News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area

Kim Barry wins her second state championship in 800

Kim Barry raced her final high school 800-meter run Saturday, to defend her state crown in stunning fashion in the race of the day.

One of five Lake Roosevelt Raiders to make it to the the WIAA/Dairy Farmers of Washington/Les Schwab Tires State Track and Field Championships at Eastern Washington University, Barry returned as the state 2B 800-meter and 1600-meter champion, while also competing in the 3200 and the 400.

For the first 200 meters of the 800, Barry and Morgan Wilson of Colfax ran shoulder to shoulder, moving to the front of the pack. At the 200 meters, Barry took the lead and pushed out ahead, as she has done in so many other races.

With only 300 meters left in the race, Barry held a 10- 15-meter lead, when suddenly Elizabeth Weber of Northwest Christian-Lacey began to kick, moving up on Barry’s shoulder at the 100-meter mark on the last straightaway, and the real race was on.

Both pushed to get an edge and pull away, but each would counter the other with a speed burst of her own. The crowd was on edge watching these two seniors vying for the top spot with every last ounce of their energy.

Within reach of the finish line, Weber threw her arms ahead as Barry seemed to leap with her last stride, both arms in front and close to falling on her face. She passed the finish line ahead of Weber by just one tenth of a second in a season PR time of 2:21.57.

Barry placed in all her races at the state meet.

On Friday, she finished third in the 3200 in 11:48.02. Wilson, her Colfax rival, won it in 11:01.

Barry placed second in both the preliminary and final races of the 400, her time in the final a career-best 59.74 seconds.

Behind for the early race, Barry streaked ahead in the last 200 meters, finishing only 0.64 seconds behind winner Grace Garguile of Crosspoint Academy.

In the 1600, Barry started off in a good position on the first lap, drafting behind two Northwest Christian girls (Elizabeth Weber and Anna Henry) with Morgan Wilson. She moved to the lead in the second lap, but on the third lap Wilson, the two Northwest Christian girls and Sierra Speiker of Oroville passed her.

Barry recovered on the last lap with her speed burst to challenge Henry for the last 50 meters, but finished 0.3 seconds behind her in fourth in 5:21.1.

Kim Barry finished her high school career on top of the long distance performance lists for 2B schools, and as a back-to-back 800 champion.

Jesse Adkins placed third in the 300 intermediate hurdles. Adkins ran a smooth, steady race from start to finish and tied his career PR.

Adkins finished his high school career in the top 10 for the 110 high hurdles with a time of 15.84 and with two state placings: last year’s seventh in the triple jump and the medal he earned Saturday.

Sophomores Nick Gleason and Cheyenne Kelly-Marconi each competed in two events in their first state meet. Marconi jumped in both the triple and long where she finished 11th (31 feet, 11 inches) and 14th (14-4.25) respectively. Gleason ran the 200 at 24.34 seconds, but did not move on to finals. He matched his pole vault from the week before of 9-0 to finish 14th.

Raider Sean Waters threw discus at state for the second year in a row. Waters threw a 119-6 to finish 12th. Waters can also return next year to try to make the third time a charm and take home a state medal.

 

Reader Comments(0)