Timberline senior Carmelo Roper took home Puget Sound League titles in both the long jump and the triple jump during this week’s Puget Sound League Championships at South Sound Stadium.
Roper won comfortably in both events, leaping 22 feet, 5.5 inches, in the long jump and 43 feet, 5.5 inches, in the triple jump. He earned his second career league title in the triple jump, as he won the 2024 South Sound Conference crown as a sophomore, and the first long jump league title of his career.
Roper only registered two jumps in the long jump, but his first attempt was enough to win the event. Only one of his triple jump attempts counted, and it was also a winner.
Fellow Timberline senior Devin Rohrbach stood atop the podium for the javelin, winning the event with a best throw of 159-4. He has collected the top prize in javelin in seven of his eight meets this season.
The other local league champion was Capital senior thrower Gus Valek, who won the discus handedly with a personal-record 149-4. He now ranks sixth all-time in Capital history in boys discus and is the first Cougars male athlete to clear 149 feet since 2013.
Timberline finished tied for sixth in the boys standings with 55 points. Junior Joel Pedro was the runner-up in discus at 137-1, and both Blazers relay teams finished in the top four.
Junior Christian Prince joined elite company at the league championships, becoming just the third Blazer to run under 11 seconds in the 100-meter dash. He ran a personal-best time of 10.98 seconds to finish seventh and join school-record holder Douglas Sudberry (10.83 seconds in 2011) and former NFL running back Jonathan Stewart (10.90 seconds in 2003) in the sub-11 seconds club.
Senior Benjamin Jackson set a new PR in the 400 meters at 53.88 seconds to take home 13th place.
The Capital boys took eighth in team scoring with 41 points. Valek also established a PR in the shot put at 44-5.5, placing fourth. Junior Jae Walz finished third in the 800 meters at 1:55.92 and blazed to a new 1,600-meter best time at 4:26.59 to earn sixth. Junior Landis Bryan, at 40.92 seconds, took third place in the 300-meter hurdles, and sophomore Quinn Sebring upped his PR in the 110-meter hurdles for the third straight meet at 15.13 seconds, finishing in fourth.
The North Thurston boys, 10th out of 12 teams with 25 points, were led by sophomore Sebastian Olson, who PRed in both the 1,600 meters (seventh at 4:27.28) and the 3,200 meters (third at 9:28.66). He ranks second all-time in school history in the 3,200 meters and is one second away from the school record of 9:27.60, set by Mike Thorniley in 1996.
Senior Zachary Allison placed third in javelin at 142-7 and seventh in discus at 119-5, while junior Zander Zaballa-Turner PRed toward a third-place finish in pole vault at 11-0.
River Ridge’s top finisher was senior Jayden Taylor in the triple jump, taking fifth at 41-6. He also finished eighth in the long jump, leaping 19-2.
With 42.33 points, the Timberline girls finished in eighth in the team standings. Senior Paityn Gagnon shined in all three of her events, placing as the runner-up in the high jump, long jump and triple jump. She PRed in the triple jump at 35-7.5, ranking ninth all-time in school history. Gagnon jumped 16-10.5 in the long jump and 4-10 in the high jump.
Junior sprinter Hannah Jackson earned sixth place with PR times in both the 100 meters and the 200 meters, running 12.40 seconds and 25.59 seconds, respectively. She stands in third in school history in the 100 meters and fourth in the 200 meters.
Finishing right behind Jackson in the 100 meters was sophomore Joyce Izuagbe, who ran the school’s fourth-best time ever at 12.46 seconds to place eighth.
The River Ridge girls saw top-10 finishers in nine events, led by sophomore Xyla Camp in the 100-meter hurdles (eighth with a PR of 17.40 seconds) and the 300-meter hurdles (seventh at 49.95 seconds). Senior Iliana Cross sprinted to a new PR in the 200 meters at 25.77 seconds for a ninth-place time while adding a seventh-place finish in the 100 meters at 12.45 seconds.
Senior Shanyce Hamilton was the Hawks’ highest finisher, securing fifth in the discus with a new PR of 93-11 to rank eighth all-time at River Ridge.
Capital’s top finisher was junior hurdler Pippin Crump, who notched a fourth-place time in the 100-meter hurdles at 16.50 seconds, a season-best. The 4x400 relay team took sixth at 4:24.79, and sophomore javelin thrower Jessalyn Bottin (90-0) and senior triple jumper Margot Chancellor (32-0.5) earned seventh in their respective events.
