Redmond High School senior Mack Young took home a pair of Class 4A District 2/4 gold medals last week at the Southwest Athletic Complex in Seattle.
Young, who will run at Washington State University next year, won the 1,600 meters last Friday in 4 minutes, 20.7 seconds, edging Skyview’s Chase Horrocks, who clocked a 4:21.62.
Feeling a bit ill, Young ran with the pack for most of the race before unleashing his trademark kick in the final 300 meters to pull out the narrow win.
Young’s win in the 3,200 on Saturday was even closer. Young outleaned Issaquah’s Chris Brasino to the finish line by seven-hundredths of a second with a time of 9:37.31. Brasino had a large lead with about two laps to go before Young made his move.
“Mack picked it up with 700 (meters) to go,” said Redmond coach Denis Villeneuve, who coaches all the distance runners and is the administrator for the girls’ team. “He just caught (Brasino) and outleaned him at the finish line.”
Villeveuve said Young ran much faster in the second half of the race, showing his strength and endurance despite feeling under the weather.
“He looked good for being sick,” Villeneuve said.
The top three finishers at last week’s two-day district meet advance to this week’s three-day state meet, which begins on Thursday and concludes on Saturday at Mount Tahoma High School in Tacoma. Young, the only boy athlete from Redmond to advance to the state meet, will run the 3,200 on Thursday at 9 p.m. Then on Saturday at 4:20 p.m., he will look to improve on last year’s 13th-place finish in the 1,600.
Villeneuve said Young is hungry to win a state title and will take an aggressive approach at the state meet.
“He won’t be hanging back, he will run with the leaders,” Villeneuve said.
Redmond sophomore Katie Lord, the younger sister of standout distance runner, Sarah, who graduated last June, claimed the district gold in the high jump, clearing 5-feet, 2-inches. Three other competitors also cleared 5-2, but Lord was crowned champion because she cleared it in her first attempt.
“She’s very talented,” Villeneuve said. “She’s a hard worker, smart kid and comes from a good family. … She’s definitely a contender at the state meet.”
Lord cleared 5-6 earlier this spring, setting a new school record. Lord and the rest of the state field will begin competing at 10 a.m. on Saturday.
The only other Redmond girl athlete going to state is Devin McMahon, who won the silver medal in the 3,200 with a time of 11:06.04. Anna Dailey of Garfield, the odds-on state favorite, won the race in 10:43.18. The 3,200 state race is set to start Thursday night at 7:30 p.m.
McMahon, a National Merit Scholar who will run at Cornell University next year, competed at Star Track as a sophomore, but was hampered by low-body weight for most of last spring and missed out on the postseason.
Even though there is only three Redmond athletes heading to state this year, Villeneuve said he feels all three are capable of podium — top eight — finishes.
“All three should be on the podium somewhere,” he said. “How far up the podium, we will have to wait and see.”
For complete district meet results, click here.
For complete state heat sheets, click here.
