Bothell boys snag first Kingco track-and-field title

For four straight days, the Bothell High track-and-field team stood around coach Anthony Williams talking about what needed to happen for a Cougar boys team to win a Kingco title.

For four straight days, the Bothell High track-and-field team stood around coach Anthony Williams talking about what needed to happen for a Cougar boys team to win a Kingco title.

Holding the trophy at the end of the meet, it wasn’t just talk anymore.

The Cougars weren’t the favorite, but the Bothell boys won its first 4A Kingco championship in school history with 122 points, eight points ahead of Inglemoor and 25 ahead of Redmond.

Inglemoor won the girls title with 138 points, ahead of Redmond’s 107 and Garfield’s 94. Bothell finished 10th with 15.

Bothell had four individual boy winners, highlighted by Tim Clendaniel winning the triple jump (45-feet, 5 inches) and the pole vault (14-6). Jackson Pierce won the discus at 153-9 and Trey Parry won the 1,600 meters at 4:19.28.

Clendaniel (long jump), Parry (3,200) and Johnny Hekker (triple jump) each had second-place finishes.

But Williams said the key to victory wasn’t necessarily who won, but the athletes who took fourth and fifth place in several events were key.

“The past four days, we had a pow-wow in the stands, talking about what needs to happen,” the second-year head coach said. “We know that Trey and Tim and Johnny Hekker and Jackson Pierce are going to do what they do best, but it’s the other guys who needed to step up, and they more than stepped up.”

That included Matt Cornwall taking fourth in the discus (132-8) and Daniel Tran taking sixth in the triple jump (40-10.25) among others.

“Those (the mid-scorers) are the most important points because it’s easy to count the winner is going to get 10 points,” Williams said. “What’s important is the people who are on the cusp of four and five points or one point.”

The Inglemoor boys team had several outstanding performances, including individual titles by Andy Palmer in the 200 (22.39), Mickey Mukai in the long jump (21-6) and Brandon Thurston in the shot put (51-6.5). Inglemoor also won the 4 x 100 relay with a time of 43.47.

Viking Austin Victor came away with two silvers, in the 110 hurdles and 300 hurdles.

But the girls’ side is where Inglemoor really shined, led by Tess Parent and Kate Lilly winning two events each. Parent, a sophomore, won the triple jump at 36-7.75 and long jump at 17-0.75. Lilly, a senior, won the discus at 104-5 and javelin at 122-9.

The Inglemoor 800 relay team won the closest event of the night, having the same 1:45.60 time as Garfield, but taking home the gold.

Tennis

Inglemoor’s Coco Bator will be heading to the state tournament as a singles player after reaching the 4A Kingco championship match last week.

Bator easily dispatched her first three opponents on Tuesday, including Kendra Francis — who plays for Juanita, but like Bator attends the International Community School in Kirkland — 6-2, 6-1 in the second round. By virtue of her dominating regular season, Bator had a bye in the first round.

Bator then defeated Bothell’s Erin Kuboshige, 6-1, 6-1, in the quarterfinals and Garfield’s Christina Cook, 6-2, 6-1, in the semifinals to reach the championship game.

Bator won the first set against Roosevelt’s Hallie Martin, but dropped the next two and fell, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, in the championship game to grab the No. 2 seed to state. Kingco gets only two singles players to state.

Lacrosse

Inglemoor sophomore Taylor Wisman scored four goals and Bothell sophomore Scott Barclay dished out three assists as the Northshore lacrosse team defeated Stadium, 9-6, in the first round of the Division II lacrosse tournament.

Lacrosse ended the regular season 9-1, tied with the Redmond Lacrosse Club for the top record in the Cascade Division. Northshore travels to The Overlake School to play Overlake at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, with the winner playing on Saturday for the district championship.

Baseball

The Cedar Park Christian baseball team scored three runs in the top of the seventh inning to come from behind to beat Orting, 4-2, to advance to the Class 1A state baseball tournament for the first time since 2005.

Catcher Jeff Calhoon, who is playing at the University of Pacific next year, went 1-for-2 with two RBIs and Abe Potts went 1-for-3 with two RBIs and a double. Jon Ramos also went 2-for-3.

Led by first-year head coach Rob Rusch, the Eagles will play at 11 a.m. May 17 in Anacortes at Daniels Field against a team that was determined after the Reporter’s deadline.