Two Whatcom County athletes win 1A bi-district titles

Two Whatcom County Class 1A track and field athletes won bi-district titles during the first day of the 1A Bi-District Championships at Woolsey Stadium in Shoreline.

Colton Kautz of Nooksack Valley took first in the discus with a throw of 168 feet, 9 inches. It was short of his winning throw from last week’s district tournament of 170-10, but was still plenty enough to beat Cedar Park Christian’s Samuel Van Peursem’s throw of 152-10.

Kautz will be looking to improve on his fifth-place finish at state last year.

Lynden Christian’s Hannah Rusnak won a bi-district title in the long jump with a leap of 18-05. It was just short of her season record of 18-7.75, which she set on April 21 at the Northwest Conference Championships, but was still her second-best jump of the year.

Rusnak also won a district title in the long jump last week, edging Meridian’s Payton Lunde for the second straight week.

Rusnak finished second in the long jump at state last season. She also placed second in the 100-meter hurdles, and third in the 100-meter at state last year. Rusnak finished first in the qualifiers for both events on Thursday.

This story was originally published May 19, 2017 at 7:37 AM with the headline "Two Whatcom County athletes win 1A bi-district titles."