He\u2019s trying to keep things in perspective.<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s hard to fault Kent-Meridian track and field coach Ernie Ammons if he comes off as sounding just a bit giddy these days. The fact is, Ammons is excited. And understandably so as Kent-Meridian is fielding possibly its finest boys track and field team of the decade. A team that is as deep as it is talented.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am trying to keep it all in and be humble, but I also want to be optimistic,\u201d a subdued Ammons explained. \u201cWe have to get through grade checks and injuries … but if we keep maintaining how we are we\u2019ll be really tough come postseason.\u201d<\/p>\n
Which might be the understatement of the track season thus far.<\/p>\n
The Royals don\u2019t only have a chance to be \u201ctough\u201d come postseason, they have a chance to do something no other Kent-Meridian boys track team has ever done \u2014 win a state team title. The Royals finished a program-best last year, tying with Central Kitsap and Beamer High of Federal Way for second place at state.<\/p>\n
Federal Way is again loaded and expected to challenge for the state team title, but so are the Royals. The only athlete Kent-Meridian graduated from last year\u2019s team who scored points at the state meet is thrower Marlowe Brim, who took fourth in the shot put.<\/p>\n
Winning a state team title?<\/p>\n
It could happen.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat team is so loaded,\u201d said Kentwood coach Steve Roche of the Royals. \u201cIn my mind, it\u2019s going to be Kent-Meridian or Federal Way (for the state title).\u201d<\/p>\n
A South Puget Sound League North Division title is first on the agenda. At 7-1, the Royals finished second to Federal Way last spring. It was their second consecutive one-loss season and third second-place finish of the decade.<\/p>\n
The time is now for the Royals.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is definitely the hands-down best team I\u2019ve ever had,\u201d said Ammons, who now is in his seventh season with the program.<\/p>\n
A glance down the current state leader board on the track and field Web site www.athletic.net reveals plenty about this season\u2019s Kent-Meridian team. Entering the week, K-M burner B.J. Arceneaux ranked fourth in the state overall in the 100-meter (11.08) and was sixth in the 200-meter (11.16). Teammate David Jones isn\u2019t far behind in the 100-meter dash, ranking ninth (11.16) while junior Derrick Daigre, who won the state title in the 800-meter last spring, currently ranks third in the event (1:57.06).<\/p>\n
But that\u2019s not all. In fact, with this year\u2019s K-M team, it\u2019s just the tip of the iceberg as Brandon Harris (ninth in the long jump), Louis Garman (sixth in the triple jump) and Keenan Komoto (pole vault) also have cracked the top 10.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, K-M also returns two of the fastest relay teams in the state (4 x 100 and 4 x 400). The two teams include a combination of Arceneaux, Jones, Harris, Daigre and Prescott Jackson.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to talk about state titles, but we want to get through league, district first and get as many bodies to state as we can,\u201d Ammons said. \u201cIt\u2019s tough. We like to keep things in perspective. It\u2019s a challenge because we\u2019re sitting on a gold mine. It really has to be one of those things where we have to take baby steps. Last year, we were just trying to shoot for that league title. We just really came alive and woke up at the state meet.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the Royals aren\u2019t all about who\u2019s returning. As the Royals\u2019 luck has gone this season, a couple of new faces also showed up during the first day of tryouts who already have made an impact \u2014 senior Jordan Thompson-Walker and freshman phenom Abu Kamara. Kamara, a long and lean hurdler already has enjoyed his share of success on the track this spring and could make an impact at state, Ammons said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s amazing,\u201d Ammons said. \u201cHe just gets better and better every day. If he keeps doing what he\u2019s doing, he\u2019ll be at state. He\u2019s already top 10 as a freshman in the hurdles.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then there\u2019s Thompson-Walker, a standout on the K-M basketball floor who flashes all the athletic tools to excel on the track.<\/p>\n
\u201c(Thompson-Walker) is a talent,\u201d Ammons said.<\/p>\n
A talent that fits right in with a fast and deep K-M team ready to surge past last year\u2019s performance.<\/p>\n
For now, however, Ammons wants to keep things in perspective.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s all a numbers game right now. Who can stay healthy? And who can show up when it counts?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
He\u2019s trying to keep things in perspective.
\nBut it\u2019s hard to fault Kent-Meridian track and field coach Ernie Ammons if he comes off as sounding just a bit giddy these days. The fact is, Ammons is excited. And understandably so as Kent-Meridian is fielding possibly its finest boys track and field team of the decade. A team that is as deep as it is talented.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":12904,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-12903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12903"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12903"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12903\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12903"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=12903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}