Yelm’s boys and girls track teams have competed in a busy, yet fruitful season, including recent competitions throughout the South Sound Conference at home and at Capital High School. The program also recently competed in the South Sound Classic at Sparks Stadium, which included competition from several different classifications of athletics.
With the postseason nearing and just one conference meet remaining, Yelm’s boys head coach Richard Houghton said the team isn’t overly focused on the end outcome and is instead prioritizing the work necessary to peak at the right time.
“The outcomes take care of themselves,” Houghton said. “We’re focused on tweaking and finalizing our performances at practices. To set a certain expectation, to me, is that the outcome takes care of itself and it’s a result of what we do in our practices.”
Girls head coach Shannon Gubser said athletes have no idea how other athletes will compete at a meet and certainly no idea of who will take first at a particular competition.
“You can’t control anybody but yourself,” she said. “What we do want to have happen is that we are all creating our lifetime personal bests and our personal bests individually as people. Like coach Houghton said, the rest of it will take care of itself.”
Yelm’s programs competed on April 13 in the South Sound Classic presented by Washington State Fair, which featured a plethora of state track programs from several different classifications of athletics.
Scoring 26 points, Yelm’s boys earned eighth place at the South Sound Classic. They trailed Glacier Peak, 48, Puyallup, 38, Spanaway Lake, 36, Gig Harbor, 33, Olympia, 33, Eastlake, 30, and Lincoln of Tacoma, 28. Just three 3A programs finished higher than the Tornados at the competition.
Jordan Lasher placed first in the pole vault event with a measurement of 16 feet. He also placed second in the 110-meter hurdles competition with a time of 14.75 seconds. His teammate Tyler Blevins also finished second as he threw 50 feet, 2 inches in the shot put event.
Aaron Culler placed third in the high jump competition with a leap of 6 feet, 4 inches at the South Sound Classic. Matt Walsh finished eighth in the 3,200 meters competition with a time of 9:54.43. The Tornados boys 4x100 relay team finished in 10th place with a time of 43.99.
Yelm’s girls earned four points at the event to earn 32nd place. Eliana Lewis earned ninth place in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 16.03 seconds. Alissa Alvarado-Young finished ninth place in the high jump with a leap of 5 feet.
The Tornados also hosted its first of two home track meets this season on Thursday, April 11, where the boys secured victories against Peninsula, 83-53, and against River Ridge, 106.5-29.5. Peninsula narrowly defeated the girls, 78-70, and picked up a dominant victory over River Ridge, 102-43.
The boys and girls swept the competition on Wednesday, April 17, at Capital High School, as the boys defeated Timberline, 96-82, and Capital, 103-72, while the girls defeated the Blazers, 108-66, and the Cougars, 100-63. Houghton said the team totaled 92 personal records at the first home meet of the season.
“We have had PR’s galore, including at that first home meet. Despite the technology errors, we had a fantastic showing at that home meet,” Gubser said. “Our computer system failed like 25 times in the middle of the meet. On the coaching side of it, it was a bit of a nightmare. I felt horrible for Coach (Alex) McIntire. He really took that on … He really carried the weight of that. We’re hoping that with our technology, we have the kinks worked out for this upcoming meet.”
The Tornados will return home for its second and final home track meet of the season at 3:30 p.m., Thursday, April 25, as the team is scheduled to host Timberline and Gig Harbor. On Saturday, April 27, Yelm will compete in the 64th annual Shelton Invitational track meet.
Then the Tornados will compete on Wednesday, May 1, and Thursday, May 2, in the South Sound Conference championships. Qualifying athletes will then compete in the district competition on May 14 and May 16.
“We’re tapering back and easing off so muscles can get some recuperation and adapt. Some of our athletes aren’t going onto postseason, so their last meet after the home meet will either be the freshman showcase or the JV meet … Then we’re on to leagues, districts and state,” Houghton said. “Kids that are going to leagues, districts and state will be the only ones practicing with us from there. That way, we can give them a little more individual attention. We’ll have to bid the sorrowful farewell to the season for the other athletes.”
On Thursday, April 25, YHS seniors on the track team will be recognized. Both of the coaches said this year’s senior class have left its mark on the program.
