SHELTON — The Shelton Invitational is where school records go to die.
Three local runners combined to break four school records at the 66th Shelton Invitational on a toasty afternoon Saturday. Pope John Paul II junior Kevin Hu set two records in Shelton, breaking his own all-time mark in the 1,600 meters and surpassing a seven-year school record in the 800 meters.
His teammate, senior Lathan Piper, for the second time this season, also earned a school record in the 300-meter hurdles.
But perhaps the most improbable of all the record-breaking feats came from Capital junior Jae Walz. He smashed the school’s all-time mark in the 800 meters by more than two seconds, finishing in 1 minute, 54.21 seconds to win the event and establish the 10th-best time in the state this season.
The improbability didn’t stem from Walz’s ability to accomplish such a time. After all, his previous best time set on April 23 was half a second off from the then-school record. But, in Walz’s words, his performances in the 800 meters throughout his career have been “pretty erratic” up until the month of April, where he’s earned personal records in each of his last two meets.
“From my freshman year to now, it hasn’t been consistent at all,” Walz said. “I’m just glad to see I’m progressing how I am. It’s always been in my goals to get toward this stage. I just felt really good today. Maybe the heat had something to do with that.”
Walz trailed Sequim’s Reid Randall for the first lap, and rounding the corner in the final 200 meters, he turned on the jets and cruised past him to win the event nearly two seconds faster than Randall.
“My mind was just blank,” Walz said of crossing the finish line. “I definitely felt a wave of relief, but I was completely deaf to everything. I’ve won in the 800 meters before, but never at such a competitive level. I’m here, and I’m here to compete.”
Timberline’s Brady Moe finished in third three seconds behind Walz at 1:57.95 for a season-best time, and another three seconds later came Hu with a school-record time of 2:00.05. In all five of his 800-meter races this season, Hu has improved his times.
He gave credit to his training program and coaching from Hall of Fame head coach Larry Weber.
“I’ve put in a lot more mileage this year. Last year, I was at 40 miles per week. This year, I’m doing up to 65 miles per week,” Hu said. “We’ve got a really good coach. He always puts God first. I like how we have a faith-based running culture and a great coach who prays with you before every run.”
Earlier in the day, Hu topped his own school record in the mile, finishing second at 4:28.41. While setting records seems to have turned into a weekly occurrence for the junior runner, he believes his ceiling is even higher.
“It feels great to be able to reset these records and get them higher and put Pope John Paul II out there,” he said. “My goals are sub-4:20 for the mile, sub-9:40 for the 3,200 meters, sub-1:58 in the 800, and a sub-3:30 4x400 relay. Overall, I want to win state.”
Pope John Paul II, one of the smallest schools at the Shelton Invitational, scored 13 points to rank tied for 16th in the boys standings. Piper provided two points with an all-time performance in the 300-meter hurdles, crossing the finish line at 41.87 seconds to finish seventh in the event.
This marks Piper’s second time breaking the 300-meter hurdles school record and first time running a sub-42-second time, standing alone as the only Eagle to do so.
Piper, at 17.05 seconds, also finished ninth in the 110-meter hurdles, an event claimed by Capital sophomore Quinn Sebring at 15.25 seconds, a new PR and the fourth-best time in school history. It’s the fastest 110-meter hurdles run by a Capital male athlete in 11 years, and it’s the fifth time Sebring has earned a new lifetime-best time in the event this season.
Sebring defeated a pair of veteran hurdlers in Ridgefield’s Brian McLemore III and Olympia’s Sam Rigg, who was the top points scorer for the Bears team that finished first in the boys standings with 82.5 points.
Sebring let out a big yell as he crossed the finish line, a reaction that he jokingly acknowledged was slightly over the top in retrospect.
“It might have been a little much,” he said with a laugh. “I was just so happy. Probably around the 70-meter mark, I was looking at my peripherals and I didn’t see anybody. I was so pumped. I’ve never felt like that before.”
The Shelton Invitational may prove to be a turning point for Sebring, who admitted that it’s been a “rough” track season for him after staffing changes affected the Capital coaching staff and coaches that he depended on and grew close with. But that yell at the finish line was indicative of Sebring overcoming a mental hurdle.
“I’ve been really missing them,” Sebring said of his coaches. “I’ve been wanting to get faster, and it just felt like I was hitting a wall. This is the day I finally pushed through, and I’m just so hyped for that. I’m just a sophomore, so I’ve got so much more room to grow.”
Rigg set a new PR in the 110-meter hurdles at 15.36 in his second-place finish, good for ninth all-time at Olympia. The senior is the first Bear to crack sub-15.4 seconds in seven years.
Rigg also took sixth in the 300-meter hurdles with a PR of 41.68 seconds, and he was the javelin runner-up thanks to a top throw of 162 feet, 8 inches.
While sophomore sprinter Shaun McKay, who took first in the underclassmen 100-meter dash, was the only first-place finisher for Olympia, the Bears ranked second in seven events. Senior thrower Carson Godfrey finished second in both the discus (169-01) and shot put (57-07.75), following Onalaska’s Ethan Thayer in both events.
Senior pole vaulter Logan Gerrits cracked 13-6 for the first time in his career on a long day that saw him take 12 vaults overall. Only six Bears have reached that height, and Gerrits is the first to do so since 1993, clearing 13-6 on his second try. It’s also his first PR in over a year, as he’s hit 13 feet five times in the past two years.
“It feels awesome. I wasn’t getting back far enough on the pole [on the first try at 13-6] so that I would get height up off the top,” Gerrits said of adjusting from attempt one to two at 13-6. “It’s been a long day of vaulting. My legs are pretty gassed, and it’s really hot so I’m drained.”
Junior jumper Kam Kronmeyer put forth his best showcase in the high jump, taking second with a PR of 6 feet, 2 inches. After matching his previous PR of 5-8 on his first try, he cleared 5-10 on his third and final attempt. Then, he nailed jumps of 6-0 and 6-2 on his first tries before coming up short three times at 6-4.
Olympia freshman Quin Zola ran an impressive underclassmen mile time of 4:43.52 to come in second behind Capital sophomore Abram Montermini, who won the event at 4:42.76 — the fifth-best mile time in school history. Olympia sophomore Rylan Thomas earned a new lifetime best in the 200 meters, finishing fourth at 22.46 seconds.
Timberline senior Carmelo Roper won the long jump with a best leap of 22-6.50 and was second in the triple jump at 42-07. Three Blazers sprinters — Christian Prince, Kwame Walters and TreVon Alejandro-Cross, placed in the top 10 in the 100-meter dash.
Capital junior Landis Bryan earned a runner-up finish in the 300-meter hurdles with a PR of 40.47 seconds, good for fifth all-time at Capital and the program’s fastest time in 18 years.
North Thurston runners Sebastian Olson and Josiah Tucker both enjoyed a solid day in Shelton. Olson, a sophomore, collected a PR and a fourth-place time in the mile at 4:29.14, along with a new lifetime best in the 800 meters at 2:01.21 to place seventh. Tucker took fourth in the 400 meters at 51.43 seconds and ninth in the 200 meters at 22.99 seconds, a PR.
Two River Ridge veterans set PRs in Shelton, as Desmond James sprinted to a seventh-place 400-meter time of 52.20 seconds and Jayden Taylor advanced to the triple jump finals, placing fourth at 42-0.25.
