Velasquez sets new PR in high jump

Marcus McGuinn won a state title in the 110-meter hurdles, but other Whatcom County boys’ track and field athletes also participated in the Class 1A State Championships on Saturday, May 28, at Eastern Washington University.

Among them was Mount Baker’s Alex Velasquez who set a new personal record in the high jump with a jump of 6 feet. Coach Rob Gray said Velasquez had a good week of practice before state.

“He made some minor corrections to his approach but he just had a good day jumping,” Gray said. “He just kept clearing and clearing.”

Gray said he thought it was a successful season for the Mountaineers.

“We grew our program from 25 to 60,” Gray said. “We had a lot of young talent that got better each week.”

Meridian boys finish sixth in team points

The Trojans finished sixth in team points with 34.50 which was the highest for Whatcom County schools on the boys’ side.

Meridian coach Patrick Ames said overall he was happy with how his athletes performed and that it was good to see 12 out of 18 entries end up with medals.

“When you come home with that physical reminder of an excellent track season it’s pretty satisfying,” Ames said. “We had a ton of different athletes in different events. More than anything I think for a school of our size we do a good job of coaching all the events.”

Other results

Lynden Christian’s Stephen Cummins finished fourth in the 400 with a time of 50.88.

McGuinn also finished second in the 300-meter hurdles in 40.32 which was just behind Brian Golding (39.20) of Goldendale.

This story was originally published May 28, 2016 at 8:46 PM with the headline "Velasquez sets new PR in high jump."