Distance Dominance: Meet Records Fall at the WIAA State Track Championships
Double gold. Latham West fights through a stacked field in the 4A girls 3200M to cap off a historic high school career.
The atmospheric reality of the final day at the WIAA Track and Field State Championships comes down to one thing: finals.
It is a relentless rotation of high-stakes heats, one after the other, all day long. The culmination of months of grinding plays out simultaneously across the stadium—in the pit, on the runway, and on the track. Officials communicate via walkie-talkies, sorting out particulars and readying athletes, while photographers and news crews scatter across the infield, constantly moving into position to document the chaos.
My story, however, is told in the distance races.
While it's impossible to catch every single athlete on the track, my lens was locked heavily on the 800 meters and beyond. I covered 18 heats with calculated precision. Anticipating the decisive moves, watching the storylines unfold, and scouting the next season of Pacific Northwest stars is all part of the process when hunting for that cinematic grit. Between these distance heats, I tracked teams and athletes I’ve built relationships with over the past few years, capturing the raw, narrative-driven moments—both the triumphs and the heartbreaks—that define Washington high school track.
Here is how the distance dominance played out on the track.
Camas High School’s Cohen Butler destroys the 4A boys 3200M meet record with a blistering 8:43.77.
4A Distance: South Sound Speed and National Marks
The distance races saw an incredible 11 meet records reset over the course of three days. The biggest story was Olympia High School’s freshman Quenton Lanese, who set national freshman marks in both the 1600M and 3200M.
Rogers senior Amin Fidaar edges out Olympia freshman Quenton Lanese in a brilliant 4A boys 1600M final.
Despite his historic pace, Lanese settled for second place in both of his highly competitive races. In the 1600M, he was narrowly beaten by Rogers High School senior Amin Fidaar. Later in the 3200M, Cohen Butler (Camas) would set a blistering meet record of 8:43.77 to take the win, with Lanese following in 8:47.19.
The South Sound speed continued into Saturday morning when Olympia’s senior Caden Durocher out-kicked Fidaar in the 800M. In a race for the history books, both athletes broke the meet record by crossing the line at 1:49.74, but Durocher secured the state title on a thousandths-of-a-second tiebreaker (1:49.731 vs. 1:49.737).
Your athlete is somewhere
in 18 heats of frames.
Every distance final shot this weekend is posting to the free editorial gallery — full-resolution, no watermark, no checkout. Find your runner, grab the frame.
Open the Free Gallery → ‹ or return to the State Championship hubA race for the history books. Olympia’s Caden Durocher out-kicks Amin Fidaar in a photo finish to win the 4A 800M in a meet-record tiebreaker (1:49.74).
On the girls' side, Latham West (Bonney Lake) cemented her legacy. She capped off an incredible high school career by securing dual state championships, taking victory in the 1600M on Thursday and the 3200M with a time of 10:18.99 on Saturday.
Bonney Lake's Latham West secures the first of her two state titles in the 4A girls 1600M.
Eastlake’s Aubrey Wilems (the reigning XC State champion) won the girls 4A 800M in 2:08.91, fending off impressive freshmen Callie Orcutt (West Valley Yakima) and Jaycee Jenkins (Kamiakin). In the 3200M, Union duo Ella Koch and Sara Thompson secured second and third behind Latham West, finishing their senior seasons in top form.
Eastlake’s Aubrey Wilems fends off a loaded field to win the 4A girls 800M in 2:08.91.
3A Distance: Tactical Kicks and Ballard’s Double Gold
The 3A boys' races were defined by strategic packs. We saw a neck-and-neck battle in the 1600M, with Max Billett and Mana Voss (Central Kitsap) fighting it out until the last step. Voss would ultimately out-kick Billett to capture the championship, with Elijah Graves (Shorewood) finishing just behind them. Voss proved his dominance by following that up with an 800M championship (1:51.09) against gutsy performances from Stanwood’s Ryan Khoury and Inglemoor’s Maxim Delyagin.
Central Kitsap’s Mana Voss executes a perfect kick to outlast Max Billett for the 3A 1600M championship.
Franklin’s Kingston Shillito executes a flawless final-lap kick to win the highly tactical 3A boys 3200M.
The 3A 3200M was a highly tactical race. A large pack stayed together for the majority of the event before a decisive final-lap move resulted in Kingston Shillito (Franklin) taking the win in 9:00.77 over Matthew Lawrence (Mercer Island) and Elijah Graves.
