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YAKIMA – Newport’s Taigen Mitcham won the sole Newport medal at the state track and field meet held in Yakima.
Newport coach Levi Litowitz says the weather wasn’t ideal, but his charges performed well. “The weather in Yakima had a bit of everything including wind gusts up to 20 MPH and the kids battled through to have some really good performances,” he says.
Litowitz says the athletes worked hard to get to state.
“This year we had three seniors competing and three freshman competing,” he says. “This dynamic allowed the freshman to learn from the seniors and bodes well for the future. A special thanks to these seniors (Taigen Mitcham and Jac Croswhite who have been with the program for four years, and Ronan Sherman who have been with us for three years. This years’ seniors have shaped this program and its success is due to their commitment and dedication.”
While he didn’t medal, freshman Damien Hamberg won ninth triple jump with a 39feet, 8.75 inches leap.
Ronan Sherman also made the finals and placed ninth with a throw of 141-feet, 11-inches.
The 4x100 relay team made up of Jac Croswhite, Luc Croswhite, Taigen Mitcham, Aidan Kramer, placed 16th with a time of 45.24.
Cedar Park Christian won the boys’ team competition with a score 62. The highest placing NEA team was Lakeside. They finished fifth with 38 points. Newport tied for 30th with four points.
On the girls’ side, Kings’ won the meet with 82 points. Lakeside scored seventh with 35 points.
Litowitz says the future looks good for Nepwort.
“Next year we will be going down to 2B,” he says. “I will miss the NEA, the coaches and schools are awesome and we worked really well together, but now we are onto a new chapter for Newport which will open up more opportunities for our kids and school.”
