It’s taken the program a couple of season to get where it is today, but by sheer chance a large portion of the rising stars on the Juanita track and field team are underclassmen.
Dominated by a young team, on both the boys and girls side of things, the Juanita track team is ramping up for the post season, trying to figure out where kids will compete as many will be overly qualified for the KingCo league meet this week.
“The hardest part, right now, is figuring out what four events to put kids in,” said co-head coach Neil Kells. Athletes are eligible to compete in up to four events at the league meet, held May 12-14 at Eastlake High School in Sammamish.
“Across the board, we’ve got every event covered,” said Kells about the team. “We’re really excited about where we are.” Not only does the team have strong competitors in basically every event, the athletes are also some of the best in the state. The team currently has state ranked athletes in almost every running event, including sophomore Alanna Coker who is ranked in the top 10 in the state for five different events this season.
“She’s one of those rare breeds,” said co-head coach Jim Henry. Alanna’s older brother Nickolas, a senior, who is a first year track athlete after being wooed over to the team from soccer is currently ranked 8th in the state in the men’s 400 meters.
Raul Silve, a senior for the Rebels, has put up big times in the long distance running events, including the 1,600 and 3,200 meter races.
Basically, said Henry and Kells, the only place either team has any holes right now is in hurdles and throwing, but both are coming along.
“Hurdles is really were we’re working on building,” said Kells. “We’re really heavy on runners.”
With early season results like that it was no surprise when the team started earning top finishes at local meets, including the all girls invitational at Lake Washington High School two weekends ago. The team tied with Skyline for second place.
“It was a huge team morale booster,” said Kells. The boys team, Kells said, is seeing improvement every week.
“For the guys we want them to finish and take care of business,” said Henry. “Really for 90 percent of the kids, next week is it, but 10 or 12 of them will go on. The goal has always been to get as many into the league meet as we can at the end of the season. For those who don’t, it’s about ending the season with the best PR you can.”
Both Kells and Henry came on board as head coaches three seasons ago, and this spring they are starting to see the success of the foundation they built those first years.
“It’s been a fun season,” said Henry. “The kids are awesome, they’ve really bonded well together. This is the most bonded team we’ve had in a while.”
The goal, especially on a team dominated be younger students, is to keep building and adding.
“Ever since we moved to 3A it’s been a gold mine for us,” said Kells. “It’s been a great move for us. We have young talent to build on. We’re very excited and happy about how the kids are doing.”
Last Thursday the team hosted the Lake Washington schools track meet, featuring some of the top teams and athletes in the area, including Redmond, Eastlake and Lake Washington high schools. Both Juanita teams finished second out of the four teams.
Boys results
100 meters – 2, Nickolas Coker 11.34. 3,200 meters – 2, Caleb Ferrell 10:28.96. 100 meter hurdles – 2, Alex Wallin 16.18. 300 meter hurdles – 2, Alex Wallin 42.00. 4×100 meter relay – 2, Juanita (Travis Marshall, Austin Hilliker, Kevin Le, Nickolas Coker) 44.91. Shot put – 2, Cody Treddenbarger 44’11.5. Discus – 2, Cody Treddenbarger 105’05. Long jump – 2, Alex Wallin 19’02.25. Triple jump – 2, Raymond Manalo 40;02.5.
Girls results
200 meters – 1, Alanna Coker 25.72. 800 meters – 2, Lani Pruett 2:31.10. 1,600 meters – 1, Tansey Lystad 4:57.9. Shot put – 1, Kate Cryderman 35’09. Discus – 1, Kate Cryderman 87’05. High jump – 2, Molly Grager 5’04. Pole vault – 1, Kathryn Wuchter 8’00. Long jump – 1, Alanna Coker 17’06.5; 2, Rachel Richardson 16’05.75. Triple jump – 1, Alanna Coker 37’05.5; 2, Rachel Richardson 34’03.
Photos by Megan Managan and Matt Phelps
