The Panthers’ 400 is the fastest time in Class 2A going into state meet
WASHOUGAL — They have a song in mind when they prepare to compete.
Three words in the title, three words to remind them how to do the most important job in their event.
The Washougal boys 400-relay team has broken the school record a few times this season, and they hope to do it again Saturday at the Class 2A state track and field championships.
Kenny Kanthak starts the relay with the baton in his hand.
“Set the tone, go out strong, and try to stay as calm as possible,” Kanthak said. “When I hand off to Arcey, stay calm and do what we always do in practice.”
Ice
Arcey Harton takes the second leg for the Panthers and takes off down the backstretch.
“If I get it to Brig with the perfect hand-off, we’re going to keep breaking records,” Harton said.
Ice
“It’s been a fun year,” said Brig Griffin, who runs the third leg. “If I get it to Ryan and we’re in first or second, I just know we’re going to win. That guy’s not letting anyone get past him.”
Baby
“They get it to me, and I just try to maintain it,” said Ryan Davy, the anchor. “They’ve been good at passing everybody before it gets to me. I haven’t had to run anybody down. They do a good enough job that I don’t have a difficult job.”
“Ice, Ice, Baby” they call it, referring to the 1990 song by Vanilla Ice. That is the exchange for the fastest relay team in Class 2A. The Panthers go into the state championships as the top seed in the event, with a time of 42.94 seconds.
Davy also has a top-10 speed in the 100 and is No. 3 in the 200, the two individual events he is competing in this week at Mount Tahoma High School in Tacoma.
Interestingly, if he could hit, he would not be on the track and field team at all. He played baseball as a freshman.
“I was a good baserunner,” Davy said. “Other than that, I wasn’t that good. I couldn’t get on base, so that didn’t help.”
Oh yeah. That matters.
So he joined track as a sophomore.
“He was just a kid from band,” Kanthak recalled.
Then Davy blew everyone away with his speed.
“Everybody was shocked at first,” Davy said.
It was the beginning of something special. A few years later, four Panthers have a shot at a state title.
Kanthak, Harton, and Davy are seniors. Griffin is a sophomore. So they know as a group, this is it.
This season, the Panthers say there was only one race when an opposing team was side by side with Davy once he got the baton.
Of course, there will be more competition at state than in league. The Panthers are not getting ahead of themselves. The difference between the No. 1 team and the No. 2 team is .02 seconds. It is the 400, after all. It is a blur.
“I want to leave it on the table no matter what,” Kanthak said. “Whether we get first place or last place, if I know everyone did all they could, I’ll be OK with it. Just leave it on the table.”
They have not given any thought to how they will react should they win a state title.
“I’m more focused on my grades,” Kanthak said (and somewhere a teacher at Washougal is smiling).
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” Davy said of the possibility of finishing first.
Right now, they are just happy to have one more meet together, and they hope two more races — Friday’s preliminary and a Saturday final.
Track and field might be a traditional individual sport, but this relay team is a squad. They hang out together, share meals, talk, text, all of it.
“This is one of the most connected brotherhoods I’ve been with,” Griffin said.
“That’s actually so true,” Harton said.
This team gets to sing an old song one final week.
Clark County track and field state qualifiers
By our count, there are more than 100 athletes from Clark County high schools among the Class 4A, 3A, 2A, and 1A state track and field championship meets this week.
Of those, 13 athletes go into their meets as the top seeds in their events. One athlete, Trey Knight of Ridgefield, is ranked first in the 2A shot put and discus.
Here is the list of athletes we see on the state list. Drop us an email at paul.v@clarkcountytoday.com if we missed someone.
All athletes in bold are seeded in the top three in their events. An athlete with an asterisk is a top seed.
