By Heidi Seaborn

Special to the Reporter

The sun came out for the Islanders inaugural track meet on the new MIHS track and the season’s first meet.

“It was an auspicious start to our season and a great way to initiate our brand new track,” said head coach Lezley Smith of the combined girls/boys win of 161-125 over Interlake on Thursday. “With our electronic timing system and the new track, we are now a destination track that teams want to compete on. The meet went off without a hitch.”

The meet was not without its dramatic moments, including a photo-finish in the boys’ 100-meter between Islander Nicky Sinclair and Interlake’s Jordan Todd. It was Sinclair’s first 100-meter race in nearly two years having been sidelined with injuries, but he nearly caught Todd on the finish to come in second with a time of 11.24 to Todd’s 11.22. Junior Risley Lesko finished third with a personal best of 11.47. Another fight at the finish came in the girls’ 800-meter when sophomore Sarah Bjarnason sprinted the last 100-meter to a very close second with a time of 2:24.9. In the boys’ 800-meter run, sophomore Eric Schulz blasted by Interlake in the final stretch to post a very strong time of 2:00.1. Schulz said he felt pretty good about this race despite it being early in the season.

The boys’ 4×100 meter relay team of Sinclair, Lesko, seniors Jeff Lindquist and Josh Wong demonstrated that they mean business in their goal to break the school record of 43.05 and go to State, with a winning time of 43.94. This fast time currently ranks MI’s relay second in 3A in the state.

Mercer Island seniors dominated the throwing events with Carly Andersen winning the respective girls’ discus, shot put and javelin throws. Peter Brockway placed first in javelin and second in discus and shot put. Andersen indicated that it wasn’t just the upper classmen who performed well.

“We have lots of great new talent on this team,” said Andersen. That was evident in sophomores Alida Scalzo who easily won the 1600-meter and 3200-meter races, Emily Lightfoot topped the girl’s high jump was part of the winning 4×100 relay, and track newcomer Daniel Mayer ran a very strong 4:40.6 1600-meter. The day’s youngest winner was Shannon Cavanaugh who sped to 18.89 to win the 100-meter hurdles.

Other leading point contributors for the Islanders included junior Lauren Emick who won the girls’ 100, 200 and 400 sprints; Nicky Sinclair who, in addition to the 4×100 relay and 100, won the 200 sprint and long jump and Haley Snyder who snagged a win in the 300 hurdles and a second in the 100 hurdles.

“We had stand-out performances by so many of our athletes today that indicate that we should have a very competitive team this year, “said Coach Smith.

The Islanders will travel to Bellevue on Thursday for a 4 p.m. meet agains the Wolverines and Liberty High School.

Thursday, March 22 – Mercer Island vs. Interlake

Boys results – 100 meters – 2. Nicholas Sinclair 11.24, 3. Risley Lesko 11.47, Jeffery Lindquist 11.97, Joshua Wong 12.02, Tim Ong 12.60, Justin Boynes 12.69, Luke Bohlinger 12.70; 200 meters – 1. Nicholas Sinclair 23.15, Ethan Vu 23.9, Risley Lesko 24.05, Luke Bohlinger 25.6, Dylan Lesko 25.7; 400 meters – Peter Giseburt 59.9; 800 meters – 1. Eric Schulz 2:00.1, Nicholas Kim 3:07.5; 1,600 meters – 4. Daniel Mayer 4:40.6, Jami Chang 4:51, Kyle Weiss 4:54, Nathan Cummings 4:59.5, Ian Platou 5:12.5, Thomas Brown 5:20.2; 3,200 meters – Kyle Weiss 10:53.5, Thomas Brown 11:28.2; 110 meter hurdles – 2. John Gallagher 18.52, 3. Espen Platou 20.04, Greyson Weltyk 20.99, Max Tilden 21.9, Daniel McKnight 22.60; 300 meter hurdles – 2. Max Tilden 49.8, Greyson Weltyk 51.0, John Gallagher 51.6, Daniel McKnight 53.5; 4×100 relay – Risley Lesko, Nicholas Sinclair, Joshua Wong, Jeff Lindquist 43.8; 4×400 relay – Kyle Baska, Shair Noorani, Charles Yollin, Theodore Chandler 5:06.2; Shot put – 2. Peter Brockway 35’1, Joshua Skelly 33’1, Max Tilden 29’6, Collin Nicholl 29’6, Charles Yollin 29’5, Espen Platou 27’3; Discus – 2. Peter Brockway 103’7, 3. Sahir Noorani 91’0, Nolan Conway 79’1, Kyle Hsu 79’0; Javelin – 1. Peter Brockway 160’3, 2. Ken Ng 116’5, David Woolston 110’0, Joshua Skelly 105’1; High jump – 1. Jeff Lindquist 5’6, 2. Ken Ng 5’4, 3. Greyson Weltyk 5’2, Kyle Baska 5’0, Dylan Lesko 5’0; Long jump – 1. Nicholas Sinclair 19’7, 3. Jeff Lindquist 17’6, Risley Lesko 16’10, Justin Boynes 16’0, Peter Welch 15’9; Triple jump – 1. Espen Platou 37’4.5, John Gallagher 34’10, Thomas HOlt 28’10, Daniel McKnight 26’6.

Girls results – 100 meters – 1. Lauren Emick 13.89, Joelle Anitilla 14.40, Latrevian Saunders 14.62, Isabella Bernal 15.24; 200 meters – 1. Lauren Emick 29.0, 3. Latrevian Saunders 29.66, Sumedhar-Priya Kothari 31.52, Katherine Hendrickson 32.8;400 meters – 1. Lauren Emick 65.8, 3. Joelle Antilla 68.9, Sumedhar-Pryia Kothari 71.9; 800 meters 2. Sarah Bjarnason 2:24.9, 3. Ellena Jones 2:49.8; 1,600 meters – 2. Alida Scalzo 5:22.4, Laura Brindley 5:31.4, Linden Elggren 5:51.7, Sydney Zeldes 5:57; 3,200 meters – 1. Alida Scalzo 11:54.1, Adrienne Suhm 13:34.3; 100 meter hurdles – 1. Shannon Cavanaugh 18.89, 2. Haley Snyder 19.46, 3. McKenzie Krause 21.02; 300 meter hurdles – 1. Haley Snyder 54.5, 2. Marissa Tuttle-Roache 57.0, 3. Sydney Zeldes 57.8, McKenzie Krause 57.9; 4×100 relay – 1. Laura Harrison, McKenzie Krause, Latrevian Saunders, Emily Lightfoot 53.4; 4×200 relay – Sumedhar-Priya Kothari, Isabella Bernal, Michele Day, Joelle Antilla 4:04.0; 4×400 relay – Laura Brindley, Emma Graham, Katherine Hendrikson, Marissa Tuttle-Roache 5:04.7; Shot put – 1. Carly Andersen 24’9, 2. Lauren Ellis 23’11, 3. Christina Doctor 22’7; Discus – 1. Carly Andersen 99’0, 3. Christina Doctor 67’1; Javelin – 1. Carly Andersen 109’3, 2. Lauren Ellis 88’7, Cyrena Johnson 37’3; High jump – 1. Emily Lightfoot 4’8, 3. Arianna Alpi 4’6, Joelle Antilla 4’4; Long jump – 1. Latrevian Saunders 13’10, 2. Emily Lightfoot 12’9; Triple jump – 1. Carly Andersen 28’2.