For Kentridge High junior Tanner Conner, success in track and field is in his blood.
“I started out in basketball in third grade, first time I ever played a sport, and my dad was like, ‘You are pretty fast,'” the 17-year-old hurdler said. “He played a lot of sports too, and he was like, ‘Well you should do track,’ so I started track and I was pretty good at it and I’ve loved it ever since.”
His father, Andy Conner, competed in Yreka, Calif., in the high school decathlon before playing football at the University of Oregon in Eugene.
Tanner Conner first participated in track as a fourth-grader at Soos Creek Elementary, and went on to be a part of the track team at Northwood Middle School.
“He was fast,” Andy Conner said. “He could jump.”
Tanner Conner has already beat his father’s personal record in the 110-meter hurdles and is close to besting him in the long jump.
“It was cool to beat my dad,” Conner said. “It feels good that I am doing so good.”
Younger brother Alex is also an aspiring track athlete, taking first place in the fourth-grade boys long jump in the Cascade Division at Kent’s Junior Olympics last Saturday.
Family competition aside, Tanner Conner looks to his father for advice, often consulting with him between events during meets.
“He is like my main coach,” Conner said. “He knows everything. He always has the answers. I trust him.”
At the end of the regular season, Conner ranked third in the state among Class 4A schools in the 110-meter hurdles, with a personal best of 14.3 seconds set May 2 at the Shoreline Invitational.
Conner hopes he can take first in the event at the state meet the end of this month.
“I think I can easily beat out the other two (Nick Johnson of Gonzaga Prep and Wenatchee’s Christian Brandt-Sims) in front of me,” he said. “It is just a matter of facing them and getting my steps down and getting my rhythm. I am really excited actually for it, so I can’t wait to face them. I am not going to see them at league or districts, so state is going to be the big thing. I hope I can come away with the state championship.”
Conner said he has found his place this year, becoming faster and stronger and filling out his 6-foot-3-inch frame.
“My freshman and sophomore year I was OK,” he said. “I was about average, and then this year it seems everything just came together. I started running faster.”
Conner placed first in the 110 hurdles, the 300 hurdles and the long jump at the Kent All-City meet on May 7. He ran a 39.63 in the 300 hurdles, putting him eighth in 4A state rankings.
Rosetta Jones, Kentridge’s hurdles coach, said Conner has changed and matured a lot since she began coaching him as a freshman.
Jones said she isn’t surprised he is ranked near the top in the state.
“As a freshman I saw it in him,” she said. “It was more of a surprise to him. It was not a surprise to me.”
Jones looks forward to seeing what Conner can accomplish on the track as a senior.
“I know he is going to be bigger and better next year,” she said. “He is someone to really watch.”
Conner also has high hopes for his senior season.
“I want to start getting noticed by colleges, dropping my time, getting my jumps out farther,” he said. “I just want to continue to PR (personal record), not just plateau at a certain point. I want to be able for 110s get into the 13-second mark, anywhere in there.”
Conner also plays football and basketball.
“Basketball has always been my favorite sport,” he said. “I am not the best at it as of right now. I am really going to practice this summer to see if I can get better. It seems that right now track is where I really have gotten it down. I am the best at track right now.”
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