Shorecrest girls track wins 2A State title - Wurrie Njadoe is State Champ in 3 events

Shorecrest girls track State 2A Champions
Photo courtesy Shoreline Schools

The Shorecrest girls track team won their second consecutive 2A State Championship at Mt. Tahoma HS last week. The Scots (60 points) outscored Burlington-Edison (55) and Olympic (47).

Senior Wurrie Njadoe accounted for fully half the team's points this year by repeating as State Champion in the 100 and 200 Meter Dash as well as the Long Jump, while eight of her teammates pitched in for the remaining 30 points.

Sophomore Sydney Brandt took 3rd in the triple jump and ran in the 4x100 relay that took second place.

Freshman Lillian Visser was 6th in the 3200.

Freshman Lauren Block finished 8th in the 800 and was in the 4x400 meter relay that took eighth.

Wurrie's sister Ami Njadoe, a sophomore, took 7th in the 300 meter hurdles, as well as running in the 4x100, the 4x200 (3rd place), and the 4x400 relays.

Sophomore Ronna Iverson wound up 6th in the 400, as well as running a leg on the 4x100 and the 4x400.

Senior Sophia Viviano, a Gonzaga-bound soccer player, also ran in the 4x100 and the 4x200, and freshman Amanda Kagarabi was on the 4x100 team that racked up 8 points by finishing second.

Freshman Isabella Berntsen also ran a leg on the 4x400 that finished 8th.

Scots Head Coach Brandon Christensen, understandably proud of his athletes, said "When you win a state title, it's fantastic for the program. So many girls scored points and they all did great jobs, competing against the people they needed to compete against in their events to score points for us.”

He had plenty of praise for his coaching staff (Juli Van Pelt, jumps; Brad Upton, hurdles; Sheri Goodwin and Mike Osborne, distance runners; Paul Cole, pole vault; and Jacob Fraser, throws).

"We've got the best coaching staff in the state. I'd rival them with anybody. They're all dedicated and it shows in the way the kids appreciate and respond to them.”

Wurrie Njadoe poses with Frank Workman
at the 2A District meet

But the star of the show for the second consecutive year was the senior Njadoe.

Wurrie won four individual state championships last year (LJ, HJ, 100, and 200, to go along with the SC girls basketball team championship this year).

First girl to jump 20 feet at State - Wurrie Njadoe
Photo by Juli Van Pelt

Her three individual championships this year were capped off by a record-setting long jump of 20'00.25".

It was the first time a girl had ever jumped 20' at State.

A slight tail-wind will keep her from going into the record book, but as the song says "They can't take that away from me".

For a glimpse of what a twenty-foot-plus jump looks like, click here.

--Frank Workman