Injuries, spring break and a tough early schedule have all conspired against the Mercer Island High School track and field team this season. Mercer Island took on Sammamish on Thursday at Islander Stadium and earned its first dual-meet victory for both the boys and girls team at one meet.
“It has been challenging as a team,” said Islander Quinn Chasan. “I think we are the most unknown team in the league since we have only had one good meet. The next couple of weeks will give us a better idea of where we are.”
The first good meet was the season opener, when most athletes were still feeling out their role. But the second good meet of the year came with the boys beating the Totems, 107-34, and the girls winning 101-49.
Boys
Chasan earned a personal season-best time in the mile despite not having an opponent from Sammamish by finishing the race in 4:35.6.
“It is hard to push yourself with no one around,” said Chasan, who beat teammates Tyler Benster and Aaron Ellison to the finish line.
Teammate Evan Sadler won the two-mile with a time of 10:20.9, besting teammates Ari Schorr and Andy Wingerson. Sadler also won the 200-meters with a time of 24.5.
The Islanders continued to dominate the distance races as Peter Fisher beat out teammates Alex Strong and Zach Roberts with a time of 2:10.56.
Senior Matt Stahl continued his march to the 3A KingCo meet with a victory in the 300-meter hurdles for Mercer Island. Fellow co-captain Bryce Borer also picked up a win in the 400-meters with a time of 53.1.
Borer also won the pole vault with a height of 14 feet, 6 inches.
Alex Myerson earned two victories against Sammamish. The first came as he flung the discus 137 feet, 11 inches. The second win came in the shotput with a distance of 41 feet, 6.5 inches.
Islander Ethan Spiro also came away with two wins. In the high jump, Spiro’s best attempt was at 5 feet, 4 inches, and in the long jump he leaped 19 feet, 5.25 inches.
Mercer Island junior Jordan Turner won the triple jump with a distance of 40 feet.
The only events that the Islander boys did not win were the 110-hurdles, 100-meters and the javelin.
Girls
The Mercer Island girls beat Sammamish behind 12 first-place finished, on quarter coming from junior Janelle Chow.
Chow won the triple jump with a distance of 34 feet, 1/2 inches and went on to take the 100-meters with a time of 13.37.
“Just being a captain motivates me,” said Chow. “Knowing that you are a role model and that others are looking to you — it gives me a lot of motivation.”
Chow and teammates Tracy Vojik, Jordan Esfeld and Cora Miller won an uncontested 800-meter relay in a time of 2:01.1, while Lauren Pang, Alicia Mangubat, Lauren Sadler and Anna Scott won an uncontested 400-meter relay with a time of 55.5.
Vojik won the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 17.3 seconds, while Caroline Stephens won the high jump with a height of 4 feet, 6 inches.
But the distance runners continued to stay ahead of the KingCo pack by sweeping all the events.
Islander Haley Piper won the 1,600-meters with a time of 5:25.28 with teammate Gabi Goyette on her heels. Piper also won the 800-meters with a time of 2:26.1. Kelsey Salvo won the 200-meters for Mercer Island with a time of 29.4 to round out the distance races.
Mangubat took first in the pole vault with a mark of eight feet, while Monica Lee won the discus with 96 feet, 11 inches.
Mercer Island senior Olivia Harvey won the shotput with a distance of 32 feet, 3.75 inches.
“We have had a lot of injuries,” said Chow. “When [the injured players] recover, we will have a good chance to do some great things at KingCo and beyond. Our hard work will show later on in the season.”
The Islanders travel to Interlake tomorrow for a 4 p.m. start. On Saturday, Island athletes will see how they stack up against athletes from around the region when the girls compete at the Shoreline Invitational and the boys compete at the Lake Washington Invitational.
