Issaquah head track and field coach Gwen Robertson knew she had a strong contingent of girls headed to last weekend’s class 3A state meet in Pasco, but even she wasn’t prepared for the end result. The Eagle girls earned 49 points for second place, finishing only behind Eastmont’s 51. The accomplishment matched second place finishes in the 4A classification in 1984, 1976 and 1973, and nearly provided the Issaquah girls their first-ever state title.

“To be so close to first was a total surprise,” Robertson said. “If you had told me a week ago that we would be in contention for the state title, I would not have believed you. We don’t think about what other teams have and only concentrate on our own performances. Everyone was very pleased with how the meet turned out for us.”

Issaquah captured one state title on Saturday, taking first in the 1,600 relay. The group of freshman Kim Varney, senior Bonnie Young, junior Haida Ikeda and sophomore Kaley Allison ran their best time of the season at 4 minutes, 0.02 seconds. Allison, the anchor leg, ran a 58.4 second split and came from behind to catch the lead runner from Bainbridge.

“It was a great effort by all four runners as each one equaled or improved on their best 400 time of the year,” Robertson said.

Issaquah’s Johanna Carr also had quite a state meet. The junior finished second in the 100 (12.10) and fifth in the 200 (25.56). Young took fourth in the 800 (2:17.52), freshman Haley Jacobsen took fourth in the 100 (12.32), senior Emee Mathew was fifth in the shot put (36-feet, 3 1/2 inches) and junior Elaine Tran was seventh in the 300 hurdles (46.97).

Issaquah’s 400 relay and 800 relay teams set school records, finishing third and fourth, respectively. The 400 relay of Varney, Jacobson, Tran and Carr ran a school best 48.82 — narrowly behind Skyline (48.38) and Southridge (48.54).

The 800 relay of Carr, Varney, Allison and Jacobson finished in 1:43.32.

Skyline girls

place fourth

The defending 3A state champion Skyline girls track and field team finished fourth with 43 points.

The Spartans won one state title, taking first in the 400 meter relay. The team of junior Kiara Williams, sophomore Shealee O’Donnell, junior Kaylyn Berry and junior Rachael Butenko finished in first with 48.38. O’Donnell also took second in the 200 (25.08) and third in the 100 (12.11). Williams took third in the 100 hurdles (15.06), sophomore Amber Dodd was sixth in the 300 hurdles (46.20), sophomore Kayli Kohlrus was seventh in the triple jump (36-0 3/4) and senior Britlyn Garrett was seventh in the javelin (123-1). The 800 relay of Williams, Berry, O’Donnell and sophomore Danielle Matthews was third in 1:43.12.

The Skyline boys earned 28 points, finishing in a tie with Bonney Lake for sixth place. North Central won the 3A title with 51 points, followed by Union (45), West Seattle (35), Everett (34) and Mt. Rainier (30).

The Spartans earned four third-place finishes. Junior Simon Sorensen was third in the 1,600 (4:19.39), senior Andrew Gray was third in the 110 high hurdles (14.80), freshman Kasen Williams took third in the high jump (6-6) and senior AJ Francis was third in the javelin (188-0).

Sorensen also took sixth in the 3,200 and Williams was eighth in the triple jump (43-1).

Eastlake boys

finish in tie for 29th

The Eastlake boys earned eight points at the 4A state meet in Pasco. Senior Dan Sloat earned the high finish of the day, taking fourth in the 800 meters. His time of 1:54.42 was just two-tenths of a second behind Puyallup’s Jesse Jorgensen, who won in a time of 1:54.21. The boys 1,600 relay of junior Patrick Gallagher, sophomore Paul Kupcis, sophomore Brandon Cole and Sloat was sixth in 3:23.17.

The Eastlake girls were unable to the score points at the state meet. Sophomore Chelsea Orr took ninth in the 1,600 (5:09.55) and senior Lan VoBa was ninth in the triple jump (35-1 1/2).