TACOMA - Exactly one year ago, the Sehome girls' 4x200 relay team won a state title and set a new 2A state meet record.
The quartet lost Zoe Moller to graduation, but Hanna Tarleton filled in admirably and joined Sarah Dolese, Kendra Thomas and Shannon DeBacker to win another state title during the 2A-3A-4A Washington State Track and Field Championships Saturday, May 26, at Mount Tahoma High School in Tacoma.
An additional year's worth of training for Dolese, Thomas and DeBacker, and the addition of Tarleton, helped the Mariners beat the 1 minute, 42.74 second mark Sehome set last year, as the 2012 group ran a 1:41.70 and beat the field that included Bellingham and Lynden.
"It was really cool to (break the record) last year and to keep Sehome on top again this year," DeBacker said. "It's nice to keep showing Sehome off."
While track and field is typically viewed as an individual sport, the Sehome group said it is nice to be able to share a state title among teammates and friends.
"It's so exciting to be able to celebrate this with each other," Tarleton said.
"Most of us are rooming together, and it's nice to have someone to train with and wake up at the same time with," Thomas said. "It's like a small team within the team."
Bellingham's 4x200 relay team placed second and also beat the mark Sehome's 2011 relay team set with a 1:42.08, but the Mariners' 2012 team said it liked to compete with itself and beat its own time.
"We just try to beat ourselves, not other teams," Thomas said.
Reach ANDREW LANG atandrew.lang@bellinghamherald.com or call ext. 862.
