Wolf senior Dalton Martin (right) hangs out with the only man in 1A to throw a discus farther than him, Chelan’s Jose Padilla. (Abbie Martin photo)
Coupeville’s Sole Sisters relay team — (l to r) Ashlie Shank (alternate), Lauren Grove, Lindsey Roberts, Sylvia Hurlburt, Makana Stone. (Eileen Stone photo)
It was Dalton’s day.
Coupeville High School senior Dalton Martin put on a show Friday in Cheney at the 1A state track and field meet.
Coming off of a 5th place showing in the discus as a junior, he entered his final go-around at state qualified in three throwing events.
And he immediately made his impact felt, in the most surprising way.
Having only picked up the javelin just a few weeks ago, he slipped into the state meet seeded #16 in a 16-man field, then promptly flipped that ranking on its head.
Unleashing a PR of 149 feet, three inches on the very first throw of the event, he sailed on to the awards podium, claiming an 8th place medal.
What came next was far more expected, as Martin, who has been the second-best discus chucker in 1A all season, claimed his second medal of the meet, finishing runner-up to defending champ Jose Padilla of Chelan.
Martin came within 13 inches of his PR, hurling the discus 160 feet, six inches.
Padilla, who has accepted a track scholarship from the University of Washington, launched throws of 185-03 and 195-00.
The first broke the 1A state meet record, which was set in 1968.
The second shattered the record for all classifications, which had stood since 1979.
Martin’s double-dip day (he’ll back to lob the shot put with Padilla Saturday) highlighted a busy day for the Wolves.
Having sent its biggest crew in memory, 16 athletes strong, Coupeville competed in five finals and nine prelims Friday.
Of the three finals not involving Martin, the best showing came from senior Jordan Ford, who also earned a medal, finishing in a tie for 8th in the pole vault.
He went 12-06, three inches off of his school record, in an event that was shoved back two hours on the schedule and finished long after all the other competitors had left the stadium at Eastern Washington University.
Wolf junior Skyler Lawrence, who finished 16th a year ago, jumped to 12th in the shot put, while Mitchell Carroll was 15th in the triple jump.
With a strong showing across the board in Friday’s prelims, the Wolves are qualified for seven finals Saturday, and will make some history.
Freshman Lindsey Roberts and senior Makana Stone are guaranteed to bring home three medals apiece, while Martin also has a shot at three.
The last time a Wolf won three medals at a state track meet was Tyler King in 2011.
The only time three CHS athletes won three medals each in the same state meet was 2008, when Brian Miller, Kyle King and Tyler King pulled off the feat.
As far as I can find in my research, no Wolf girl has won three medals in the same state meet.
Stone, who has collected four medals over the past three years, will run in the final of the 400, while Roberts is the lone ninth grader in the 100 hurdles final.
Both will team with Lauren Grove and Sylvia Hurlburt in the 4 x 100 and 4 x 200 relay finals.
The fearsome foursome, known as “Sole Sisters,” are gunning for only the second relay title in the history of Coupeville High School.
In 2006, the quartet of Kyle King, Jon Chittim, Steven McDonald and Chris Hutchinson won the boys 4 x 400.
Complete Day 1 results:
(Top 8 in prelims advance to finals)
GIRLS:
200 (Prelims) — Lauren Grove (15th) 27.50
400 (Prelims) Makana Stone (2nd) 58.89
100 hurdles (Prelims) — Lindsey Roberts (7th) 16.57 *PR*
4 x 100 relay (Prelims) — Grove, Roberts, Stone, Sylvia Hurlburt (4th) 50.66 *SCHOOL RECORD*
4 x 200 relay (Prelims) — Grove, Roberts, Hurlburt, Stone (3rd) 1:47.08
Shot put (Finals) — Skyler Lawrence (12th) 32-03
BOYS:
100 (Prelims) — Jacob Smith (11th) 11.76
200 (Prelims) — Smith (4th) 23.18
800 (Prelims) — Danny Conlisk (17th) 2:07.83 *PR*
4 x 400 relay (Prelims) — Smith, Henry Wynn, Jared Helmstadter, Conlisk (15th) 3:44.30
Discus (Finals) — Dalton Martin (2nd) 160-06
Javelin (Finals) — Martin (8th) 149-03 *PR*
Pole Vault (Finals) — Jordan Ford (8th) 12-06
Triple Jump (Finals) — Mitchell Carroll (15th) 38-02.75
