Weeda finishes 6th in 110-meter hurdles, relay team out in prelims

B y I an h aupt

Sophomore Josiah Weeda placed sixth in the 110-meter hurdles at the 1A state championship meet in Yakima last weekend, while Blaine’s 4x100 relay team ran their second fastest time of the season but failed to make the final.

Weeda finished the final with a time of 15.87 seconds. The winner finished in 15.47 seconds. Weeda placed second in his heat in 15.79 seconds and had the third fastest time in the preliminary round coming into the final.

Blaine track and field head coach Mark Schultz said Weeda lost his footing a little coming off the third hurdle in the final, which he couldn’t recover from against stiff competition. But Schultz said it’s difficult to complain about a sophomore taking sixth at the state finals. Weeda’s time in the prelims would’ve placed him fifth in the finals; however, wind was a factor in the prelims.

“I wish we could switch those two races,” Schultz said.

Blaine’s 4x100 relay team placed 14th overall in the preliminary rounds with a time of 45.95 seconds. Eight teams qualified for the final. The slowest qualifying time was 44.97 seconds. Seattle Academy won in the finals with a time in the low 43 seconds. Lynden Christian –the other Whatcom County team in the event – finished 11th.

Schultz said the Blaine boys ran their second fastest time of the season, and that they were just happy to compete at the state meet. Blaine’s team consists of sophomore Colby Shipp, Weeda, junior Justin Minjarez and sophomore AJ Bennett, all of whom will be returning next season. “They are definitely going to be excited for next year,” Schultz said.

Blaine soccer players make all-conference

Seven Blaine boys soccer team members made it onto the Northwest Conference’s all-conference team or received separate honors. Head coach Gio Quesada was named coach of the year, and senior defender Robert Prado was named defensive player of the year. Senior forwards Alessandro Rangel and Joel Barrientos-Estrada were named first-team all-conference along with senior goalkeeper Kael Evinger, junior midfielder Leonardo Blanco and freshman midfielder Dimitriy Yuryev.

The Borderites finished their season with a 11-4-2 overall record. They lost to the Meridian Trojans in the district final and later ended their season at bi-districts, losing to the Overlake Owls.