Lopez high school tore up the track at state champs last week at Cheney. The girls took third place, and the boys were hot on their heels at fifth.

“Third out of 22 (teams) is pretty astounding,” said track coach Steve Wilbur. “It’s the highest our girls have ever placed in state in the history of Lopez school.” The boys team took second in state two years ago.

Senior Laura Strom soared to victory as the four-time state high jump champion, with a 5’2” jump. “She was ecstatic,” said Wilbur.

Lyra Dalton out-leaped her personal record by 10 inches for first place with a 16-foot long jump.

“I was in a really good mood and I just went for it,” said Dalton. “And I had a tail wind.”

She also won second place in the high jump and triple jump.

“You get to see all these kids who are trying so hard… the whole atmosphere gets you really pumped up,” said Dalton.

Relay members Jamie Cummins, Katie Ogston, Eryn Dye and Strom blew through the previous school record on the 4×200 meter relay, winning first place with a time of 1.54.34.

Emmett Lawrence, Tahoma Wrubleski, KJ Naylor and Ben Biacogiannis also set a new school record of 3.37 on the 4×400 meter relay, taking first place.

“That was pretty outstanding; (3.39) was a record I thought would stand forever,” said Wilbur.

“We all hugged and celebrated. It was awesome. We were really tired,” said Lawrence. “It’s just cool to go there and test yourself against the best people and see how you do. There’s just tons of people watching, hundreds of people in the stands. It’s nervewracking, but fun at the same time; it’s a rush to compete at that level.”

Wrubleski also took second in the individual 800m, at 2.07.33. He said his first time at state was “pretty exciting”.

“Track is kind of an individual sport; the relays are the one part where you’re working together as a team… I really like that, too,” he said.

Freshman Solomon Bill blew his competition off the track to win first in the grueling 3200m race, with a time of 10:43.38.

“I was hoarse for the rest of the day from yelling,” said Wilbur. “He absolutely dominated. It was an astounding 3200… He’s a fantastic distance runner.” Bill’s dad drove 24 hours nonstop to get from Berkeley, Calif. to the meet in time to watch his son run.

About half of the parents trekked across the state to support their kids at the May 28-29 meet.

Both teams won district champs this year. The boys team also took first in their league while the girls came in second.

This is Wilbur’s eighth year as the Lopez track coach.

“We spend a lot of time running uphill,” he said. “It absolutely works. It’s my secret.

It develops strength and form and wind and coordination. But really, that’s it; the kids all worked really hard this year and it paid off.”

For more results, see http://www.goeags.com/StateTrack/info.