Mountaineer girls win league championship

The Rainier girls track and field team finished first overall with a score of 184 points at the Central 2B League Championships on Friday, May 16, at Rainier High School. Adna finished second (125) and Onalaska finished third (77).

The Rainier boys finished third with a score of 100, behind first-place Onalaska (137) and second-place Adna (101).

Fourteen Rainier girls qualified across 16 events for the 2B District 4 Championships.

Senior Acacia Murphy qualified for four district events. Murphy finished second in the 100 behind Winlock’s Victoria Sancho, who ran a personal best time of 12.55. Murphy also took first in the high jump with a mark of five feet, and qualified for the 200 and the 4x100 relay.

Junior Jazzlyn Shumate enjoyed an all-around impressive day, finishing second in the 200 with a PR time of 27.15. She also set a personal record in the 400 with a time of 1:00.91. Shumate currently sits second all-time at Rainier in the girls’ 400, behind Kyle Mastey’s time of 59.80.

Shumate didn’t stop there, finishing third in the 100-meter hurdles with another personal best time of 17.48. Shumate also qualified in the 4x400 relay.
Rainier dominated the girls’ distance events. Rayanna Wisner and Alexis Myers both set personal bests in the 800, finishing second and third behind senior Madison Ingram.

Ingram set the pace in the mile as well, beating freshmen teammates Komaire Robles and Myers by less than half a second. Kinsley Barlow, who finished fourth, also qualified for districts. Robles and Barlow finished 1-2 in the 3,200.
Both Anika Plowman and Emma Mathson qualified for the 300-meter hurdles. Mathson’s time of 53.52 was a personal best.

During the relay portion of the meet, the team of Ella Marvin, Plowman, Mathson and Murphy finished second in the 4x100 to qualify for districts, while the team of Wisner, Plowman, Ingram and Shumate finished second in the 4x400 to qualify.

In the shot put, Rainier’s Janess Blackburn and Zaylee Bravo did just enough to qualify for districts. It was Blackburn’s discus throw, however, that put the entire state on notice yet again.

Blackburn broke her own school record in the discus for the second time this season with a new all-time best of 139 feet, 5 inches. She’s now broken the record on three separate occasions. Blackburn currently holds the top spot in 2B, behind Adna’s Karsyn Freeman, who won the state championship in 2024 with a personal best of 142 feet, 5 inches.

Zaylee Bravo also qualified in the discus for Rainier.

Rounding out the girls’ events, Katelyn Eckroth finished seventh in the javelin to qualify for districts, while Ella Marvin scored a season’s best mark of 10 feet, 9 inches in the pole vault to easily defeat the field. Her jump put her within one inch from her state-winning mark in 2024. Emma Mankowski finished third in the pole vault to qualify for districts.

In the long jump, Anika Plowman finished fifth to qualify for district competition.

On the boys’ side, 11 Rainier athletes qualified across 11 events for the 2B District 4 Championships.

Senior Josh Meldrum and freshman Alex Salinas finished third and fourth in the 100 to qualify for districts. Salinas also qualified for the 200, and his personal best time of 52.33 earned him first in the 400.

Meldrum and Salinas teamed up with fellow sprinters Matheus McKitrick and Jordan Pringle to place second in the 4x100 relay, qualifying for districts.
Meldrum’s greatest achievement came in the field, where he broke the Rainier school record in the long jump with a mark of 21 feet, 10 inches, taking the crown from his cousin, Chase MacFarland, who previously set the record in 2023 CB2L championships.

After the event, Meldrum said he knew he had to “go out and show something” in the league championship. He said it felt good to break the record, but also a little bad since he had to beat his cousin to do it.

After winning the 2B 100-meter state championship in 2024 with a time of 11.12, Meldrum said he’s looking to step it up heading into district competition. His best mark this season is 11.45.

“I’ve been working hard every day at practice, knowing that people are out to get me,” Meldrum said. “I like being the underdog, so I just work my way up. I think I’m peaking at a good spot right now.”

To prepare for districts and beyond, Meldrum said the sprinters are stretching more and using new resistance bands. He and his teammates are also pushing each other in practice.

The comradery — and playful competition — among the Rainier sprinters was evident at the league championship. Meldrum said he’s going to miss the underclassmen, adding that they try not to put too much pressure on themselves at the meets.

“We’re just excited,” Meldrum said. “So, you know, even if we mess up, we mess up, but we just went out there and had fun and that’s what happens.”

Ean Viik and Zach Hamilton qualified for districts in the 800. Hamilton also qualified in the 1,600 — along with Caleb Stover — and the 3,200.

Zander Peck continued his remarkable improvement in the javelin, shattering his previous best with a throw of 181 feet, 5 inches. Peck now sits third all-time in the javelin at Rainier. Peck also qualified in the discus with a personal best throw of 154 feet. Dorien Cano qualified as well.

In the pole vault, both Willie Mendoza and Adison Poole qualified for district competition. Mendoza’s jump of 10 feet, 6 inches set a personal record.

The 2B District 4 Championships will be held at W.F. West on Thursday, May 22.