CLASS 4A BOYS
Battle Ground
PV: Tyrel Halme
Jav: Trent Thompson*
Camas
100: Blake Deringer
200: Blake Deringer
400: Mason Gross*
800: Daniel Maton*, Sam Geiger
1600: Daniel Maton, Sam Geiger, Jackson Lyne
3200: Jackson Lyne, Spencer Twyman
400 relay
1600 relay
Jav: Matt Williams
Skyview
400 relay
Union
100: Lincoln Victor
200: Tobias Merriweather
400 relay
PV: Michael Rogers
HJ: Jaxon Milligan, Andres Solorzano-Jones
TJ: Weslie Tran
Dis: Victor Naumov
Jav: Jackson Saylor*
CLASS 4A GIRLS
Camas
1600: Halle Jenkins
3200: Halle Jenkins
PV: Anna Bedont, Shea McGee
LJ: Lucy George
Dis: Rebecca Knight
Jav: Lucy George
Heritage
Jav: Katie Peneueta
Skyview
800: Presley Timmons
Union
200: Logan Nelson
3200: Haylee Brodahl
100H: Annaliese Ward
400 relay
800 relay
HJ: Lolo Weatherspoon, Madi Schalk
Jav: Lexi Raymore
CLASS 3A BOYS
Evergreen
PV: Jerrin Hunter
Fort Vancouver
800: Andrew Weber
1600: Andrew Weber
Hudson’s Bay
HJ: Jaden Lewis
Mountain View
110H: David McAndie
300H: David McAndie
LJ: Tresean Foreman
Prairie
100: Nolan Mickenham
200: Nolan Mickenham
3200: Luke Lund
110H: Caleb Sagert, Kenneth Ogbeama
300: Caleb Sagert, Kenneth Ogbeam
400 relay*
PV: Caleb Sagert
LJ: Darius Dancel
CLASS 3A GIRLS
Evergreen
100H: Grace Twiss
300H: Grace Twiss
SP: Jasmine Tiatia
Fort Vancouver
400: Anna Harrison
1600: Emily Phelps
3200: Emily Phelps
Mountain View
400: Ilena Dalla Gasperina
100H: Katherine Kadrmas*
300H: Katherine Kadrmas
800 relay
Dis: Mykala Preston
Prairie
800: Katie Vroman
1600: Meri Dunford
3200: Meri Dunford
Jav: Malaika Quigley
CLASS 2A BOYS
Columbia River
PV: Levi Williams*
Dis: Isaac Bibb-O’Neil
Jav: Reid Carlson
Hockinson
100: Makaio Juarez, Davis Baker
200: Makaio Juarez
400 relay
Ridgefield
800: August Albers
1600: Kyle Radosevich
3200: Kyle Radosevich
1600 relay
TJ: Bryan Tavera
SP: Trey Knight*
Dis: Trey Knight*
Washougal
100: Ryan Davy
200: Ryan Davy*
400: Koy Chaston
800: Koy Chaston
1600: Gabriel Dinnel
3200: Gabriel Dinnel
400 relay*
Woodland
110H: Tyler Flanagan*
300H: Tyler Flanagan*
HJ: Alexzander Bishop*
PV: Judeah Sanders
TJ: Isaac Hall
SP: Jason Bowman
Jav: Jason Bowman*
CLASS 2A GIRLS
Columbia River
800: Lucia Ianello
400 relay
800 relay
1600 relay
HJ: Giovanna Rhoads
PV: Grace Gordon
LJ: Giovanna Rhoads
TJ: Giovanna Rhoads*
SP: Elizabeth Christian
Hockinson
800: Ellie Ritter
1600: Allyson Peterson
3200: Allyson Peterson*
Ridgefield
Jav: MacKenzie Sparks*, Emily Borgstedt
Washougal
400: Clara Best
1600: Amelia Pullen
3200: Amelia Pullen*, Savea Mansfield
100H: Kiara Kallie, Lauren Bennett
300H: Kiara Kallie
400 relay
PV: Katie Stevens
TJ: Gracie Dolan
Dis: Kiersten De La Rocha*
Woodland
100H: Kayley Autrey
300H: Jenay McCants
HJ: Nicole Guthrie*
CLASS 1A BOYS
La Center
1600: Garrett Shapovalov
110H: Nils Gedenberg
300H: Nils Gedenberg
King’s Way Christian
100: Justin Frahm
200: Justin Frahm
Seton Catholic
800: Hayden Miller
1600: David Carrion
3200: David Carrion
1600 relay
PV: Elijah Volk
CLASS 1A GIRLS
La Center
800: Roselynn Martin*, Makayla Hubler
1600: Lauren Fox
3200: Natasha Lewis
Jav: Laynie Erickson
King’s Way Christian
100H: Sarah Turcic
Dis: Lacey Zook*
Seton Catholic
100: Emma Watkins, Montana Cowley
400: Jerrica Pachl
800: Riley McDonough
1600: Lara Carrion, Sydnee Dyer
3200: Sydnee Dyer
400 relay
800 relay
1600 relay
LJ: Michaela Ephraim
HJ: Jerrica Pachl*, Ellie Saunders*
