SPORTS 8 l April 30, 2014 SAMMAMISH REVIEW

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By Neil Pierson

In the midst of perhaps their toughest training of the season, the Skyline Spartans track and field teams appear to be respond-ing with some of their best marks.

The Skyline girls shared the team title April 19 at Snohomish High School’s Larry Eason Invitational, and are putting themselves in contention for a KingCo Conference champion-ship in May.

Several athletes set personal records April 24 in the Spartans’ final KingCo home meet of the season, a 110-31 victory over the Roosevelt Roughriders.

Geneva Ecola, a junior who’s in her sixth season as a hurdler, moved into sixth place in the conference standings for the 100 hurdles by finishing in 15.93 seconds at the Snohomish invita-tional. She was close to that time against Roosevelt, winning in 16.04.

Her first-place time of 48.14 seconds in the 300 hurdles might have been more impressive, con-sidering it was the first time she’d run the event in 2014. Ecola’s time was the third-best in KingCo this season, and she indicated she has lots of room for improve-ment.

“I really like that race,” she said. “I think just attacking the hurdles and not stuttering up to them – I think that’s the biggest

part of the 300 race, is not trying to fix yourself over the hurdle before you’ve even gotten there.”

Ecola is hoping to make her first appearance at the Class 4A state championships, a year after advancing to the district meet in the 100 hurdles. She credits Spartans coach Jeff Herrera for her progression.

“He’s just always pushing me to do better and telling me new things to fix,” Ecola said. “There’s always something new on the list to work on.”

The stars of the Skyline girls team, seniors Dorie Dalzell and Alex Daugherty, continued to shine during the meet against Roosevelt.

The University of Kansas-bound Dalzell is among the state’s top-10 fastest athletes in four events – the 100, 200, 400 and 800 meters. She won the 100 against Roosevelt in a personal-best time of 12.54, and also won the 200 in 26.24.

Daugherty, who is headed to Notre Dame, is establishing herself as a state-medal favorite in the 800 and 1,600 meters. She also set a personal record against Roosevelt by winning the 1,600 in 5 minutes, 9.80 seconds, more than 12 seconds ahead of her pre-vious best.

Dalzell and Daugherty are helping the Spartans’ relay teams, too. With help from Mckenzie Deutsch and Maizy Brewer, Skyline holds the top 4A

time in the state in the 1,600 relay (4:02.65). The Spartans are second statewide in the 800 relay as Amanda Johnston and Gabriela Pelogi have teamed with Dalzell and Daugherty for a time of 1:43.50.

Skyline’s boys held on for a 69-66 vic-tory against Roosevelt, thanks in part to the con-tributions of senior captain Bryan Lee.

Lee hadn’t competed in the high jump this season, but cleared a personal-best height of 5 feet, 6 inches for first place. The Spartans wouldn’t have won the meet without those points.

Lee’s specialty event, though, is the discus, and he’s not only

putting himself in position for his first state-meet berth, he could win a medal. His winning toss of 161 feet 7.5 inches against

Roosevelt is the third-best this season among 4A athletes.

Photo by Neil Pierson Skyline High School junior Thomas Kim took first place in the 300-meter hurdles against Roosevelt on April 24, coming in with a personal-best time of 44.44 sec-onds.

Spartans track teams keep churning out top marks

By Neil Pierson Tarika Sivakumar and Rianna

Eduljee had never played togeth-er before, but the Skyline High School tennis duo looked like old pros when they hit the court last week.

Eduljee, a junior, and Sivakumar, a sophomore, were paired up in the No. 1 doubles slot when Skyline hosted Eastlake April 22 in a Class 4A KingCo Conference match. Eduljee and Sivakumar had rela-tively little trouble beating Alison Tran and Angela Zou, winning 6-4, 6-0 to lead the Spartans to a 7-0 victory over the Wolves.

Eduljee typically pairs with Shreenu Sivakumar – Tarika’s

older sister – in doubles matches, but Spartans coach Bettina Gehle shuffled her lineup and got good results from the new pairing.

Tarika Sivakumar said the match went well in most aspects.

“Both our serves were going really well; I think that was the main thing,” she said. “We were able to play strategy better, just kind of wear down the oppo-nent.”

Eduljee said she’s unsure who she’ll partner with at the confer-ence tournament, which Skyline hosts May 12-14, but feels confi-dent either way.

“Shreenu is going to be play-ing singles for a few games … so

Spartans wallop Wolves in KingCo girls tennis

Photo by Neil PiersonEastlake’s Ashwathy Goutham returns a volley at the net during an April 22 match against Skyline. Goutham and her partner, Maria Angulo, lost 6-2, 6-0.

See TRACK, Page 12

See TENNIS, Page 9