On Thursday, March 28, the East Jefferson track and field teams traveled to Bainbridge High School to compete in an Olympic League meet.

In addition to the host school, teams from Port Angeles and Bremerton were also present.

While East Jefferson is a 1A school, all the other competitors were 2A.

Throughout the competition, conditions at the meet were cool, with off-and-on rain showers.

Freshman sprinter Arden Moore was perhaps the most impressive East Jefferson athlete, in her first-ever high school track meet.

She sprinted to an overall win in the 100-meter dash, with a stunning time, for a freshman debut, of 13.63.

Fellow freshmen Carina Shifflet (with a personal record, or PR, of 13.92) and Clara Camp (14.11) placed fourth and fifth, respectively, out of a field of 27 athletes.

Moore returned to tie for second place in the 200-meter, after junior Faerin Tait of Port Angeles, in a time of 28.35.

Moore again competed as a leg of the winning 4x100-meter relay team, which also featured Shifflet, Sienna Emerson and Kaida Rodrigues.

They definitively won over second-place Bremerton, by more than 2 seconds, with a time of 53.83.

Ian Fraser said that Moore, Shiflett, Camp and Rodrigues are definitely the fastest and deepest group of freshmen girls he has ever seen in his history as head coach.

East Jefferson had 11 boys compete in the 100-meter dash, with junior Jasper Dances leading the group, with a significant PR of 12.24, and a fifth-place finish in the field of 45.

Fellow juniors Nikolas Erickson and Traycen Brown also had impressive PRs of 12.42, to tie for the ninth and 10th spots.

Brown and Erickson came back in the 200-meter to place eighth (25.69) and 14th (PR 26.66), respectively.

The Rivals distance runners had a strong showing at the meet, with senior Indigo Gould taking third in the 1600, with a 6-second PR of 4:49.23.

Freshman Joshua Yearian also ran a PR of 4:52.70 for fourth.

In the girls 1600, sophomores Leah Ferland (6:17.51) and Michael Gregg (6:36.68) raced to second and third places.

Both returned to compete in the 800-meter, with Ferland PRing in 2:53.3 to take sixth place.

The only East Jefferson competitor in the 3200, freshman Noah Isenberg, ran a strong effort to take second, in a PR of 10:54.61, breaking the 11-minute barrier for the first time.

At the conclusion of the meet, the 4x400-meter relay team of Gould, Yearian, Nico Errichetti and Henri Huber ran 4:01.09

A dramatic burst of speed down the final straight by Yearian, to pass the Port Angeles team, allowed them to take third out of seven teams.

The team’s coaches confirmed that the distance runners are a strong group, and will continue to see PRs throughout the season.

Huber performed well in the jumps, and was the top East Jefferson finisher in both the long and triple jumps.

He had a PR leap of 17’9.25” in the long jump, to place sixth, and took the same place in the triple, with a 33' 5” effort.

In the girls jumps, the freshmen again impressed, with Shifflet taking third overall in her first long jump competition, with 13’ 8.25”.

Rodrigues demonstrated her aptitude in the triple, with a second-place finish in 29’ 4”.

In the throws, junior athlete Adam Weaver threw a 32’ 7.25” shot to place 13th with Dances, in his first shot competition, not far behind, with 32’ 6” (15th place).

Senior Reid Martin was the top East Jefferson finisher in both the discus (91’ 2”, eighth place) and the javelin (135’ 10”, first) despite the fact that these events took place in near darkness.

On the girls side, senior Paige Govia competed in all three throws.

She was sixth in the shot, with a 22’ 3.25’ toss, and 13th in disc, with a seasonal best of 52’ 8”, just behind freshman Abby O’Keefe, who threw a PR of 53’ 10”.

Emmerson won the javelin competition, more than three feet ahead of second place, with a throw of 86’ 10”, and Govia was sixth, with a seasonal best of 62’ 5”.

The track and field team will next be taking a small group of athletes to the Birger Solberg Invitational in Bellingham on Saturday, April 6, at the close of school spring break.

Alice Fraser is the head cross country coach and assistant track and field coach for the EJ Rivals.