La Conner Weekly News - Your independent hometown award-winning newspaper

Tradition dictated that green be worn, but blue was still the dominant color when La Conner High hosted its first league track meet of the season on St. Patrick’s Day.

Blue-clad La Conner teams won both sides of highly competitive NW1B/2B trials, giving head coach Peter Voorhees a distinctly sunny disposition going into the spring campaign. Paced by co-Athlete of the Week Budda Luna, the Braves outdistanced Mount Vernon Christian 173-118 to earn top honors in the boys’ half of the meet. Friday Harbor claimed the team bronze medal with 74 points.

The Lady Braves, meanwhile, edged runnerup MVC 125-108 for the girls’ crown. Grace Academy and Concrete tied for third place with 72 points each.

Luna captured gold in both the long jump with 18’-11.5” and triple jump at 39’-3.5” while also running a leg on La Conner’s triumphant sprint relay entry.

He joined Corbin Silk, Seth Schuh, and Harrison Orkney to post a :47.04 winning time in the 4x100. Silk, Orkney, Kolbe Rasler, and Kaden Murdock later mined gold in the mile relay, breaking the tape in 3:55.41.

Brianna Porter, who shared Athlete of the Week honors with Luna, showed her versatility by claiming medals for the Lady Braves as both a sprinter and field event standout.

Porter, a junior, finished third in the 200 meters at :29.98 and discus with 85’-4”, plus placed fifth in the javelin.

There were plenty of La Conner highlights — literally — to go around on the Whittaker Field oval.

Josh Summers, David Thomas, Seth Schuh, Brady Nelson, and Jacek Knudson joined Luna in the Winner’s Circle for the Braves.

Summers clocked a :17.19 to win the 110 meter hurdles title. Thomas and Cedar Park Christian’s Jaide St. Lewis tied for first in the shot put with 40’-5”, edging La Conner’s Michael Page, who took third with a heave of 40’-3.5”.

Schuh prevailed in the javelin with a toss of 155 feet. Nelson, second in the javelin, won the high jump at 5’-8”, finishing just ahead of Summers.

Knudson was the lone entrant to break the 50-second mark in the 300 meter hurdles, finishing in :48.62.

Schuh chipped in a third place showing in the discus.

Orkney and Rassler added to the Braves point total with strong second place efforts. Orkney ran :11.66 in the 100 meters. Rassler went :54.01 in the 400.

Kamea Pino, who last week also represented the Lady Braves in the 1B/2B All-State Girls’ Basketball Game, was the 100 meter gold medalist on Thursday, turning in a time of :13.39.

She also ran fourth in the 400 and was part of two silver medalist relay teams for La Conner.

Pino, Porter, Sofie Thulen, and Nakiya Edwards placed second in the sprint relay. Pino, Thulen, Edwards, and Nicole Henriksen matched that finish in the 4x200.

Henriksen and Thulen each placed first in solo events.

Henriksen breezed to a win in the 1600 meters, clocking a 6:38.74 finish, more than 15 seconds faster than her nearest competitor.

Thulen won the 100 meter hurdles in :18.28. She was a solid second in the 300 meter hurdles as well.

Sophomore Sara Hastings was another Lady Braves dual medalist. She easily won the girls’ shot put with 32’-2” and finished second in the discus with 91’-6”, placing just ahead of La Conner teammates Porter and Kyla Crawford.

The La Conner teams hope to continue making strides tomorrow, March 24, when they enter a second league meet, this time at Friday Harbor.