State track and field: Seven must-see Kitsap athletes on my watchlist
With the starting gun on the state track and field championships about to go off, there's no shortage of West Sound athletes hoping to snag medals, either at the 4A/3A/2A meet at Mount Tahoma High School the 1A/2B/1B meet at Zaepfel Stadium in Yakima. Both championships run Thursday through Saturday and the weather forecast is prime.
Here are seven local athletes who represent our best bets to reach the top of the podium in their respective events:
Brooke Berens, Crosspoint
A freshman at Crosspoint, Berens boasts the top time in the girls 800-meter run in 1B this season: 2:28.26. That's almost six seconds faster than the next fastest runner. Berens also ranks sixth in the 400 and is a member of the Warriors' third-ranked 4x200 relay team and the Warriors' fifth-ranked 4x400 relay team.
Brendan Bourke, South Kitsap
An offensive lineman for the Wolves during football season, Bourke is a mammoth of a young man (6-6, 310) and the senior ranks first in the 4A boys field in discus. He set a personal-best with 158 feet, 10 inches while winning last week's West Central/Southwest Bi-District title. Central Valley's Rodney Minette ranks second at 155-4.
Grace Degarimore, South Kitsap
Degarimore is a three-sport athlete (volleyball, basketball, track and field) who is hoping to show off her diversity at Mount Tahoma by competing in three field events. Among 4A girls, she ranks third in shot put, fifth in discus and seventh in javelin. As a sophomore at state in 2022, she placed fifth in the shot put and discus.
Savannah Fourier, Central Kitsap
The leaderboard for 3A girls high jumpers is interesting in that pretty much everyone set personal bests in March or April, but not May. Fournier, a junior, is the only athlete to clear 5-5 this season. She did that in mid-March. Succeeding at high jump comes down to such small margins on meet day, so it will be interesting to see who rises to the top. Fourier took fourth at state last year.
Sara Leasiolagi, Olympic
Like Degarimore at South Kitsap, Leasiolagi is looking to medal in more than one throwing event. The senior is ranked second in 2A in shot put (38-6) and third in 2A in discus (119-10). She has some ground to make up on the top-ranked athletes in both those events, athletes with two of the longest names in the field: shot put leader Leibreena Vaiotualemoso-Fesili of Fort Vancouver (39-45) and discus leader Kamia Tootootis-Didier of R.A. Long (126-6).
Roderick Schenk, Central Kitsap
Schenk might be the surest best of any West Sound competitor to take first at state. The senior does one event, 3A boys javelin, and he's one of the best in the nation. He won last week's district title with a personal-best mark of 203-11. That top throw in the state this season is more than 14 feet ahead of second-ranked Brayden Platt of Yelm, who is 3A's top shot put and discus thrower.
Salix Wartes-Kahl, North Kitsap
Ever since arriving on the scene for the Vikings in cross country during her freshman season, Wartes-Kahl has performed as one of West Sound's best middle-distance runners. For 2A girls, the junior ranks first in the 800 (2:17.96) and fourth in the 1,600 (5:11.53). As a sophomore at state in 2022, she placed third in the 800.
This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: State track and field: Seven must-see Kitsap athletes on my watchlist
