Prep Track -- Wesco Schools To Host Two Big Weekend Meets

Outside of the Western Conference and district meets, this is the biggest weekend for track fans in Snohomish County. Two state-caliber invitational meets will be hosted by WesCo schools.

The eighth annual Eason Invitational, featuring some of the top track athletes from Washington and Canada, is Saturday at Snohomish High School.

The 13th annual Viking H&L Sports Track and Field Classic, featuring eight of the top Class AA boys and girls teams in the state, also is Saturday, at Lake Stevens High School.

Here's a look at the two meets.

Eason Invitational

It's not very often one athlete towers over the rest of the field at an invitational track meet.

Then again, an athlete like Lynnwood's Ben Lindsey doesn't come along very often.

Lindsey, a two-time Class AA state champion in the discus, owns the state best in the discus (202-5) and shot put (66-8). He also won the state shot put title as a sophomore.

Lindsey leads a field of about 1,100 entrants at the Eason Invitational at Snohomish High. The fence at Snohomish's shot put area has been moved back 5 feet to accommodate Lindsey.

"The marquee guy is Ben Lindsey. There's no doubt about that," said Tuck Gionet, Snohomish boys track coach and the host for the 70 teams in the meet.

The meet starts with running event preliminaries and field events at 11 a.m. Finals for running events are scheduled to start at 3 p.m.

Fans will see some of the best track athletes from all classifications (AAA to B) in this state, as well as some of the best from western Canada.

"It's a great display of high-school athletic talent," Gionet said. "Outside of the state meet, on this side of the mountains, there's no place you're going to find this many quality athletes, guys and girls, together.

"You can go to the Lake Washington meet and the Shelton meet (next weekend), but that's a boys-only or girls-only meet. Here, you can come and see the best boys and girls in the state in one spot."

Defending state champions entered include:

-- O'Dea's Matt Pearson, the AA champion in the 800 who will also run the 1,600.

-- Mountlake Terrace's Francine Richardson, the AAA champion in the high jump, will also run in the 100 hurdles, where she placed fifth in state last season.

-- Bellingham's Tyler DeFries, the AA champion in the pole vault.

-- Snohomish's Laura Snipes was the AAA cross-country champion in the fall and was sixth in state in the 1,600 last season.

Another athlete to watch, Gionet said, is sprinter Shane Niemi from Westsyde Secondary School in Kamloops, B.C. Niemi will be tough in the 100 and 200, and won the long jump at last year's Eason.

He will be challenged by Garfield's Ulysses Stewart, who was second in AA state in the 100 last season.

Garfield's Candace Young has clocked a 12.0 for the 100. "That's flying. She could run in the boys race," Gionet said.

The girls 1,600 should be a competitive race, Gionet said. Joining Snipes will be Sandra White of Central Valley (Spokane), Everett's Johanna Wans and Jamie Borgan of Lewis & Clark of Spokane.

"The past few years, we've had a couple of kids come down from Canada that were just phenomenal," Gionet said. "Everything seems to be better balanced this year. It should be a really competitive meet."

Cascade's Toure Butler, the state leader in the triple jump, leads a strong field in that event.

A group of Special Olympians will hold a competition during the meet, probably around 1 p.m., Gionet said.

Tickets are $3 for adults, $2 for students with ASB card and $1 for children.

Viking Classic

Jeff Page mulled the question for a second or two, about the time it takes a shot put to come back down to earth.

Page, the track coach at Lake Stevens High school, was asked if his school's invitational track meet featured the best collection of Class AA talent, outside of the state meet.

"Sure, what the heck. I'll go out on a limb and say that," Page said. "I think the nice thing about it is it's all AA schools. It gives you a look at how you stack up against schools in your classification."

Eight of the top Class AA boys and girls track teams in the state will participate at the Viking H&L Sports Track and Field Classic at Lake Stevens High.

The meet starts at noon with field events. The first running event, the girls 3,200, is at 12:45 p.m.

Schools participating are Blanchet, Burlington-Edison, Eastmont, Kennedy, Renton, Stanwood, Washington and host Lake Stevens.

Leading the field are the Kennedy girls and the Washington boys, who each placed fourth in Class AA state last season.

Each team will enter one runner in the laned events (100, 200, 400, 800, hurdles and relays) and two athletes in the other running events and field events.

"I personally think, and of course I'm prejudiced, but from the standpoint of the fans' point of view, this is a great meet," Page said. "Every race is a final, no prelims, and they're run one race right after another."

Three defending state champions will compete: Kennedy's Celest Quitiquit (800), Blanchet's Alex Allen (400) and Stanwood's Greg Snyder (long jump).

Allen was third in the 200 and sixth in the 100 and Quitiquit sixth in the long jump at state last season.

Lake Stevens will feature Shaina Rogers (third in state in the long and triple jump) and Brian Trimble (seventh in state in the 800).

Blanchet junior Alyssa Pagon, scheduled to run in the 800, will return to a familiar track. Pagon was fourth as a freshman and fifth as a sophomore in the 400 at state while attending Monroe High School before transferring to Blanchet.

Kennedy's Robert Prescott was second in the 110 hurdles and eight in the 300 hurdles at state last season.

The team champions last season were the Washington boys and Lake Stevens girls.

Perennial power Garfield, a fixture at previous Viking Classics, moved to Class AAA in the fall.

"I think we did a pretty good job replacing Garfield and Shelton with Kennedy and Blanchet," Page said. "So I think the field overall might be a little stronger."

Admission is $4.