Shorecrest athletes compete at WA State Combined Event Championships

Shorecrest students Lucia Shadduck and Thomas Linville at Combined Event Championships
Friday, May 31, 2024. Photo by Steve Wangen

A week after the WIAA track and field season wrapped up with the state finals in Tacoma, Shorecrest students Lucia Shadduck (sophomore) and Thomas Linville (senior) competed at the Washington State Combined Event Championships Meet held at Lake Stevens High School.

Shadduck placed 19th in the field of 32 female athletes from around the state in the heptathlon (women’s event comprising seven track and field events). Linville, who competed in the decathlon (men’s event comprising ten events), placed 12th out of 32 athletes.

Although the heptathlon/decathlon meet is not an official WIAA sanctioned event (and therefore athletes did not wear their school track uniforms), both athletes were recommended by their Shorecrest track coach, Brandon Christenson to apply to participate in this year’s competition.

“The ‘Combined Event’ for our athletes is a tremendous opportunity for multi-faceted athletes to continue with their training and competitions after the high school season concludes,” said Coach Christenson. 

“Many of the athletes are highly capable in several events but are limited during their seasons. This gives them an opportunity to showcase their talents and explore different disciplines at a very high level of competition. Both Thomas and Lucia were stellar track athletes this past season, and this just exemplifies how talented they are!”

Lucia Shadduck at shot put. Photo by Tara Shadduck

Student athletes who entered to compete in the heptathlon and decathlon were chosen to participate based on scores from past track and field competitions as recorded on Athletic.net. Organizers of the event limited the number of entries to the state’s top multi event athletes. Athletes from all state level classifications, from 4A on down, competed together and against one another at this event.

On Friday the meet started off with an unusual twist when the first two races, boys 100m and girls 100m hurdles, were both run in the opposite direction on the straightaway of the track to catch a slight tail wind. From there the girls moved to the high jump and boys to the long jump and all other events ran as usual.

Shorecrest Jumps Coach Juli van Pelt and Assistant Coach Stephen Wangen attended both days of the meet to coach Shadduck and Linville in high jumps and long jumps as well as support the two athletes in all other events. 

 “Lucia and Thomas took risks and persevered through difficult challenges as they completed their first heptathlon and decathlon,” commented Juli van Pelt. 

“The multi-events require athletes to perform at a high level and to change focus from each event. I was very proud of their success at navigating all the new skills, the transitions between events, and how they embraced the experience.”

Shorecrest Pole Vault Coach Paul Cole was in attendance on Saturday to coach Thomas Linville in the pole vault, in which he exceeded all expectations with a personal best vault of 10’ 6”. (Linville vaulted a total of 17 times before finally dropping out of the vaulting competition!)

Lucia Shadduck finishing 800m race. Photo by Tara Shadduck

Lucia Shadduck posted a personal record at the meet Saturday in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:39.6. Shadduck had very strong showings this past season in both sprints (individual and relays) as well as the long jump, but she had never run a hurdle race or thrown a javelin competitively prior this competition, so the experience of the heptathlon was a steep learning curve for this sophomore athlete. 

In addition to track, Shadduck is also a member of the Shorecrest cheer team and an active participant in DECA. 

“The atmosphere at this meet was very relaxed,” said Shadduck. “Usually at high school meets I’m rushing to get to my different events, here, all the athletes were doing the same thing at the same time and the meet felt so catered to us athletes and was really enjoyable!”

Thomas Linville finishing 100m (green shorts, center)
The race was run in the opposite direction on the track

Thomas Linville had an exceptional day a the decathlon having PRed in the 100m (11.44), long jump (19' 10.75"), pole vault (10' 6"), and javelin (136' 5"), all on his way to setting the Shorecrest High School record in the decathlon with a total score of 5167. 

The week before Linville placed 15th in the triple jump at the State Track and Field Finals. Later this month Linville is competing at the Nike Outdoor Nationals in the emerging elite division for triple jump.

Thomas Linville clearing the vault at 10’6”

Linville will be attending the University of Washington in the fall, where he plans to major in electrical and computer engineering. 

When he's not running, jumping, or throwing, Thomas keeps busy with VEX Robotics, TSA (Technology Student Association), and playing the cello. Thomas Linville was one of two graduating Shorecrest seniors to receive the Lane Loland Award for outstanding academic and athletic achievement.

Overall, the Washington State Combined Event Championships was a well-organized and well-run event. Participants and spectators alike enjoyed the unique nature of the meet with only two events happening at any given time, one for the boys and one for the girls. And everyone appreciated the fact that the rain mostly held off until Sunday!

Heptathlon

This is the women’s ultimate all-round athletic test, a seven-event contest covering a range of events across a two-day program. The first day consists of (in order): 100m hurdles, high jump, shot put and 200m. Day two comprises: long jump, javelin and 800m.

Decathlon

An all-round men’s athletics test, the 10-event contest covers the whole range of athletics disciplines spread over two days. The first day consists of (in order): 100m, long jump, shot put, high jump and 400m. The second day’s events: 110m hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and 1500m.

In both the heptathlon and decathlon competitors earn points for their performance in each discipline and the overall winner is the athlete who scores the most points.

--Tara Shadduck