TACOMA — Anthony Arena hit the turf first. And then the rest of Inglemoor High’s 4×400 relay guys followed and buried their heads in their arms out of exhaustion — and disappointment.

They had just finished a close second to Wenatchee at the end of the 4A state track-and-field meet at Mount Tahoma High last Saturday, but the Viking seniors clearly wanted a victory to finish their high-school careers.

But the relayers — Paul Ena, Zach Pattison and Austin Terry completed the quartet — found some positive words before exiting the field.

“I’ve just enjoyed running with all my friends, and we left everything we had out on the track for the last time,” said Pattison, who also placed 10th in the high jump.

Added Terry, who now began to appreciate the runner-up finish in 3 minutes, 20.77 seconds to Wenatchee’s 3:19.36: “I wouldn’t want it to be any other way. We started out slow (this year) and improved every race and finished second at state.”

Arena noted that it was the relay’s first loss this season, and Ena added that the foursome has shared many football, basketball and track highlights over the years.

As one Inglemoor relay ended its career, another — the girls 4×200 — took sixth at state and has another year left to shine.

“Tess is a jumper, so it gives us a little extra,” smiled sophomore Hannah Stevenson, referring to junior Tess Parent, who finished fifth in the triple jump and sixth in the long jump at state.

“I think since we all get along, it really helps with the relay,” said junior McKenna Grimsby.

Junior Lindsay Johanson kicked off the first leg of the relay finals before handing off to Grimsby.

“The adrenaline when you start is a good feeling,” Johanson said, noting that the starter took his sweet time firing the gun, making her a bit antsy to get rolling.

As for Parent, competing in the relay finals was a good close to her state meet. On Friday, she notched distances of 37-09 feet, .75 inches in the triple jump and 17-2.25 in the long jump.

“It was good. I wanted to go a little bit further on my triple and long jumps, but it’s better than last year,” Parent said.

With three events down, could she participate in another at state on this Saturday? “I could do it,” she laughed.

Over at the high jump, Bothell senior Charnele Odingo took fifth with a 5-2. She cleared a career-best 5-4 earlier this year after taking three years off from track and field to concentrate on volleyball.

This year, she did both.

“It’s good to know I can make it to state in another event (aside from volleyball). I was kind of hesitant because I did track for three weeks last year before doing just club (volleyball),” she said. “But my senior year, I was going to multi-task and do club, too. Just do it this year.”

Bothell senior Trey Parry had an interesting Saturday on the track while tackling the 800- and 1,600-meter runs.

After finishing fourth in the 800 (1:53.58), he got tangled with a fellow runner and fell after finishing the race.

“There was a lane — and then it turned into a dive,” he said. “The 800 was pretty much anyone’s race, it went right down to the end.”

Parry and the other 1,600 runners were “dumbfounded” by the slow pace of that race. The Cougar finished fifth in 4:19.64 and said it was a memorable race, one that he can tell his kids about someday.

“That was my last race of high school, I just give it everything that I’ve got,” said Parry, who added about his entire track experience, “Things might not always go your way, but you make the best of it.”