Yellow Pages
TACOMA — The wait is finally over for Thomas Kassa.
After two years of close calls at state, the Anacortes senior collected his first state title Thursday, winning the long jump at the Class 2A State Track and Field Championships.
Kassa leaped 22 feet, 10 inches on his final jump, winning by nearly a foot despite scratching on three of his six attempts.
It was the first state championship for Kassa, who had placed in several events over the past two seasons and been as high as second in the long jump.
“It’s a big load taken off my back,” Kassa said. “I’m really pretty happy, but a little disappointed as well.”
The only disappointment is for what might have been. Likely overtaken by adrenaline, he scratched his first two jumps. Moving back three feet to start his run, he jumped 21-7 on his third to earn a spot in the finals.
After scratching his fourth jump as well, Kassa finally took the lead with a 22-2. His final jump, despite landing well behind the board, covered 22-10, just shy of the meet record. With perfect foot placement he would have been well over 23 feet.
Kassa’s meet is nowhere near done. He is currently seeded fourth in the high jump and first in the 200-meter dash, and also runs a leg of the Seahawks’ 400 relay team.
“There’s a lot less pressure now that I’ve gotten this out of the way,” Kassa said. “We may have rain for the high jump, so that could be tough. I’m not worried about the 200 at all.”
The day didn’t go as planned for Burlington-Edison’s Connor Whan, who led most of the 3,200, but was passed on the final lap, eventually taking third. Whan had the top time coming in and led until the back stretch of the final lap, where he got passed by Elma’s Todd Jackson. Mount Baker’s Connor Williams nipped him at the finish line for second.
“I took it out early and ran the race I wanted to run,” Whan said. “I wanted to run 70s (70-second laps) and I was right on that, but with about two laps to go I started to feel tired.”
Whan still has a chance for a state title in the 1,600 on Saturday.
Kassa’s teammate Maren Hanson will also have another chance to win a state title after finishing third in the 3,200 on Thursday. Hanson and Sequim’s Allison Cutting had pulled away from the field with 800 meters remaining. Cutting made her move late in the seventh lap and opened up a gap. Kingston’s Marina Roberts caught Hanson just before the finish line and took second, with Hanson settling for third at 11 minutes, 13.6 seconds.
“I had a good season overall. It was very consistent,” said Hanson, running in her first state meet. “It’s scary, there’s a lot of people, but once you’re out on the track, you don’t see any of them. It’s like they hardly exist.”
Hanson will compete in the 1,600 as well.
Sedro-Woolley junior Brittany Grandy moved up two spots from her 2009 finish to take third in the Class 3A girls’ high jump. Grandy was one of three girls to finish in a tie for second at 5-foot-5, but ended up third by the tie-breaker.
“I’m happy,” Grandy said. “My best is 5-7, but I’m content.”
Stanwood’s trio of Natasha Verma, Jordin Stephenson and Minna Fields, who finished first, second and third in both the 1,600 and 3,200 respectively at districts last week, came in third (Verma), fourth (Stephenson) and sixth (Fields) in the 3,200.
Oak Harbor’s Shantae Young took third in the triple jump, breaking her own school record with a 38-63⁄4. Teammate Nicole Mowbray took 11th at 36-2.
Burlington-Edison’s Rachel Pederson finished seventh in the javelin with a throw of 112 feet. Mount Vernon’s Tessa Murray took eighth in the 3,200 at 11:04.5. Stanwood’s Alex Hatley came in 11th in the shot put at 50-61⁄4.
• Eric Francis can be reached at 360-416-2131 or by e-mail at .
Read more local news in the Skagit Valley Herald and the Anacortes American, or read it online in the E-edition
