Liberty shines at invitational
April 6, 2009
By Bob Taylor
Josh Twaddle, Skyline senior, controls the ball in the first half against Bellevue players. He scored once in the first half and twice in the second half for just the second hat trick in school history. By Christopher Hube
Michael Smith will take the sun any day. The warm weather and the first appearance of spring made the April 4 Liberty High Invitational a joy for the Patriots coach, his athletes and fans at the meet. Weather-wise, it was quite a contrast from last year’s meet, when Smith had to shovel snow off the track hours before the event began.
“The sun felt pretty good. I think, overall, we had a fun meet. We had eight teams show up. We had hamburgers and hot dogs, the athletes got medals and the meet was over by 2 p.m. For me, that’s a good meet,” Smith said.
The Liberty boys finished second in the team standings behind Everett. The Sea Gulls had 173 points and Liberty, with many athletes still exhausted from a grueling 3A KingCo Conference meet at Bellevue two days before, was second with 163. Liberty defeated Bellevue 78.5-73.5.
The Liberty girls were leading their team standings in the invitational with 181 points. However, at press time, the Patriots still weren’t declared winners, because some places from other teams had not been posted. Mariner was second with 170 points.
While the Bellevue meet probably hurt some performances for the Liberty boys and girls, there were some outstanding efforts by the Patriots.
In the boys meet, Eric Bice, after running a sub-par 800 meters for him, came back to win the 1,600 in four minutes, 35.7 seconds. Bice was fourth in the 800.
“He really looked good in the 1,600,” Smith said.
Liberty went one-two in the 3,200 with Josiah Sherwood outbattling teammate Connor Mosely for first. Sherwood finished first in 10:27.8 and Mosely was very close behind in 10:27.9.
The 1,600 relay took first place with its best time of the season in 3:34.5. Bice, Mitchell Byron, Devin Bennett and Troy Solly made up the relay team and dominated the race. Everett was second in 3:41.1
“The guys were really tired, but they stepped up and ran a real good race,” Smith said.
Peter Stacy had three second places, taking runner-up honors in the shot put, discus and javelin.
In the girls meet, freshmen Kaily Davies and Emily Pesti-Dimmitt each took first places, as did junior Christina Huff and senior Hannah Robins. Davies captured the 1,600 in 5:43.4 and Pesti-Dimmitt was first in the 100 hurdles in 17 seconds. Huff won the javelin with a throw of 87 feet and Robins won the pole vault, going 8 feet.
Liberty took first place in the 800 and 1,600 relays, too. Alli Agnew, Pesti-Dimmitt, Madison Birdsall and Kayla Lockhart made up the winning 800 relay team that finished first in 1:51.9. Agnew, Birdsall, Lockhart and Kelsey Werre made up the 1,600 relay team that won in 4:22.4.
Perhaps the hardest-working Patriot of the day was freshman Aimee Christensen, who competed in four events. She ran in the 200, 300 hurdles, 100 hurdles, and when Liberty needed another runner for the 3,200, she volunteered. She took fourth in the 200, fifth in the 100 hurdles, sixth in the 300 hurdles and sixth in the 3,200.
“We had a lot of tired kids after the meet. But I wanted them to be tired so they rest up on their trips to Hawaii, or Las Vegas or wherever they are going to spend their spring break,” Smith said.
Patriots top Bellevue
The Liberty boys defeated Bellevue for the second straight year, winning 78.5-73.5. The Liberty girls lost 85-76.
In the boys meet, Bice outdueled Bellevue’s Michael Williams to take first in both the 800 and 1,600. Stacy captured the discus and javelin. Other Liberty first places came from Alex Leonard (200), Mosely (3,200), Joshua Gordon (high jump), Chandler Jenkins (long jump), and Bennett (triple jump).
In the girls meet, Werre captured the 100 in 12.85 and 200 in 27.71, and helped the 1,600 relay team take first with fastest time among 3A teams in the state in 1:48.20. Agnew, Birdsall and Haile Erickson were other members of the relay. Pesti-Dimmitt won the 100 hurdles, Huff was first in the javelin and Krista Lockhart captured the pole vault.
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