3 Washington high school (WIAA) state track and field performances (4A, 3A, 2A) you shouldn't have missed Friday

All six of Mead junior Simon Rosselli's throws in 4A boys discus would have broken previous state-meet record, including his winning mark of 205-7

Mead's Simon Rosselli won his second consecutive WIAA boys discus championship, this time in the Class 4A ranks with a state meet-record 205-7 on Friday in Tacoma. / Photo by Todd Milles

TACOMA, Wash. - The Simon Rosselli send-to-orbit show did not disappoint as the April national leader in the boys discus captured the WIAA Class 4A championship Friday with a record-setting performance for the Mead Panthers.

Rosselli set the Class 4A meet record with a throw of 205 feet, 7 inches.

Perhaps the biggest development came in 4x100 boys relay preliminaries where Curtis - which just a couple of weeks ago became the first school ever to break 41 seconds - lowered its all-time mark to 40.84 in Class 4A qualifying. Kentridge was No. 2 at 41.11.

Here were three must-see moments on the second day of the Class 4A, 3A and 2A championships at Mount Tahoma Stadium:

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Mead junior Simon Rosselli is still ranked No. 2 in the nation this spring in the boys discus. / Photo by Todd Milles

SIMON ROSSELLI EASILY WINS 4A DISCUS

Retold by Rosselli himself, so the story goes how this teenager came out of nowhere to become one of the top discus-throwing prospects in the country.

As a ninth grader, Rosselli was one of Mead's top hurdlers - and would often sprint, too, to stay in shape.

One day after practice, his parents were running late to pick him up. So, invited to join a few teammates over in the discus ring, he picked it up for the first time.

"At the time, I had thrown further the first time ever picking it up than all four of the people on our varsity team," Rosselli said. "I wanted my varsity letter, so I stuck with it, and I haven't looked back."

Nearly two years later, in April, Rosselli grabbed the national lead with a Washington all-time best throw of 218-7 at Arcadia.

On Friday, he easily snatched the Class 4A meet record (previous was 190-9 by Hazen's Pat Fiedler in 1988) on all six of his attempts - lowest (195-5) to highest (205-7), which came on his throw of finals.

"We are watching something special right now," Mead boys coach James Lehr said.

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Camas senior Chase McGee won another WIAA Class 4A boys pole vault championship with a mark of 16-9 on Friday in Tacoma. / Photo by Todd Milles

CHASE MCGEE CAPTURES ANOTHER WIAA POLE VAULT TITLE

Not long after Camas' reigning Class 4A boys pole vault champion Chase McGee took down one of the state's most revered all-time records -.Casey Carrigan's national-record 17 feet, 41/2 inches from 1969 - with a mark of 17-5 at a 4A GSHL meet, he ran into an issue.

In an attempt to do a back flip over the pole vault bar before varsity practice, McGee got so twisted mid-air, the spike in one of his track shoes came in contact with his right hand - and ripped open a nasty gash that required five stitches.

"I could see a little bit of the fat in my hand," McGee said. "

Needless to say, the unexpected injury didn't help McGee build on his senior-year momentum. But he did repeat Friday as Class 4A champion with a winning vault of 16-9, beating Eastmont's Kayden Andre-Van Lith (16-3).

"I completely forgot about the hand while I was jumping," McGee said. "I went back to my old habits of making sure I hit it with my shin,"

McGee did make three attempts at 17-3, which would have been a new state-meet record, but did not clear the bar.

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Liberty of Issaquah's Sutton Flint ran into some difficulty in the finals of the Class 3A 110-meter hurdles, but recovered to win in 13.41 seconds Friday in Tacoma. / Photo by Todd Milles

SUTTON FLINT REGAINS COMPOSURE IN TIME FOR 110 HURDLES TITLE

Blessed with elite speed, Liberty of Issaquah's Sutton Flint wants his generation of hurdlers to be considered among the greatest in state history. His personal-best of 13.44 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles is No. 2 all-time behind Squalicum's Andre Korbmacher (13.40).

But in the finals of the Class 3A 110 hurdles Friday, the last thing Flint had on his mind midway through the race was challenging any record.

Off to a big lead, Flint suddenly clipped the fifth hurdle with his knee and nearly fell going over it.

"And it hurt, too, because I destroyed my knee on it," Flint said. "And I was like, 'Oh (shoot), I've got to get going again.'"

Flint recovered to win the event in 14.41 seconds, holding off Mount Vernon's Amare Preau (14.50) and Bellevue's Kason Carta (14.51).

"They came up on me, but I was able to hold them off, so it was good," Flint said.

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