Becca Berge and Charnele Odingo stepped up to the starting block, eyed the hurdles in front of them and went for it.
The girls tore off down the track and attacked the 100-meter hurdles in one of the first events at last Thursday’s Northshore Meet, which featured high-school athletes from Inglemoor, Bothell and Woodinville.
Berge (Inglemoor) and Odingo (Bothell) stayed neck and neck for a while, but the Viking with the blonde ponytail won in the end with a time of 15.97 seconds to Odingo’s 16.19.
That race set the stage for the excitement to come as both Inglemoor’s boys and girls teams took first place with 83.5 points each at the end of the day.
“I’m glad I won, but I wasn’t happy with my race, I didn’t make some corrections I needed,” said Berge, who also won the 300-meter hurdles. “I just try and push through. It’s kind of hard to explain … I just try to get to the finish and keep my speed.”
Other individual double winners for Inglemoor were Benji Bryant (long jump, 110-meter hurdles) and Tess Parent (long jump and triple jump).
Parent clearly enjoyed the meet while wearing her “crazy” leopard-print socks and a big smile before and after her events.
“It’s going pretty well. We always have fun at this meet because it’s all the teams that are in our district. It’s always good competition,” she said.
Parent’s winning 17-foot long jump wasn’t her best this year — she’s hit 17-3 — but it was good for the day.
“I haven’t had that big jump I’ve wanted yet,” she added. “I’m hoping for big numbers at state and peaking there.”
Bothell highlights included Trey Parry winning the 3,200-meter run in a meet-record 9:48.21; Alex Neil taking the 800 meters in another meet record of 2:19.84; and Kevin Holmes winning the 1,600 meters in 1:01.
Holmes and his long, shaggy blonde hair stood out amongst the pack during his race.
“I get a lot of comments,” he said with a laugh. “Last year, I shaved my head at the beginning of the season and got injured halfway through.”
But there’s more to running than an impressive hairstyle, and Holmes added: “You hear the people cheering for you, they’re here to watch you and I do the best I can.
“It feels good, the success I’ve had this year, and I know I can do even better next year.”
As for Neil, the Cougar said she was pleased to finally break the 2:20 barrier. As the rain began to fall after her race, she coughed a little, but it wasn’t a cold coming on.
“I cough after 800s,” she said. “Probably from not breathing (much during the race).”
On the 800, she continued: “It was fast, it was competitive … we all went out hard and knew the Northshore Meet record could be beat.
“We don’t think about (pressure) — you just go.”
Standouts for Woodinville were Kenna Campbell (discus, shot-put and javelin winner) and McKenzie Luth (200 and 400 champ).
