Kentwood High track coach Steve Roche called BJ Arceneaux’s performance during last week’s Pasco Invitation a “breakthrough.”
Roche, however, very well could have been speaking about the overall performance of his girls as well.
Arceneaux established a new meet record and a personal best in winning the long jump while Roche’s Kentwood girls also delivered, snagging the team title with 57 points.
“I think (Arceneaux) had a breakthrough with the long jump,” Roche said. “He has always been a great athlete, but never really put it all together until this past Saturday.”
The same could be said about the Kentwood girls, too.
Arceneaux uncorked a leap of 24-feet, 4 1/4 inches, which was well ahead of second-place Andre Scott (22-09.25) of Lakewood. While Arceneaux’s big jump was wind aided, that hardly explains the nearly two-foot difference, Roche said.
“I know that he did have a tail wind, but tail wind alone doesn’t get you a 2 ½ foot personal-best jump,” the coach said.
Arceneaux added a third-place finish in the 100-meter dash (10.26) and a fourth in the 200 (22.68). When it was all said and done, Arceneaux also was named the meet’s Most Outstanding Male Athlete.
Arceneaux’s big day helped the Conquerors finished highest among the four Kent School District teams with 28 points, which was good enough for fifth place. Kent-Meridian, behind a strong showing by Brandon Harris, grabbed sixth place with 27 points. Kentlake finished in 44th with 4.5 points while Kentridge rounded out the local teams in 55th with one point.
Harris took fourth in the triple jump (44-06.25), sixth in the 110 hurdles (15.09), seventh in the 100 (10.46) and also ran the second leg of Kent-Meridian’s 4 x 100 relay, which took second with a time of 43.10. Kent-Meridian’s David Jones, Abu Kamera and Jarey Suiter also ran legs on the relay. Kentlake was paced by Alex Straus, who took fourth in the high jump with a leap of 6-02. Alex Horton led Kentridge with an eighth-place finish in the 800 (1:57.24).
The meet, which is one of the biggest of the spring season, included 58 male teams and 53 female teams. A win at such a large event is a good barometer in comparing how teams will finish at state, which is slated for Mount Tahoma High at the end of May. With that in mind, the Kentwood girls came away feeling pretty good about their performance.
Kentwood finished just one point ahead of West Valley of Yakima (56), which was followed by third-place Jesuit (52).
In a meet in which the Conquerors snagged just one first-place finish, everybody contributed, Roche said.
“What a testament to the idea that every kid matters on a team,” Roche said. “We only beat West Valley by one point, so every single kid and every single point mattered. Even down to Kailey Ulland taking eighth place in the 3,200 or Sarah Toeaina going from eighth to fifth place in the girls triple jump, we needed every single point we could get to repeat as champions.”
The biggest points of all for the Conquerors came from their 4 x 100 relay team (Mykala Benjamin, Holly DeHart, Quincie Proctor-Guyton and Madelayne Varela), which established a new school record and marked the best time in the state thus far by blistering the oval in 49.08. The performance was the capper for DeHart and Varela, who posted big scores throughout the meet. DeHart added a second-place finish in the 200 (25.61) and a third-place finish in the 100 (11.50). Not to be outdone, Varela chipped in a fourth-place finish in the 100 (11.54) and a third-place finish in the 200 (26.24). Meanwhile, Toeaina continued to show she is one of the top throwers in the state, taking second in the shot put (39-06) and fourth in the discus (125-05). Younger sister Sarah Toeaina also delivered, taking fifth in the triple jump with a leap of 35-08.50.
After Kentwood, Kentridge was the next top local team, taking 13th with 17 points, followed by Kent-Meridian in 28th place with 10 points. Kentridge was paced by Lexi Kinkerberg, who took fifth in the 300 hurdles (48.27). Katie Lake also added a sixth-place finish in the 100 (11.83) for the Chargers. Kent-Meridian was led by Chelsea Muskelly, who took fourth in the high jump (5-03). Kent-Meridian’s 4 x 100 relay team (Deedra Patterson, Kariona Micks, Alizhae Hillsman and Jenica Rogers) chipped in a sixth-place finish (50.46) while Stephanie O’Hara rounded out K-M’s top placers with a seventh-place finish in the 400 (60.55).
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