Logan Siewert

Senior Bella Dunagan and freshman Mylee Dunagan are boosting the success of this year’s Naselle track team.

At a meet in Mossyrock last week, Mylee won the long jump with 13.08, placed second in the high jump with 4.08 and had the third-best time of the 28 sprinters who ran the 100 meters with a time of 13.95.

Bella was second in the 400m in 1:16.94 and third in the high jump with 4.06.

Bella Colombo, another senior, placed second in the 200m in 29.90, was third in the 100m hurdles in 19.40 and seventh in the javelin.

In the shot put, freshman Paige Haataja placed fifth with 25.03 and was sixth in discus.

Two sophomores recorded fifth-place finishes in their events, Desirae Gifford in the 200m and Jessica Underhill in the long jump.

For the boys, junior Derek Suomela won both the high jump with 5.06 and the long jump with 18.03. He placed second in the 800m in 2:18.20.

Senior Tyler Kirkman placed second in the discus with 121.05 and third in the javelin with 119.03. Classmate Elmer Toftemark placed third in the discus with 108.04.

Junior Jayden Ding was third in the triple jump with 36.07 and fifth in the 200m in 26.37.

Four leaps

Ilwaco’s track success at Onalaska was led by senior Ayden Woodby, who won the 200m in 24.9 and placed second in the 100m in 12.34. He also placed fourth in the long jump with 16.1, ahead of sophomore teammate Wade Smith who was sixth. Smith placed third in the pole vault with 8.0 and fifth in the javelin with 96.8 in a field of 34 competitors.

Junior Jacob Mathison placed second in the 800m in 2:21.32 and third in the 400m in 58.36. Another junior, Moises Mendez-Hernandez, was fourth in the 800m.

In other throwing events, Junior Zach Jewell and sophomore Caleb Brundage tied for sixth in the discus with 76.1 and sophomore Gage Thorne was seventh in the shot with 29.2.5.

For the girls, sophomore Mya Cunningham, who medalled at state as a relay racer last year, won the 400m in 1:14.96 and finished fourth in the 200m in 33.02.

Classmate Esther Thomas celebrated her leaps in four events. She was third in pole vault (6.6) and triple jump (27.11), tie third in high jump (4.2) and fourth in long jump (12.0).

Freshman Nora Soule was fourth in the 1600m with a time of 6:44.80.

Senior Bethany Martin competed in throwing events. Her best place was fifth in javelin with 60.6.

Next the Fishermen host a home meet March 30, a chance to go head-to-head with 1B Naselle neighbors.

‘Committed to improving’

Last week’s Ilwaco High School golf match at Cathlamet was the first competitive event for many team members. “Everyone is committed to improving and working very hard to do so,” said second-year coach Keaton Burnett.

Leading the way was junior Logan Siewert who shot 47, which the coach called a significant improvement from his visit to the course last year. Senior Zoey Zuern scored 53, her first time playing the course competitively.

“I expect everyone’s scores to improve throughout the year as we move on to courses with more moderate difficulty levels,” Burnett added.

The Ilwaco boys soccer team fell 5-2 to Raymond and 7-0 at Elma. In an earlier rescheduled game, the squad defeated Castle Rock 3-0.

Next, after playing Eatonville, is a trip to Hoquiam March 29 then a home clash with Forks March 31 before spring break.

At bat

Naselle’s softball team fell to Knappa 15-5, but bounced back with an 18-3 win over Wahkiakum. After playing at Oakville, the Comets host Mossyrock March 30 and travel to Montesano March 31.

Ilwaco softball’s success over North Beach was being followed by a clash at Ocosta and then a March 31 trip to Hoquiam.

The Ilwaco baseball team lost the battle of the Fishermen 6-4 when the team traveled to Astoria for a cross-state contest. Ilwaco finished with nine hits to Astoria’s eight, but Astoria scored three runs in the second inning and led 6-0 through four innings. Later, Ilwaco beat North Beach in a double header 16-0 and 15-0. After a game at Ocosta, the team will travel to Hoquiam March 31.

After their success over Knappa, Naselle baseball was playing at Oakville before two home games, hosting Montesano March 29 and Mossyrock March 30.

• All high school softball and baseball schedules, announced earlier and reported above, are subject to Mother Nature’s whims.