MIHS girls track and field team dominates at 3A KingCo championships

Published 5:30 pm Tuesday, May 19, 2026

Mercer Island High School’s girls track and field team practically owned the victory podium at the 3A KingCo championships by winning 15 of the 18 events on May 14 and 16 at Renton Memorial Stadium.

The girls also repeated as team champions with a record-setting 304 points — Liberty (Issaquah) was second with 122 — including a three-peat in the 3,200 run by Sophia Rodriguez with a winning time of 10:46.39. The Islanders notched 34 points in the 3,200 with seven top-eight finishes, which also included standout performances from Tess Ahrenholz, Anna Ahrenholz, Bella Heczey, Ella Zhang, Dora Cheng and Elsa Bergman.

Other MI girls winners were: Lauren Balousek in the 200 dash (24.97) and 400 dash (56.94); Eloise Newman in the 100 hurdles (14.81) and 100 dash (12.08); Aaliyah Khan in the triple jump (38-7) and long jump (18-2 1/4); Aracelys Bundesmann in the shot put (35-7.5) and discus (106-7); Rodriguez in the 1,600 run (5:00.75); Alisha Khan in the javelin (118-5); Nicolette Nguyen in the high jump (5-2); the 4×100 relay of Newman, Aaliyah Khan, Hanna Lassila and Maia Shook (48.46); the 4×200 relay of Lassila, Shook, Presley Pemberton and Maddie O’Brien (1:45.06); and the 4×400 relay of Balousek, O’Brien, Shook and Rizah Despres (3:57.25).

In the wheelchair events, MI’s Sarina Sawhney won in the shot put (17-8.5), javelin (41-3) and discus (43-1).

MI’s boys team finished a half point behind Bellevue in third place and scored points in every event. Island boys winners were Matthew Lawrence in the 1,600 run (4:26.35), Aidin Azeem in the discus (141-10) and Owen Clarkson in the pole vault (15-0).

Bolstered by the running of Nicholas Castaneda, Jonah Thiese, Parker Blosch and Clarkson, the MI boys 4×100 relay took second with a time of 43.24. The boys 4×400 relay — featuring Lawrence, Thiese, Finn Bunker and Mathew Greer — also grabbed second in 3:30.46. MI boys runners amassed 28 points in the 3,200 with second through seventh finishes from Connor Ward, Jake Powell, Bodie Thomas, Lawrence, Kellan Doroski and Dino Hajdarpasic along with a ninth-place finish from Kai Bergman.

Thirty-five MI athletes on the girls and boys sides have qualified to compete at districts on May 21 and 23 at Renton Memorial Stadium.

While taking a quick break from training on May 18 at the school, co-head coach Stacy Edwards noted that he’s 100% ecstatic about the KingCo results and is thrilled to see the athletes continue to get faster each week.

“You’ve got to take it week by week, right? And crazy stuff happens this time of the year. You’ve got to push even harder now as you move up to the next level. And then you’ve got to push even harder the week after that as we get to the highest level,” he said.

As MI’s other co-head coach Amy Posner Wolff eyed the Islanders that afternoon as they prepared for their next step at districts, she said their hard work in the preseason and regular season has led to this moment.

“Especially on the distance side, it’s pretty cool,” said Posner Wolff, adding that camaraderie is key and distance coach Susan Empey puts the athletes through weight workouts along with their offseason running schedule. They run hills and push sleds to get their bodies into shape to excel in meets.

Regarding the hill runs, Posner Wolff said, “The positive result that we discovered last year is that we have fewer shin splints because of it. Not only are we getting powerful and stronger, but we’re not doing as much of that pounding on the flat surface.”

It was exciting for Posner Wolff to see all the Islanders’ diligent training come to fruition at the KingCo meet as they paved the road for the district competition.