TACOMA – The state championship that had eluded Kade Brownell eluded him no longer Saturday afternoon.

The Washington State-bound Mt. Spokane runner used a kick he had been prepping all season for a moment that unfolded at Mount Tahoma High School.

Brownell held off Vincent Recupero of Bishop Blanchet, winning the State 3A 3,200 meters in a time of 9 minutes, 10.12 seconds. Recupero was 0.46 behind and Parker Westermann, Brownell’s teammate who is headed to Colorado State, was third (9:11.43).

“Finally,” said Brownell, who was third last year third in state cross country, just behind runner-up Recupero. “I knew no one was going to outkick me.”

Brownell found himself leading the first four laps, something he wasn’t expecting to do. But none of the competitors wanted to set a faster pace so Brownell stayed patient until the final lap.

He finished second on Thursday in the 1,600.

Brownell and Westermann led Mt. Spokane to a tie with Lincoln for second with 48 points. Liberty of Issaquah won the title (57).

Mt. Spokane took third last spring behind rival Mead, which won state and moved up a classification this year.

“I’m just so excited for this group to get back on the podium and bring home some hardware,” Mt. Spokane coach Danny Figueira said. “I’m really excited for Kade and Parker. They’ve carried our team all year. I’m just ecstatic for Kade because he’s been at that state championship for such a long time. He’s really put in the time and effort and deserves to be crowned a state champion.”

4A

Mead junior thrower Simon Rosselli came within an inch and a half of joining an exclusive club.

Rosselli threw a personal-best 59 feet, 10½ inches to take second in the shot put.

Only one athlete in Washington has ever thrown a discus more than 200 feet and a shot more than 60 in the same season. Bob Lindsey of Lynnwood, who went on to throw at the University of Washington, threw the discus 203-6 and 66-8 in 1996.

Rosselli blew 200 out of the water in the discus this spring. He took up the shot this season.

“I was really close,” Rosselli said, smiling. “This is my first spring with the shot so almost throwing 60 feet is huge.”

Rosselli will be out to break a couple more records next year. He wants to pursue the national record in the discus (237-6) among other things.

He’s going to be busy this summer. He also must decide which schools to take recruiting visits to in the fall.

“I’m beyond happy with my high school season,” Rosselli said.

Mead took third in its return to 4A with 38 points. Kamiakin won with 53.

Other area 4A medal winners Saturday were Romin Saleki of Lewis and Clark, fifth in the 100 (10.87); Jaeland Leman of Mead, fifth in the 300 hurdles (39.21); Jonah Keller of Gonzaga Prep, fifth in the 200 (22.08); Jonah Wiser of Mead, sixth in the 800 (1:55.21); Brayden Oletzke of LC, seventh in the 300 hurdles (39.87); G-Prep’s 4x400 relay was sixth (3:25.04); and LC’s 4x100 was seventh (42.68)

3A

Quinn Lipke of University, fourth in the javelin (174-7); Joseph Hilton of Central Valley, sixth in the triple jump (43-8½); Jason Dodge, Mason Stinson, Rylan Hornvelt and Cameron Johnson of Cheney, second in the 4x400 (3:21.88); Mt. Spokane seventh in the 4x400 (3:26.42); and University, eight in the 4x400 (3:29.29).

2A

Talan Hughes of East Valley did what he set out to do at state.

With his sights set on the school record in the 300-intermediate hurdles, Hughes pulled away from the field and won in 37.81 seconds, topping the school record (37.9) set by his coach Brandon Blize.

He overcame bruising his left knee going over the seventh hurdle.

“I can already feel it swelling,” Hughes said as his smile probably was swelling at a faster pace than his knee. “I looked at the clock (near the finish line) and I saw it was around 34 seconds. I put everything I had into it through the last hurdle.”

He swept the hurdles, winning in the 110 on Friday.

“I saw 37.81 pop up on the (official times list) and I just screamed,” Hughes said. “Then I sat on the ground and just cried for about a minute and a half. It meant so much to me. My coach told me that’s the reason for about 15 years because he said it takes someone special like me to break the record.”

Hughes plans to continue his career at Eastern Oregon.

He didn’t take up hurdling until he was a sophomore. He played on the junior varsity soccer team as a freshman – a team that scored two goals all season.

“Then I found hurdles and it’s become my love,” Hughes said.

Hughes also took sixth in the 100.

Cooper Henkle of West Valley added a second gold to the javelin he won on Friday, capturing the discus with a state-meet record throw of 188-8. The previous record was 187-6.

Henkle said his answer to fatigue was simple – he drank a Red Bull.

The adrenalin was still coursing through his body after the event.

He said it was his best throwing series ever. All six of his throws were inside the sector. He wanted the state record in the javelin that he won Friday, but he was more than satisfied Saturday.

“I’m going home happy,” Henkle said. “I knew I had the record as soon as I released it. When you see the high point you just about know how far it’s going because I’ve thrown it 10,000 times. I knew it and I just screamed.”

Then when Henkle’s name was called, a meet official rang a nearby bell tower – signifying a state-meet record was broken.

“I’m exhausted,” Henkle said. “When the adrenaline wears off I’m going to be dead. I’ll probably sleep all four hours home.”

Other area 2A medal winners Saturday were: Michael Sanders of Rogers, third in the 100 (11.06) and fifth in the 200 (22.20); Rogers’ 4x100 relay took third (42.27); Quinlan Hyatt of WV, third in the discus (165-6); Erik Borg of WV, took sixth in the 400 (50.77); and Preston Kaesemeyer of Rogers, took fourth in the 300 hurdles (39.98).