Going into the West Central District 4A track and field meet, Auburn shot putter Danny Shelton had one number in mind – 55.

“I expected to do 55-feet,” said the 6-foot 3-inch, 305-pound sophomore. “That’s all I was aiming for. I hit it all the time in practice.”

Before Saturday’s meet, Shelton’s best distance in competition was his 53-2.5 first–place toss at the South Puget Sound League sub-district tourney. At the district meet Shelton shattered that with a 55-3.5 put, earning a first-place medal in the process.

Not bad for someone who first started throwing last season.

“I got into shot put from the football program,” said Shelton, an offensive and defensive lineman for the Trojans.

Last year in his rookie season Shelton struggled to match his strength with technique, notching a 39-11 as his best throw.

In the offseason, however, Shelton managed to put the two together.

“I just worked out for football mainly,” he said. “This year I just started using my strength in the shot put.”

For Shelton, this year’s district meet was his first big meet.

“It was exciting,” he said. “I got to meet all these players who I compete against. And throw at a meet at a school (Mt. Tahoma) I’ve never been to.”

Shelton’s throw at the district meet qualifies him for the state 4A meet this weekend at Mt. Tahoma Stadium in Tacoma.

Shelton is third in the state in 4A, behind Snohomish senior Marlyn Anderson’s 57-5 and Ferris junior Kjelby Oiland’s 57-1.25.

Shelton is hoping for a 60-foot toss at the state meet this weekend.

“I’m getting there,” he said. “I don’t have that much time to practice, so it’s pretty much just working on technique and speed

Turnbow qualifies in pole vault

Auburn Riverside’s Rebecca Turnbow may not have hit her goal of an 11-foot vault at the district tourney, but her 10-6 was enough to grab second-place and punch the junior’s ticket to the state meet.

“I was really happy,” Turnbow said. “My goal was to get 11, which I didn’t get. But that’s a pretty high goal. I’ve only gotten it once at practice.”

This season, just being able to vault again has been a blessing for Turnbow, who finished fifth in the Washington State 4A gymnastics all-around this season, but missed competing in track her sophomore year because of injuries.

“It was weird coming back, because I had to relearn everything,” she said. “I relearned it pretty quick, but it was weird being able to compete again. Just being able to jump again is great.”

Turnbow, whose 10-6 vault is ninth best in the state this season, said she hopes to take a trip to the podium this weekend at the state meet.

“My goal is to get on podium or hopefully top four, which would be great,” she said.

Also

Auburn Mountainview senior Seth Rumbaugh qualified for the state 3A meet in three events – the 800-meter, the 1,600 and the 4×400 relay. Rumbaugh ran the 800 in 1:59.18, taking home third-place. He was sixth in the event at the 2008 state meet. In the 1,600, Rumbaugh grabbed the seventh and final ticket to state with a 4:26.44 time. Along with teammates Matt Gayman, Jarey Suiter and Vince Wagner, the Lions’ 4×400 team finished third with a 3:28.19. The Auburn Mountainview girls 4×400 relay team also qualified for the state meet with a seventh-place 4:12.44 finish. The team is Kendra Alexson, Krystal Clark, Tayla Alfrey and Kylie Olenick. …Senior Christi Ometu notched a second- and fourth-place finish in the discus and shot put, respectively. She managed a 37-09.50 toss in the shot put and a 118-04 in the discus. …As a team the Lions boys finished 18th out of 30 teams in the 3A competition with 14 points. …The Auburn Mountainview girls team finished 15th in the 3A competition with 15 points. …In addition to Turnbow, the Auburn Riverside team will move on distance runners Kenny Krotzer, who was second in the 1,600 with a 4:15.7, and Julian-Blake Cowan, who was third in the 3,200 with a 9:31.97 and sixth in the 1,600 with a 4:21.73. Senior Thomas Hartwell also qualified for the state meet with his sixth-place 22-02.25 jump in the long jump. Wilfred DeLaRosa, Andrey Zadneprovskiy and Elise Jones were selected as eighth-place alternates in the triple jump, 110 hurdles and high jump, respectively. The boys 4×400 team was also an eighth-place finisher. As a team, the Raven boys were 15th out of 23 teams with 23 points. The girls team finished 17th with nine points. … Auburn junior Micheal Paulston was fourth in the 1,600 with a 5:04.91 time. As a team, the Auburn girls were 23rd with five points, with the boys team finishing 19th with 10 points. …The Washington State 4A and 3A boys and girls track and field championship meet got underway yesterday at Mount Tahoma Stadium in Tacoma and continues at 10:30 a.m. today and 10 a.m. tomorrow.