Best Of The Best At Track

Clark County produced several individual champions and near champions at the Class 2A, 3A, and 4A track and field championships, but which one turned in the most impressive performance?

On the boys side, Jon Lawson of Prairie won the Class 3A shot put, and his mark of 59-7 3/4 was nearly 3 feet better than any mark in the other classifications. He fell 3 inches short of the Class 3A discus title, but his mark would have been seventh if you combined all three classifications.

On the girls side, probably the most impressive performance came from Rachel McQuivey of Skyview. McQuivey didn’t win a state title; she was second in the Class 4A 300 hurdles. But her time was the easily the second best in the event of the entire meet.

McQuivey’s problem was Kayla Stueckle, a senior from Emerald Ridge of Puyallup who is headed to the University of Washington. Stueckle won the long jump, 100 hurdles and 300 hurdles, and was third in the 200 meters. She scored all 36 of her team’s points, which was good for fifth place in the team standings.

But here’s what was so impressive about McQuivey: She ran a 43.60; the third-best time in any classification was 44.64; Stueckle ran a 42.34. McQuivey was more than a second behind Stueckle, yet more than a second faster than everybody else.