Three meet records fell or were matched at the 53rd Bob Shaner Invitational on Friday night at Tumwater High School — all in the hurdles.

And all of them were set between River Ridge’s Josh Braverman and Northwest Christian’s Heidi Sowers, who were both named athletes of the meet for another year.

Braverman, a senior, and the top hurdler statewide, broke records in both the 110- and 300-meter hurdles.

He blew by the field in the 110 hurdles, posting a season-best 14.09 seconds, to top the record he matched last year at 14.25.

“Today I feel great,” Braverman said. “I broke all of the records that I wanted to. Came out, great weather, and I’m glad I didn’t tie like I did last year.”

Braverman, who signed with the University of Iowa in November, later edged the record in the 300 hurdles, set by Yelm’s Jake Hanson in 2004.

He coasted to the finish line in 37.87 — nearly four seconds ahead of the second-place finisher — to rewrite the record.

Braverman also anchored River Ridge’s winning 4x100 relay team, which ran a 43.67 and is ranked third in 2A. He was named the male athlete of the meet for the second consecutive season.

Braverman is the reigning Class 2A state champion in the 300 hurdles, and took second in the 110 hurdles as a junior.

Sowers, a senior committed to Biola, was crowned the female athlete of the meet for the third consecutive season.

She ran a personal-best 15.14 in the 100 hurdles, matching a meet record nearly three decades after it was set by Olympia’s Shannon Bryan in 1988.

“It’s actually kind of been a rough year in the 100-meter hurdles so far,” Sowers said. “I haven’t really been doing as well as I wanted.

“So that just felt amazing. It felt faster than I ever have before, and it felt great to PR like that.”

Sowers later won the 300 hurdles with a season-best 46.63, and set personal records in the triple jump (third, 35-8) and long jump (sixth, 16-4 1/2).

Tumwater’s annual meet has always seemed to agree with Sowers, who holds 2B bests in both hurdles events, and won the 2B title in the 300 hurdles last season.

“It’s towards the end of the season, so the training is really kicking in,” Sowers said. “I just love the atmosphere here. It’s so intense.

“The competition, and running under the lights at night, there’s just this feel about it that’s not like any other meet we go to.”

TAYLOR TOPS STATE AGAIN

Timberline senior Jaylen Taylor is back on top in the triple jump.

He uncorked a personal-best 47-6 3/4 to win the event Friday, and passed Shadle Park’s Jakobe’ Ford (47-5 1/2), who had held the best mark statewide since April 8.

“I felt it after my first phase,” Taylor said. “I was like, ‘This is going to be deep. I’ve got 47-0, easy.’ And it turned out 47-6, back to No. 1 in state.”

Taylor had a bit of added motivation. His uncle, Johnny Taylor, a three-time state champion and Timberline’s school-record holder (48-6 1/2) was in the crowd.

“After my first jump in finals, my dad, he told me that my uncle is going to be here today, so I just have to go after it,” Taylor said.

Taylor passed his father, Richie, in Timberline’s all-time rankings. Richie Taylor won Timberline’s most recent triple jump state title in 1987.

A RARE SUNNY DAY

Braverman said the weather, which was mostly sunny with an occasional breeze, gave local athletes opportunities to excel in ways that were hindered early on.

“Every meet this year has been raining, cloudy, barely any sun,” Braverman said. “So, a little wind is not going to stop us from making big PR’s.

“As long as we have the sun, and we’re warm, I feel like we’re set.”

He was right — 15 new area bests were set on Friday night.

Here were some of the top performances:

▪ Timberline junior Keshara Romain was a four-time winner. She tops 3A — and is seventh statewide — after posting a personal-best 38-3 3/4 in the triple jump.

She also won the long jump with a personal-best 17-1 3/4), and ran legs of both of Timberline’s winning relays.

The Blazers’ squad of Romain, Rachel Izuagbe, Makenna Hansen and Ashley Babkirk is now ranked second in 3A in the 4x200 relay (1:46.44) and fifth in the 4x100 (50.11).

Hansen, a junior, ran a season-best 25.86 in the 200, and is ranked ninth in 3A. She also won the 100 (12.6) and her personal-best time from earlier this season (12.45) is fifth in 3A.

▪ Olympia’s Lauren Wilson, a senior, is now among six high jumpers tied for the top spot statewide — four in 4A — after jumping a personal-best 5-6.

▪ Black Hills senior Kyler Nygren jumped a personal-best 23- 3/4 in the long jump to claim the top spot in 2A. He’s ranked third statewide.

▪ Tumwater’s 4x400 relay team of Rashaun Tate, Grant Pierce, Brad Blackburn and Evan Groat has the best time in 2A after running a season-best 3:28.54.

▪ Northwest Christian junior Megan McSheffrey set a season-best 59.47 in the 400, and leads 2B in the event.

Her teammate, Eliana Summers, a junior, won the 1,600 with a personal-best time of 5:22.45, and is ranked second in 2B. Summers has the top mark in 2B in the 3,200 (11:36.58) from earlier this season.

Northwest Christian senior Luke Schilter won the 1,600 (4:26.81) and the 3,200 (9:47.52). He continues to lead 2B in both events.

▪ Cody Simon, a Shelton senior, is tied for the third-ranked spot in 3A after jumping a personal-best 14-6 in the pole vault. He’s tied for the eighth-ranked spot statewide.

This story was originally published May 6, 2017 at 7:20 AM with the headline "Braverman, Sowers top field again at Shaner Invitational."