The 60th Shaner Invite was held on May 8, 2026, at Tumwater High School. Local south sound high school track athletes competed in preparation for league, district and state competitions being held later this month. The invite selects the best track and field athletes from the area. Thurston County teams included Black Hills, Capital, North Thurston, Olympia, Timberline, River Ridge, Rochester and host Tumwater.
The boys team from Olympia won the team title with a score of 172.5. Tumwater (126) and Timberline (76) also placed. Tumwater took the girls team title, edging out Olympia 147 to 146 with Timberline taking third at 75 points.
Jordan Stray, head coach of Tumwater High School, loves the ability to host the event to close out the regular season. “Having the local area teams here on a Friday night for great competition is just great to be a part of,” Stray noted. “We had a lot of great performances and the Tumwater athletes are starting to really find their stride and rhythm. We are looking at consistency as we prepare for league, districts and hopefully state-level performances.”
Black Hills High School coach Katherine Flores brought 20 athletes from the Wolves team and was excited to be at the local event. “This is just a great opportunity for us to measure up with the highest level of kids in the area,” Flores stated. “We really look forward to it every year.”
Olympia Senior Logan Gerrits set a personal record in the high jump. “I was really feeling it today,” Gerrits noted after his career personal best jump of 13-foot, 7-inches. “This is my favorite meet as I get to be around the guys from Tumwater I practice with, and I had a lot of my friends here today from the area, so it was just a special moment.”
Tumwater honored coach Steve Shoun at the beginning of the meet for his 42 years of commitment to the Tumwater Program. Shoun has been involved with the track program at Tumwater since 1982.
Olympia girls head coach Cris Violette (“Coach Purp”) in his final season, was happy to be back at the invite after 38 years of coaching track for Olympia. “This is my favorite meet because everyone knows each other and everyone rises up to new levels at the meet,” Vilette remarked. “It’s just been great to be part of Olympia track and one of the highlights for me has been the camaraderie and friendships I’ve developed over my career.”
Results for the Shaner Invite can be found online at Athletic.net.
