Spartan girls win title that doesn’t count for postseason

By Nicholas Zeller-Singh Bainbridge Island Review • May 7, 2023 1:30 am
Thomas Steen competes in the hurdle events for the Spartans.
Thomas Steen competes in the hurdle events for the Spartans.

Bainbridge High School’s girls track team won the Olympic League Track and Field Championships May 4 and 6 at North Kitsap.

But since it is a 3A rather than a 2A school their marks didn’t qualify them for districts. They have to compete again for that honor.

But they showed the other teams in their league who was the boss., scoring 125 points.

Cate Torrell finished second in the 100-meter dash with a time of 13.5 seconds. Claire Hungerford finished sixth with a personal record of 14.01.

Bainbridge’s top 400-meter dash time for the girls was Arden De Lanoy, with a seventh-place finish in 1 minute, 5.88 seconds.

The Spartans first gold medal came in the 1600. Mairin O’Brien won with a time of 5:14.51, and teammate Elise Gonzales finished fourth in 5:37.05.

Hungerford returned to the podium with a third-place finish in the 100 hurdles. She finished in 17.11 seconds while Sabine Hartenstine finished fifth with a 18.16. Hungerford finished first and Hartenstine second in the 300 hurdles with times of 46.64 and 47.84.

The Spartans struggled in the 4×100 relay but bounced back in the 4×200 relay with a third-place finish and second in the 4×400 relay. Torrell, De Lanoy, Annika Miller and Luna Steen picked up a time of 1:56.22.

Bainbridge had no placers in the throwing events but shined once again in the jumps.

Ella McRitchie coasted to first in the pole vault at 12 feet 6 inches, nearly 4 feet higher than the next competitor. Gretchen Johnston finished third in the triple jump with a 28-06. Sabine Hartenstine finished second in the high jump with 4-8.

The boys team only had a few placers throughout the meet, finishing with 52.5 points.

The first Spartans on the podium was the 4×100 team. Micah Bryant, Amare Clark, Max Fitzgerald and Robert Cockburn finished fourth with a time of 47.7.

In throwing events, Matthew Grant finished sixth in the discus with 107-10, and Rowan Schick finished fourth in the javelin with 132-08. In addition, Wyatt Goade finished fourth in the shot put with 37-4.25

Clark shined in the jumping competitions with a sixth-place finish in the high jump with a 5-06 and a second-place finish in the long jump with a 19-8. Yafei Shou finished third in the pole vault with a 13-0.