A new school will be etched onto the side of the 2B District 4 boys championship trophy, one that hasn’t hoisted the hardware in 10 years: the Onalaska Loggers.
Onalaska claimed its second postseason team trophy in as many weeks Thursday as it ran away with the district title thanks to four individual event champions, including one that tied a 28-year-old meet record.
Junior Luke Barrick put on a clinic in the pole vault and firmly established himself as the 2B favorite in next week’s state championship meet in Yakima. His first attempt was an easy 11 feet to qualify for state, and his second at 14 feet clinched the district title.
But he was far from done. Barrick had his eyes set on three milestones: personal record, meet record, state record. In that order.
Entering Thursday’s district meet, Barrick had successfully cleared the pole at 14 feet, 6 inches, three times this season but had long struggled to reach any higher. On Thursday, he failed his first attempt but quickly made the correct adjustments and nailed his second try. Barrick sprinted across the field in jubilation, but his day was still not finished.
Next up was the meet record at 15-1, and, riding the high from the PR, Barrick was unfazed by the 6-inch increase and vaulted successfully over the bar. He took another crossfield sprint for good measure.
“Having those back-to-back PRs is the craziest adrenaline rush I’ve ever had in my life,” Barrick said.
Since the start of the season, Barrick has eyed the 2B state record of 15-7, and he was mere inches away from breaking it on his first attempt. The bar fell limp onto his lap at the last second as he hit the mat, the crowd gasping as they nearly witnessed history.
“I was over the bar looking at it and my chest was over it and then just touched it a little bit and it came off,” Barrick said. “I thought I had it. They all thought I had it.”
Barrick wasn’t the only Logger with a monumental day in Chehalis. Sophomore thrower Ethan Thayer launched his lifetime-best throw in the discus at 169-6 to win the district title, finishing in front of teammate Justice Werner at 162-2. Werner got the best of Thayer in the shot put, however, as the senior recorded a throw of 50-6 to win the district crown and top the sophomore’s second-place toss of 47-3.
“We compete every day at practice trying to help each other out, get better and improve on ourselves. We motivate each other, and we’re all close,” Thayer said.
“It’s not like we’re trying to be competitive in a rude way, but we use it to boost each other,” Werner added. “When one person throws farther, you use that like, ‘Hey, I’m gonna beat you by this much,’ and then you just keep building off each other. It creates a good friendship and a good team, as well.”
Thayer and Werner also made up half of the district title-winning 4x100 relay squad along with Brodey Triana and Case McGraw. Werner finished off the sprint by holding off Rainier senior and reigning 100-meter state champion Josh Meldrum by like than a tenth of a second.
Onalaska will be well represented in Yakima next week, with athletes qualifying in 10 events. Justin Jacoby, javelin; Case McGraw, long jump; Morgan Allen, shot put; Lane Gordon, javelin and 300-meter hurdles; Brodey Triana, 400 meters; Taden Miller, 400 meters; and Austin Sturza, 3,200 meters; are making the trip east. The 4x400 relay team of Miller, Triana, Gordon and McGraw also qualified with a second-place finish Thursday.
While Werner said the Loggers track team has built a name for itself this season, head coach Carla Hoppie believes the best is still yet to come for the Loggers.
“The kids have been working really hard. What we have happening right now is just the beginning of what’s forthcoming in the next few years, and it’s been a long time coming,” she said. “I know we had some really good teams in the 1980s, but I don’t think we’ve really had anything like this since then.”
Onalaska finished with 128 points, 37 points ahead of second-place Rainier with 91. The Mountaineers were led by long jump champ Meldrum, who also clinched a chance to defend his 100-meter state title, and javelin winner Zander Peck. The 4x100 team, which includes Jordan Pringle, came within .22 seconds of a school record set by the 1998 squad that featured Pringle’s father Justin.
Junior distance runner Zach Hamilton enjoyed a stellar day with a PR in the 800 meters for a runner-up finish and third-place marks in both the 1,600 meters and the 3,200 meters. Sophomore Ean Viik shined in the 800 meters with a PR of 2:07.8 and will join Hamilton in Yakima. Freshman Alex Salinas set a PR in the 400 meters at 52.18 seconds, less than a quarter of a second away from a district title. Pole vaulters Willie Mendoza and Addison Poole clinched top-four verdicts and personal bests.
Adna, third in team scoring with 73 points, scored three event wins with Gavan Muller in the 110-meter hurdles, Cohen Hartley in the 800 meters, and in the 4x400 relay. Morton-White Pass, 71 points, and Toledo, 67 points, rounded out the top five.
Toledo’s Treyton Marty won both the 1,600 meters and the 3,200 meters, but freshman teammate Conner Hill gave him a run for his money in both events. Hill finished 10 seconds behind Marty in the 1,600 and just three seconds behind him in the 3,200 meters thanks to a PR time of 9:54:72.
Two Mossyrock athletes took home event wins as Briar Baldwin won the 100-meter sprint and Carson Dewallie triumphed in the high jump, while Toledo’s Trevin Gale conquered the 200 meters.
