State Boys Track and Field: Two-year stalwart Brockway medals in shot put
May 24—YAKIMA — Halfway through the track and field season last spring, all Marshall Brockway did was waltz into the shot put ring and finish as the Class 1B state runner-up.
The Mossyrock High School senior proved it was no fluke.
He uncorked a new lifetime best toss of 45 feet, 3.75 inches on his last throw Thursday night to place fourth at the state track and field championships at Zaepfel Stadium in Yakima.
"It is a good feeling," Brockway said.
The WIAA 1B record was shattered by Valley Christian's Joseph Steinbach with a throw of 50-05.75. Brockway's throw was over a foot farther than his second place performance a season ago.
"Last year definitely wasn't a fluke at all," Brockway said. "I wasn't worried about it. My coach keeps pushing me all the time, see what works for you."
When May began, the right-hander turned it up another notch. He triumphed at three straight meets — including the crossover district meet — and all of his best throws eclipsed 41 feet.
Thursday proved to be an early struggle.
Brockway scratched his first throw, just clipped the line on his second and scratched his third. He was sitting in fourth place after the three prelim throws.
Brockway unleashed his last two throws of 44-11 and over 45 feet for the first time in his career.
"This was new, I think the ball was sticking to my skin," Brockway said. "I haven't practiced in this heat. I grabbed someone else's ball; it was bigger. Go get it, see what happens."
The most local flavor came in the 2B 1,600-meter run with Adna's Jordan Stout and Toledo's Treyton Marty finishing fifth and sixth, respectively.
Marty was the leader through the first two laps before a pack of three made a move on the third lap to break away.
"It was really unexpected," Marty said. "I knew I had to hit a certain split and I did, I just really wasn't expected to be in the lead which made it hard for me."
Stout wished he pushed with the front three. Still, he earned his second straight medal in the one-mile after a third-place finish as a junior.
The distance star has the open 800 and 1,600 relay prelims on Friday.
"I knew it was going to be kind of a quick finish no matter what happened," Stout said. "I was hoping to be in that top-three pack, but if I made a surge earlier to stay with that pack, I could have had more momentum."
Marty tailed off in the last two laps, but managed to improve on his showing in the mile last year by one podium spot and three seconds.
The junior will attempt to garner another medal in the two-mile on Saturday.
"It is a good start," Marty said.
Winlock's Chase Trodahl and Rainier's Zach Hamilton finished ninth and 10th, respectively. Trodahl went out with Marty at the start, then fell back into the chase pack. Morton-White Pass' Vanson Armstrong placed 11th.
Oakville eighth grader Cecil Gumaelius recorded a 14th place finish in the 1B mile in his state meet debut. Two area runners earned the top prelim finish on Thursday.
Pe Ell's Carter Phelps cruised to victory in the 300-meter hurdles prelims and will be joined in the finals by teammate Eli Mason. Rainier's Josh Meldrum dashed 11.14 seconds to take the top spot in the open 100 and Adna's Tyler Price also qualified.
Three locals — Kolton Moon (Adna), Clark Henderson (MWP) and Austin Lyons (Napavine) — reached the 2B 300 hurdle finals.
