-00).
Over in the 2A state meet, Duncan made three trips to the winner’s podium, picking up medals in the triple jump, long jump and 100 hurdles and contributing 24 points to the T-Birds’ championship winning total. She won the triple jump with a mark of 37-02.25 and added a second place in the long jump (18-01.00) to go with her third-place finish in the 100 hurdles (15.65).
Sumrok, who placed second in state in the javelin in 2019 as a freshman, triumphed in the javelin with a throw of 126-02 with runner-up Addilyn Varick of North Mason a distance second at 116-04.
“Finishing off with first place senior year is just awesome. It’s everything I’ve asked for,” said Sumrok, who also placed sixth in the shot put (35-07.5). “I feel really good about it because it’s what my coach wanted for me, and I just wanted to make him proud because neither of us got those [last] two years [of competing at state]. It just feels good. I’m really happy.”
Tumwater’s Ava Jones was fourth in the 100 (12.57) and third in the 200 (25.90), while fellow sophomore Annabelle Clapp collected a second-place finish in the 400 (59.24) and an eighth in the 200 (26.92).
In addition to the individual performances, the T-Birds also placed in the top four or higher in all three relays, highlighted by a first-place finish in the 4×200 as the team of Mariah Jett, Annabelle Clapp, Reese Heryford and Jones won the event in 1:44.67, more than 2 seconds ahead of runner-up Sammamish.
Tumwater also received a third in the 4×400 relay and a fourth in the 4×100.
Black Hills had a pair of top 10 placers at the 2A meet with senior Olivia Hisaw finishing fifth in the 100 hurdles (16.20) and sophomore Kennedy Imsland grabbing ninth in the discus (100-11).
Olympia senior Katelyn Rigg was second in the 800 (2:13.10) and 10th in the 1600 (5:02.62) at the 4A state championships. Claire Lee finished 10th in the pole vault (10-00.00) for the Bears, which also received a seventh-place finish in the 4×400 relay with the team of Katelyn Rigg, Jenna Rigg, Samantha Christy and Ava Wolin.
