Evergreen's Darren Woods is coming of a big performance last weekend.
Evergreen's Woods Shines at Spring Break Open
SHORELINE, Wash. – Heads were turning when a man in green won the 400 meter sprint at the Club Northwest Spring Break Open on Saturday.
A little while later Darren Woods returned to the track for the 200 meters, and this time everyone was watching. Woods placed second and qualified for the CCC Championships in May. His performances put him at the top of the Cascade Conference performance lists, leading by huge margins in both events.
Woods’s 400 meter time of 50.00 shattered his previous season’s best of 50.63 and shattered his own school record in that event. Additionally, his 200 meter time of 22.45 shattered the previous school record of 23.09 set by Ryan Lara in 2008. According to sprints coach Curtis Norwood, “Going into it, I could tell Darren was sitting on something big. Sure enough, when the meet was over he’d done something huge.” This is the first time in recent memory that any Geoduck has ever led the Cascade Conference in any event, let alone two.
Distance ace Brian Rakestraw did some record shattering of his own in the men’s 3000. His time of 8:54.52 surpassed Josh Klimek’s 8:58.10, set in 2004 at the same meet. Brian adds this new school record to his collection of six previous records, bringing his grand total to seven. Rakestraw recently qualified for the NAIA outdoor track and field championships with his performance in Evergreen’s own Geoduck Gallop Half Marathon. His qualifying mark currently leads the nation as the No. 1 performance in that event.
Hurdler Connor Abdelnoor set another school record in the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 59.77. Connor now holds both the 110 meter and 400 meter hurdles marks. His performance qualified him for the Cascade Conference Championships in May.
Alexander Combs-Bachmann ran his first 400 meter race of the season, crossing the line in 57.18. Alex also doubled in the 200 meters, running a 24.55.
Emma Loftis set a personal best in the 1500, running a time of 5:22.95. Loftis doubled up for the day returning for the 800 a few hours later, running 2:36.08.
Karissa Carlson, running unattached, doubled in the 3000 and the 800, running an 11:14.88 and a 2:26.38 respectively.
Jordan Turner grabbed a first place finish in the triple jump, being the only competitor in that event with a final mark of 11.65m (38’ 2.75”).
Sebastian Lasbo nailed two PR’s, running a 2:06.42 in the 800 and a 4:24.27 in the 1500.
Evelyn Coleman moved up to the 400 meters, and set a new personal best with a 1:19.29. She came back later to run the 200, finishing with a time of 34.30.
Chris Johnson took on the difficult pairing of both the 5000 and the 3000. His time of 10:54.28 set a personal best for him in that event. Nicholas Pace ran a personal best in the 3000m as well, finishing with a 10:11.72.