For Kentridge High junior Tanner Conner, success in track and field is in his blood.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
“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.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
His father, Andy Conner, competed in Yreka, Calif., in the high school decathlon before playing football at the University of Oregon in Eugene.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
“He was fast,” Andy Conner said. “He could jump.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
“It was cool to beat my dad,” Conner said. “It feels good that I am doing so good.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Family competition aside, Tanner Conner looks to his father for advice, often consulting with him between events during meets.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
“He is like my main coach,” Conner said. “He knows everything. He always has the answers. I trust him.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Conner hopes he can take first in the event at the state meet the end of this month.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
“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.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Conner said he has found his place this year, becoming faster and stronger and filling out his 6-foot-3-inch frame.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
“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.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Rosetta Jones, Kentridge’s hurdles coach, said Conner has changed and matured a lot since she began coaching him as a freshman.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Jones said she isn’t surprised he is ranked near the top in the state.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
“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.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Jones looks forward to seeing what Conner can accomplish on the track as a senior.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
“I know he is going to be bigger and better next year,” she said. “He is someone to really watch.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Conner also has high hopes for his senior season.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
“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.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Conner also plays football and basketball.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
“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.”<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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