After winning the West Central District title the week prior, Auburn Mountainview coach Joel MacDougall had big things in mind for his boys at the state 3A track and field meet.
MacDougall had nothing but praise for his athletes after their solid showing at state. The Lions picked up 13 points to finish tied for 22nd at Mount Tahoma Stadium in Tacoma.
“We had a pretty good meet with all things considered,” he said. “Our boys won the district title, but we struggled a bit in that meet. We had some disappointments and a bunch of injuries, like most teams, at the end of the year. So it took a bit of the wind out of our sails as far as our momentum heading into postseason.”
At state, senior Trevor Jensen led the way with a third-place finish in the shot put (53 feet) and sixth in the discus (149 feet, 11 inches).
“(Discus) was a bit of a disappointment because he’d been throwing so well lately. But to get on the podium at state is still a great accomplishment,” MacDougall said of Jensen. “He came back on Saturday and had a two-foot (personal best) in the shot put.”
Junior distance runner Christian Rotter, who hasn’t competed in track and field since the eighth grade, earned two eighth-place finishes in the 1,600 and 3,200 meters with school-record times of 4 minutes, 20.21 seconds and 9:28.27, respectively.
“He is such a competitor,” MacDougall said. “He’s still learning how to run races and just gutted out two fantastic races.”
MacDougall praised senior Keegan Provo who managed to climb 13-6 to take seventh in the pole vault. Provo finished strong despite missing a month of the season with a cut on his knee.
“Keegan’s season was maybe the most frustrating to me,” MacDougall said. “He was jumping so well in the middle of the season before he cut his knee. He could barely run at the sub-district meet, so just getting to state was an accomplishment.”
Also competing for Auburn Mountainview at the state meet were sophomore Benjamin Mose, who was 13th in the high jump with a 5-10 mark, and junior Vaughn Daggs, who was 14th in the 200 (23.17).
On the girls side, Tiffany Pott, who has been consistent throughout the season, finished tied for fourth in the high jump (5-4).
“She’s improved so much this year,” MacDougall said, “and we are starting to see that she is much more than just a high jumper.”
Sophomore Molly House finished seventh in the 300 hurdles with a 46.88, and senior Heaven Palaita was 13th in the discus (105) and 10th in the shot put (35-4¾).
The Lions finished 29th overall with 6.5 points.
