Aberdeen boys bring home fourth-place state trophy

Published 1:30 am Sunday, May 31, 2026

TACOMA—The Aberdeen boys track and field team capped off an impressive weekend at the WIAA 2A State Track and Field Championships by earning a fourth-place team trophy at Mount Tahoma High School, scoring 37 points through a series of standout performances across six events.

Entering the weekend, Aberdeen head coach Steve Reed believed his team had a chance to bring home hardware.

“When we met at the hotel Friday night, we told the kids that we had a shot at a trophy,” Reed said. “Nearly every athlete in that meeting had an event on Saturday. It was going to be a busy day for us.”

The Bobcats’ momentum actually began Thursday during the preliminary rounds. Sprinter Braxton Gozart powered through a headwind to win his heat in the 100-meter dash and automatically qualify for Saturday’s finals.

Later that day, senior Isaac Garcia got Aberdeen on the scoreboard with a third-place finish in the long jump.

Garcia briefly led the competition after a personal-best leap of 22 feet, 6.75 inches before being surpassed by the final two competitors.

“That 22-6 was clutch for sure,” Bobcats jumps coach Barrett Bollen said.

The six team points proved valuable as Aberdeen quietly positioned itself among the top teams in the state.

Friday concluded with the Bobcats’ 4×400-meter relay team of Cordell Roberts, Toby Nelson, Treven Clarkston and Garcia winning its preliminary heat and posting the third-fastest qualifying time of the day in 3:23.66.

Saturday began with another major performance as Landon Hamblin opened the boys shot put competition with a throw of 56-5.75. The mark held as the lead until late in the competition before Centralia’s Sam Volavola edged Hamblin by just 1.25 inches. Hamblin’s runner-up finish earned eight team points.

“When Landon opened with his big throw, you could see the pressure on the other guys,” said throws coach Todd Bridge. “I think it got into their heads as two of the top throwers tightened up and couldn’t hit a mark good enough to make finals.”

Garcia continued his remarkable weekend by winning his preliminary heat in the 400-meter dash with a personal-best time of 49.06. Teammate Treven Clarkston narrowly missed advancing to the finals by just 0.02 seconds.

One of the weekend’s biggest surprises came in the 300-meter hurdles when Adonis Hammonds shattered the Aberdeen school record with a time of 39.56, lowering the previous mark by nearly a full second.

Saturday also featured strong performances from Aberdeen’s girls team, as all three Bobcats who qualified for state returned home with medals.

Rylee Brooks placed seventh in the shot put with a throw of 36-. Mia Hallak earned seventh in the 3,200 meters with a time of 11:20.24, a personal best, while Haylee Jahner tied for fifth in the high jump after clearing 5-2.

“The ladies scored 7.5 points at state, and we coaches aren’t sure the last time we had that many points,” Reed said.

Back on the boys side, Gozart added four more points by placing fifth in the 100-meter finals with a time of 11.09 seconds.

In Unified competition, which does not count toward team scoring, Dillon Grove and Ezra Metcalf combined to place fourth in the 100 meters with a time of 12.95.

Garcia then delivered one of the meet’s top performances for Aberdeen, finishing second in the 400-meter final with another personal-best 49.06. He crossed the line just 0.08 seconds behind the state champion and earned eight more points for the Bobcats.

Hammonds wasn’t finished either. Less than 24 hours after setting the school record in the hurdles, he broke it again, running 39.06 to place third and score six points.

“After Adonis’ run, we were sitting third and just had to hope other schools wouldn’t catch us before the 4×400,” Reed said.

As results continued to come in, Aberdeen’s trophy hopes rested on the final event of the meet.

The Bobcats’ relay quartet of Roberts, Nelson, Clarkston and Garcia delivered once again, finishing fourth in the 4×400-meter relay with a time of 3:23.23. The performance secured Aberdeen’s fourth-place team finish and kept Ellensburg, the only team capable of overtaking the Bobcats, behind them in the standings.

Their time was just 0.02 seconds shy of the school record they had established one week earlier.

“It would have been faster had we not run into the Tumwater kid in our second exchange,” said Aberdeen relay coach Harley Revel.

For Reed, the trophy represented much more than a successful weekend.

“In May of 2023, when these seniors were freshmen, we saw their potential when they won the Freshman Invite in Centralia. Saturday was the culmination of four years of hard work. The kids competed for sure,” Reed said.

“There were no disappointing finishes all weekend. Every Bobcat who made the trip up here performed well.

Track is not just an individual sport, and on Saturday we saw how a group of young men and women can work together as a team. It was all business all weekend.”

The top five teams in the 2A boys competition were Anacortes (81 points, 1st), Lynden (61, 2nd), Tumwater (50, 3rd), Aberdeen (37, 4th) and Ellensburg (32, 5th).

Full results available at athletic.net and on the WIAA website.

– Submitted article