Washougal high risers

Four Washougal High School seniors put the final stamp on their careers as Panthers with state medals.

Adam Thomas rose to third place in the pole vault and tied his personal best mark of 14 feet, 6 inches. Thomas Normandeau ran to third place in the 800-meter event and improved his school record to 1 minute, 55.74 seconds. Mackenzie Pfeifer fired the javelin to fifth place with the throw of 124 feet, 1 inch. Michelle Greear grabbed fifth place in the discus with a toss of 112 feet, 9 inches.

“It’s the best feeling in the world,” Greear said of the four Panthers bringing home state medals. “Our school better be proud of us because we worked really hard for this.”

Thomas cleared 14-6 on his first attempt after needing three vaults to get over the two previous heights.

“It felt believing to get that on my first try,” he said. “I had been struggling up to that point.”

Thomas took three cracks at 15 feet, but couldn’t get over the bar. Although one more soft landing on the other side would have been sweet, Thomas still got to go home with a state medal and a consistent mark for the second week in a row.

“This is the biggest meet I will ever be to in high school,” he said. “I’m pretty happy to see all of my hard work pay off.”

Pfeifer tossed the javelin 123-3 to get into the championship flight. She threw her favorite toy four inches farther in the finals to earn fifth place.

“I felt like I was a competitor today. That’s what I wanted to do,” Pfeifer said. “My goal was to be on the podium at state and that’s where I’m going.”

In just his first year on the track, Normandeau made it all the way to the state meet in the 800 run and finished in third place.

“This was my first year and my last year, so I wanted to go out with a bang,” Normandeau said. “These guys have raced a lot more than me. To come all this way and place third was pretty awesome. It’s a great ending to my senior year.”

Greear enjoyed the privilege of being the final competitor for the Panthers at the state meet. She bettered her mark on each of her first three discus throws to get into the finals and wound up in fifth place.

“I wish I would have thrown better, but I’m pleased to end up on the podium,” Greear said.” That’s probably the last throw I will ever do.”