Devin St. Clair jumped ship from the long jump because of a strained hip flexor almost two months ago. Now, his times are jumping off the page in his new events.<\/p>\n
The move is paying off for the Kentwood High junior as he\u2019s focusing on the sprints \u2013 the 100 and 200 meters \u2013 this spring.<\/p>\n
St. Clair took the first step toward advancing to Class 4A state in those events by winning his heats in both, capping the double last Friday in the 200 finals of the South Puget Sound League 4A sub-district track meet at Sunset Chev Stadium in Sumner.<\/p>\n
The Conquerors\u2019 school-record holder in the long jump covered the 200 in 22.15 seconds for a triumph in his heat. Last Wednesday, he posted a time of 10.87 in the 100, giving him the league\u2019s top seed in that event to the West Central District meet, set for Friday and Saturday at Mount Tahoma High School in Tacoma.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe missed a lot of conditioning with the injury,\u201d Kentwood coach Steve Roche said. \u201cIt was on the recommendation of his doctor that he be done for the season (in the long jump). He probably missed four weeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut he\u2019s got a great chance to place high at state in two events. It wasn\u2019t worth risking everything for one event.\u201d<\/p>\n
St. Clair\u2019s previous time of 10.74 ranks him second in the state so far in the 100. Previously, he has made state as part of a relay, but never as an individual.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s probably capable of doing all three events, but the long jump is a tremendous amount of stress on his injury,\u201d Roche said. \u201cReally, we\u2019re thrilled where he\u2019s at now. He\u2019s almost further along than I thought he would be at this point.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s just getting back into shape. Still, it would be a disappointment if he didn\u2019t make state.\u201d<\/p>\n
St. Clair, who set a school record in the long jump (21-7 \u00bd) last spring, benefited from the absence of Decatur\u2019s Ezra John Griffey in both the 100 and 200. Griffey was second at state in 2007 in the 200 and third in the 100.<\/p>\n
Griffey was passed through to district, however, based on his top times.<\/p>\n
St. Clair also was part of the Conquerors\u2019 winning 400 and 1,600 relays with two of the state\u2019s top times. Kentwood posted a 43.14 in the 400 and 3:24.16 in the 1,600.<\/p>\n
Senior KW teammate Chris Selvar looks to be rounding into form for a shot at repeat at the Class 4A state meet in the 800 meters. Selvar put up a season-best time of 1 minute, 57.75 seconds in winning Wednesday\u2019s final heat of the 800.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe feel like his speed is coming back,\u201d Roche said of Selvar, who won last year\u2019s state title in the 800 in 1:54.36. \u201cHe got sick between cross country and track. He came into the season with a mark against him. He only started running about a week before the (track) season.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of people have counted Chris out, because his time are not as good of times as he did last year. If it\u2019s possible for state champion to surprise, then he might surprise with a state title.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Conquerors made serious run at the sub-district team title, falling short to Beamer of Federal Way 76-70.<\/p>\n
On the strength of six sub-district champions, Kentwood advances to district with a strong chance of winning that event.<\/p>\n
NOTES: On the girls side at sub-district, Tahoma\u2019s Lauren Clawson won the 800 in 2:21.19 and finished second in the 1,600 in 5:18.91. The Bears also had two victorious relays in the 800 relay (1:44.48) and 400 relay (50.72). … Tahoma\u2019s Rachel Meis moved into the No. 10 spot on the list of 4A\u2019s top times in the 200 with a winning time of 25.60 on Friday. Savannah Johnson of Tahoma qualified for district with No. 2 finish in the triple jump (38-7). … Kentwood earned a pair of individual girls titles when Lindsey Moore captured the javelin (113-5) and Dana Wareham took the 400 (1:00.31). Wareham not only won her heat, but she posted the fastest qualifying time. … The Conquerors hit the wire first in the 1,600 relay I a time of 4:07.52. … Kent-Meridian\u2019s Kelsey Bueno won the pole vault (10-6) over teammate Ferin Barry (10-6) on tiebreaker criteria. Another Royal, Melanie Vertrees, placed second in the high jump (5-3). … The area\u2019s only other double winner in addition to St. Clair was Tahoma senior Jonathan Lafler, who secured victories in the 1,600 (4:18.68) and 3,200 (9:37.33). Lafler\u2019s winning time in the 1,600 ranks third-best among 4A runners. … Other local boys sub-district champions were Tahoma\u2019s Derek Eager (javelin, 176-5), Kentwood\u2019s Cody Fishel (high jump, 6-4), Kentridge\u2019s Luke Carpenter (pole vault, 13-0), Kentlake\u2019s Zach Smith (long jump, 22-8\u00bc) and Kent-Meridian\u2019s Sean Harris (100 hurdles, 14.59).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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