Track and field / Metro League championships: Robinson bags state record

His nickname is "Nate the Great," and Rainier Beach senior Nate Robinson lived up to it yesterday by breaking the state all-time record in the 110-meter hurdles at the Metro League track meet.

Robinson, who will play football and basketball at the University of Washington next year, was clocked in 13.85 seconds, erasing the mark of 13.86 set by Rainier Beach's Cecil Bowie at the state meet in 1987.

"I was just trying to get under 14 seconds," said Robinson. "I'm trying to send a message that I'm among the best in the nation."

Consider the message sent.

Robinson, 5 feet 9, 170 pounds, also won the high jump with a leap of 6-1 and the long jump at 21-11. He was second to Chief Sealth's Jaray Austin in the 300 hurdles in 38.92. Robinson's time was 38.94.

"I felt real confident today," Robinson said. "I felt like I had nothing to lose."

O'Dea won its fifth consecutive boys team title in the meet at the Southwest Athletic Complex, but there was a new girls team champion and that meet was decided dramatically.

Holy Names' four-year reign as Metro champion came to an abrupt end with a disqualification in the final event, the 1,600-meter relay. Holy Names' anchor runner threw down the baton after crossing the finish line in fourth place and the result was an uncontested DQ. The fourth-place finish would have been good enough to win the team title. Instead, Holy Names got zero points in the relay and the trophy went to Bishop Blanchet, which finished second in relay behind Bainbridge

Blanchet won with 134-1/2 points and Holy Names finished with 132. Defending state 3A champion Rainier Beach was third with 112.

There wasn't much drama in the boys points race as O'Dea totaled 117-1/2 to finish ahead of Bishop Blanchet with 93 and Rainier Beach with 68 points, 38 of them scored by Robinson.

Blanchet distance runner Steve Mull destroyed a Metro 3A record in winning the 3,200 in 9:11.1, bettering the 1987 mark of 9:15.4 set by Lakeside's Ted Ackerley.

Mull, the reigning state 3A cross-country champion, had won the 1,600 in 4:21.34 on Wednesday.

Another Blanchet distance double-winner was UW-bound Noelani Kaneko, who won the 1,600 in 5:14.27 yesterday after winning the 3,200 in 11:21.52 Wednesday. Defending state 3,200 champion Ray Rogers of Seattle Prep is injured, didn't compete, and is out for the rest of the season.

Ginnie Powell, Rainier Beach's point machine, was a triple individual-event winner — 100 (11.97), 200 (24.66) and 100 hurdles (14.84). She also ran a leg on Beach's victorious 400 relay team.

The winner of the boys 100 and 200 was a suburbanite, Mike Walker of Eastside Catholic. He won his races in 11.03 and 22.46.

Walker, who will run at Yale next year, came from behind in the 200, passing Isaiah Bouie of Rainier Beach with 25 meters to go.

Notes

• West Seattle senior Ben Satia won the discus at 147-7 after capturing the shot put Wednesday with a heave of 47-5-3/4.

• Rainier Beach senior Raeshannon Bovan completed a double in the horizontal jumps by winning the triple jump with a 38-4-1/2 leap after long-jumping 17-2 Wednesday.

• Freshman Tiffany Bigham of Holy Names finished fifth in the girls shot put at the Metro League championships at 35 feet, 2½ inches. Her performance was omitted from the results published on Saturday.