The Lopez High School boys’ and girls’ track and field teams have shocked their opponents this season by shattering school and state 1B records in their first meets this spring. “Even up against 2B and 1A schools, both teams are ‘running’ over their opponents,” said Steve Wilbur, Lopez track coach.
In the first meet of the season, sophomore Laura Strom won the girls’ high jump with a leap of 5’4” breaking her own 2007 State meet winning height by two inches and setting a new school record. It is the second highest jump by a female high school student athlete in the state of Washington this season and places her in the top 10 for all girls in the United States.
The girls’ team placed sixth overall, netting first place finishes by freshmen Ellen Fisher in the mile and Erin Wilbur in the 300m intermediate hurdles. “After the first few meets, we will juggle things around when we find what the athletes’ strengths are,” said coach Wilbur.
The Lopez boys dominated the ten-team field by racking up 126 points to their nearest competitor, Mt. Vernon Christian who had 88 points. Lopez had five first place finishes. Jordan Smith won the high jump, 100m run and 200m run, despite a 30 mile-per-hour headwind. Leland Nopson won the shotput and Sebastian Lasbo won the 800m run by shaving 10 seconds off his time from the previous meet.
Friday, March 28, Lopez hosted a six-way meet at home. “We were expecting nine teams but the spring snow kept a couple of the schools away,” said coach Wilbur. “The weather was nasty. We had rain, sleet and hail but the kids persevered.”
The boys won their match handily with 158 points to their nearest competitor, Concrete, who scored 130 points. A stellar performance was turned in by the Lopez boys’ 4 x 100m relay team of Smith, Lasbo, Keaton Farris and Sam Barr which equaled a school record of 47.7 seconds. Billy PostvanderBurg won the 1600m run and Smith took the high jump and 100m run.
The Lopez girls finished third overall. Notable performances included a first place finish by Fisher in the 3200m run and second places by the girls 4 x 100m relay team, Rosanna DeGraaf in the 400m run and long jump and Fisher in the 1600m run.
The Lobos have a break from competition for a few weeks. They travel to Mt. Vernon for an All-league match on Thursday, April 17. “We hope to be rested and have the girls’ at full-strength,” said caoch Wilbur. “A number of our athletes left early for spring break to travel to Europe and Japan.”