The girls' 3A 1600M delivered massive excitement. Mercer Island’s Sophia Rodriguez took off from the gun, building a commanding lead until the final 400M. In a stunning close, Mt. Spokane’s Jane Wycoff and Gig Harbor’s Lejla Carlsson gave it everything they had in the final 80 meters, eventually catching and beating Rodriguez.
The final 80 meters of the 3A girls 1600M saw an all-out battle between Mt. Spokane’s Jane Wycoff and Gig Harbor’s Lejla Carlsson.
A pair of Ballard standouts swept the Saturday distance events. Ciana Johnson secured a statement victory in the 800M (2:08.71), beating out Wycoff by three seconds. Meanwhile, Cassidy Armstrong reminded everyone who the dominant force in the 3A is by winning the 3200M in 10:13.69—gapping Sophia Rodriguez (10:36.95) by an astonishing 23 seconds. Aavi Bass (Ingraham) rounded out the top three.
Ballard’s Cassidy Armstrong leaves no doubt, blowing the field wide open to win the 3A girls 3200M by over 23 seconds.
Ballard’s Ciana Johnson drops a statement 2:08.71 to capture the 3A girls 800M state championship.
2A Distance: The Anacortes and Sehome Dynasties
Anacortes standout Dylan Rowell taking early control of the 2A boys 1600M final.
Dylan Rowell claims the 2A boys 800M title in 1:51.45, securing the second leg of his legendary distance sweep.
Pure domination. Dylan Rowell crosses the line at 8:50.12 to complete an unheard-of 2A distance triple crown.
The 2A classification belonged to Dylan Rowell and the Sehome High School girls. Anacortes’ Dylan Rowell completed a legendary "triple crown," capturing the championship in the 800M (1:51.45), 1600M, and 3200M (8:50.12). Running all three distances in a single weekend is punishing enough; winning them all convincingly is simply unheard of.
Bainbridge Island’s Ignacio Llorens pushed Rowell early in the 800M but eventually fell back into second place with Maverick Ball (Anacortes) just behind him. The 1600M podium looked identical. In the 3200M, Rowell ran unpressured, leaving the tactical calculations to the chase pack where Bellingham’s Berkley Pass and Baynes Machinski secured the remaining podium finishes.
Sehome’s Kjirsten Ludeman opens her dominant weekend with a 2A girls 1600M state title.
On the girls' side, the Sehome dynasty took over. Kjirsten Ludeman won double gold, taking the 1600M (finishing 6.6 seconds ahead of Lynden’s Sloan Dickson) and dominating the 800M (2:06.68) ahead of teammate Samantha Knipp and Cedarcrest’s Lydia Swenson. Later in the day, teammate Sloane Clines (Sehome) took the victory in the 3200M with a time of 10:41.01, with Lynden’s Sloan Dickson and Lil Desler capping off the top three.
Kjirsten Ludeman strikes again, leading a Sehome sweep to win the 2A girls 800M title in 2:06.68.
The Sehome dynasty rolls on as Sloane Clines captures the 2A girls 3200M state title.
The freshmen weren't
supposed to be here yet.
National marks. Podium finishes against seniors. The class of 2029 didn't wait their turn this weekend — and they're only getting started. The full freshman leaderboard is on file: every distance, boys and girls, ranked.
Open the Project 2029 Dossier →THE DEBRIEF: Top Performances, Surprises & Storylines
Dylan Rowell (Anacortes): The Top Performer. Simply put, no one in the 2A classification can touch him right now.
Cassidy Armstrong (Ballard): What else can I say? She just gets it done.
Caden Durocher (Olympia): An up-and-down high school career capped off with the ultimate prize—a state championship and a meet record tiebreaker.
Carson Stafford: His third-place victory in the 3200M isn’t entirely surprising, but his execution definitely caught me off guard.
Latham West (Bonney Lake): What a career she has had. To go out with two state championships in the same weekend—it doesn’t get any better than that.
Leah Hennen: The freshman had a tough 1600M race on Thursday but bounced back with a well-calculated game plan in the 3200M on Saturday. Executing at exactly the right time, she weaved through the pack on the final lap to pull off a 5th place finish, regaining her confidence in the process.
The 4A 800M Freshmen: Keep an eye on Callie Orcutt and Jaycee Jenkins. The future of Washington mid-distance is in good hands.
Quenton Lanese (Olympia): The biggest surprise of the weekend is that he didn’t walk away with a state title. That being said, his relentless pacing elevated the entire pack, pushing the upperclassmen to national-level performances.
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