The Yelm boys team secured first place at the Mt. Tahoma Track Festival on Saturday, April 1, with a team score of 75, while the girls team secured 23 points and finished in the 11th spot.
The boys team was followed by Kentridge in second and Lincoln of Seattle in third.
Forty-two teams competed in the boys side of the competition.
In a field of 44 schools, the girls team finished three points behind Holy Names Academy, who secured the last spot in the top 10.
Three Tornados took part in the boys shot put event. Brayden Platt finished in first place with a throw of 60 feet, 7 inches. His teammates Isaiah Patterson threw for 42 feet, 2.5 inches and secured 16th place, while Onyx Carter threw for 41 feet, 2 inches for 21st place.
Patterson led the Tornados in discus with a second place finish. His best throw traveled 145 feet, 11 inches. Carter, who secured 26th place, threw for 109 feet.
Platt finished in seventh overall in the javelin event, with a throw of 141 feet, 9 inches. Sam Dejacomo finished with a throw of 110 feet, which was good for 28th place.
Carter was the only Tornado to place in the high jump event, as he finished 15th after a jump of 5 feet, 6 inches.
Jordan Lasher was the only Tornado to participate in the pole vault event. Lasher had a strong showing for Yelm, as he finished in first place with a vault of 13 feet, 6 inches.
Lasher was also the only Tornado to place in the 110-meter hurdle race as he took fifth place with a time of 16.43 seconds.
Senior Trevontay Smith placed first in the long jump event after jumping 20 feet, 7.25 inches.
Smith continued his strong showing by placing first in the triple jump competition with a distance of 46 feet and 5.5 inches.
Two Tornados participated in the 100-meter dash and found themselves in the middle of the pack. Anthony Kiamco and Deegan Golden each finished the race with a time of 12.24 seconds.
Golden, 15th, and Kiamco, 25th, each ran in the 200-meter race. Golden finished with a time of 24.12 seconds, while Kiamco finished with a time of 24.44 seconds. Jacob Ford, 23rd, finished with a time of 24.42 seconds.
Alex Hurd was the only Tornado to run the 400-meter race, finishing in 26th place with a time of 54.86 seconds.
In the 3200-meter race, Zach Walsh finished in first with a time of 9 minutes, 24.17 seconds. Matthew Walsh, 30th, finished with a time of 10 minutes, 46.9 seconds.
“Zach Walsh had his senior two-mile debut and was nothing short of incredible. After eight laps of battling a very respectable Enumclaw athlete, Walsh out-kicked him in the final stretch to win the race,” Alex McIntire, the long distance running coach for Yelm, said. “This was a great way to showcase the speed and strength that we know he has. This spring, we have put an emphasis on being able to run fast on tired legs and that’s exactly what he did. His 9:24 two-mile is currently the second fastest in the 3A state of Washington.”
Latrel Fabian, 13th, was the only Tornado to participate in the 300-meter hurdle race, finishing with a time of 45.73 seconds.
In the 4x100 relay, Yelm took fifth place with a time of 44.96 seconds. The relay team included Shawn Bankston, Golden, Lasher and Ford.
The Tornados saw improvement in the 4x200 relay, as they placed in third with a time of one minute, 36.9 seconds. The relay team involved Golden, Kiamco, Ford and Fabian.
In the 1600-meter run, Paul Manwiller finished in the middle of the pack with a time of 4 minutes, 44 seconds, which was good enough for the 11th fastest mile time in Yelm High School history.
Freshmen Sam Hall, Patrick Walsh and Nick Cox all competed in the freshmen mile race. Hall finished with a time of 4 minutes, 51 seconds. He was followed by Walsh with a time of 5 minutes and 4 seconds, while Cox finished with a time of 5 minutes and 5 seconds.
“After the race, all three freshmen can call themselves top 15 freshmen in the Yelm record book. Their potential is limitless,” McIntire said. “Hall was the first Yelm freshman through the line, with a 4:51 mile. That is especially exciting when you acknowledge that this was his first big race. Great things are coming for Sam Hall.”
The girls had two sprinters participate in the 100-meter race. Bethany Venuto, seventh, finished with a time of 13.74 seconds. Her teammate Ayla Danner-Bunn, 31st, finished with a time of 14.19 seconds.
Danner-Bunn finished the 200 meter race in 23rd place with a time of 29.09 seconds, while Kiana Neir finished in 29th place with a time of 29.71 seconds.
Amaile Niz cracked the top 10 for the 100-meter hurdles, finishing in ninth with a time of 18.89 seconds. Eliana Lewis finished in 13th place, with a time of 19.23 seconds.
Venuto finished in first place for the 300-meter hurdle race, with a time of 48.51 seconds. Chloe Baublits, ninth, and Breanna Hurajt, 12th, finished with respective times of 51.59 seconds and 53.53 seconds.
The 4x100 team finished in seventh place with a time of 51.83 seconds. The relay team included Venuto, Danner-Bunn, Isabella Zurfluh and Hurajt.
Two Tornados cracked the top 10 for the shot put event. Jayde Connally, eighth, threw her shot put 31 feet, 8 inches, while Madelyn Lawson, ninth, finished with a throw of 31 feet, 3 inches.
Lily Lawson was the only Tornado to place in discus, finishing in 10th after a throw of 91 feet, 9 inches.
Like Lawson, Connally was the only Tornado to place in the javelin event. She finished in 22nd, following a throw of 75 feet, 3 inches.
Neir secured a 10th place finish in the pole vault event, after a vault of 7 feet, 6 inches.
Danner-Bunn and Hurajt each had a good showing in the long jump event. Danner-Bunn finished in second place after a jump of 16 feet and 10.75 inches, while Hurajt finished in 12th after her jump of 15 feet and 1 inch.
Haven Hodge and Zurfluh each participated in the triple jump event for the Tornados. Hodge finished with a jump of 28 feet and half of an inch, while Zurfluh jumped 26 feet and 10 inches.
Freshman Kailey Slevin ran a mile of six minutes and 13 seconds, despite dealing with illness and injury, according to Coach McIntire.
The Tornados next track meet was scheduled for Wednesday, April 12. Yelm was set to host South Sound Conference opponents Central Kitsap and River Ridge in their first of two home meets scheduled for the 2023 season.
