Tumwater’s Shedd-Kirkland, Olympia’s Woodward state champions in javelin
Devon Shedd-Kirkland flashed a “hang loose” hand gesture to the crowd as he trotted back to the thrower’s tent during the Class 2A boys javelin final at Star Track XXXIV.
He had one thing to say.
“It’s the hair.”
Maybe it is. Maybe the ponytail placed on the top of the Tumwater High School senior’s head makes him stronger, or more aerodynamic.
Shedd-Kirkland’s comment followed a throw of 171 feet, 8 inches, which gave him a lead he didn’t lose. On his second-to-last throw, he did one better and tossed a personal-best 173-03 to secure the title on his first trip to the track and field state championships.
“It’s a great feeling,” he said. “I’ve always been really close to making it to state. I don’t know. It’s kind of indescribable.”
Shedd-Kirkland was one of four locals to place in the javelin on Saturday at Mount Tahoma Stadium. Rochester’s Journey Fortner (seventh, 157-07) and Black Hills’ Jordan Claridge (sixth, 159-05) also placed in the 2A event.
Olympia’s David Woodward won the 4A state title. He launched a personal-best 188-1 on his final throw to propel him from sixth place to first.
“After my first couple of throws, the wind was a little off and I was throwing it too high in the air,” Woodward said. “It would go up pretty straight and then turn sideways and fall short.
“Then, just for my last throw, Papa Stevick was telling me to reach back really far and throw it hard.”
Strong headwinds were problematic throughout competition Saturday.
“The wind made it really difficult,” said Drew Stevick, an assistant coach at Olympia. “He threw very well. Overall, the guys threw better than I thought they would with the headwind.”
Stevick has incentivized Woodward to improve all season with promises of food for new personal bests.
He said Woodward’s state championship ups the reward a bit.
“I’ve got to think that over,” Stevick said, laughing. “It’ll definitely be grander.”
BLACK HILLS STRIKES GOLD
Black Hills’ Jason Underhill couldn’t have been happier with second place in the 2A boys 400.
Underhill ran a personal-best 49.8 seconds — Olympic’s Jaleel Elmore won in a time of 48.84 — eclipsing his previous best of 50.3, which he hadn’t topped since Federal Way’s Bill Harris Invitational on April 2.
“Biggest stage, best race to do it, and I did it,” Underhill said.
Little did he know, the Wolves would win the 2A boys team title three hours later — talk about winning on a big stage.
“This is a lot better,” Underhill said. “I’ve never been part of a state championship team, and to end high school sports (as) a state champion feels really good. … We had strength in numbers.”
Black Hills finished with 47.5 points, while second-place Lynden had 41. Underhill passed Lynden’s anchor on the final corner of the 4x400 relay to clinch the crown.
Black Hills brought 11 athletes, and had state placers in eight events. Kyler Nygren took fifth in the long jump (21-7 1/4) on Thursday. On Friday, Austen Daisa took second in the shot put (50-9 3/4), Gabe Adamson tied for fourth in the pole vault (14-0), and Jewell Day finished sixth in the triple jump (42-9 3/4).
As for other Wolves competing in the finals, Mark Melendres took fourth in the 100 (11.53) to complement Underhill’s second-place finish in the 400 and Claridge’s sixth-place showing in the javelin.
The 4x100 relay squad of Nygren, Edward Afeiche, Underhill and Melendres took third place (43.16). The 4x400 relay team of Josh Brandon, Day, Afeiche and Underhill also finished third (3:26.70).
“We’re super diverse,” Day said. “We didn’t have one first-place champion, but we’re just so diverse and spread out. It’s great.”
1A/2B/1B track
Rainier’s Peyton Dungan won the 2B girls shot put at Eastern Washington University in Cheney, giving her back-to-back state titles in the event.
She tossed a personal-best 41-9 1/4 on her fourth attempt, beating the second-place finisher by nearly four feet.
Alec Miller won the 2B boys javelin with a throw of 170-9.
Northwest Christian’s Heidi Sowers matched her second-place time in the 300 hurdles from last season (45.87), but this year it won her a 2B state title. She placed third in the 100 hurdles (15.89).
Luke Schilter won the 2B boys 3,200 for the Navigators (9:44.76) and took third in the 800 (1:58.56).
Megan McSheffrey finished third in the 2B girls 400 (1:00.25), while Lee Thibodeau took third in the 2B boys 400 (51.0) for Northwest Christian.
Northwest Christian finished second in the boys team competition (51 points) behind Okanogan (77). The girls team took fourth.
Mary M. Knight’s Kaylee Sowle took second in the 1B girls 100 (13.51), while Elma’s Brandon Butcher took third in the 1A boys 400 (50.81).
This story was originally published May 28, 2016 at 7:48 PM with the headline "Tumwater’s Shedd-Kirkland, Olympia’s Woodward state champions in javelin."