Cougars leave mark on Narrows

Central Kitsap’s Shane Moskowitz (center) turned it up on the final leg, nearly winning the 1,600 race.

PORT ORCHARD — It was a three-school domination in the girls team standings in the Narrows League Championships for track and field.

Central Kitsap wasn’t among them, but the final day of the meet at South Kitsap High School Friday couldn’t have ended much better for the Cougars.

That’s because CK’s 1,600-meter relay team of Sam Sudy, Shannon Moskowitz, Kate Berni and Allie Rue won the event in 4 minutes, 2.24 seconds to establish a new school record.

“The way the meet started for us, there was lots of girls in tears,” CK coach Mark Ward said. “It was a penthouse and outhouse day for us.”

While several Cougars didn’t perform up to their expectations to start the day, they ended well to dominate the 1,600. Olympia finished second in the event at 4:05.65.

“Sam got us off to a great start,” Rue said. “It’s been a good day.”

That was the case for Rue, who finished fourth in the 200 dash in 26.14 seconds. Rue, a junior, was the last competitor to qualify in Wednesday’s preliminaries when she was clocked at 26.84 to place eighth.

“I’m really thankful,” she said. “I wasn’t expecting to make it to districts in the 200.”

Rue also qualified in the 400 after she finished in 58.5 to place third. Sudy, a senior, advanced in that event as well when she placed fifth at 60.46 seconds.

The top six individuals and teams in each event qualified for the West Central District meet, which begins Friday at Mount Tahoma High School.

CK tied for fourth along with North Kitsap among 11 competing league schools with 44 points. Gig Harbor won the team competition with 177.5 points, followed by Bellarmine Prep (158.5) and Olympia (139).

The Cougars also qualified in the 800 relay with a 1:49.42 time to finish fifth. Junior Ava Aufderheide was the other CK competitor to qualify for districts on the final day when she finished third in the 300 hurdles at 47.54.

On the boys side, CK finished sixth with 63 points. Gig Harbor won the team competition with 118 points, followed by Mount Tahoma (101).

CK sophomore Shane Moskowitz almost had Friday’s biggest upset when he stayed nearly stride for stride at the end with Gig Harbor’s Stanford University-bound Miles Unterreiner in the 1,600. Unterreiner won the event in 4:19.45, 29-tenths of a second faster than Moskowitz. Unterreiner had a big lead after the first lap that Moskowitz eventually closed by the end.

“When I got up to him … I was awestruck,” said Moskowitz, who established a personal-best time in the event by 4 seconds. “He holds his pace in the race and just demolishes everyone.”

Moskowitz noted that he had an advantage because Unterreiner won the 3,200 run Wednesday with a Class 4A state-best time of 9:02.68. The closest competitor in that event was Wilson’s Kevin Rosaaen, who finished at 9:16.25. Moskowitz was fourth at 9:29.6.

“He must have been tired from that because he’s amazing,” Moskowitz said. “He’s in a league by himself.”

Perhaps that could describe the Cougars in the 300 hurdles, where they will send half of the league’s representatives to districts. Senior Sean Walker won the event in 40.43 for CK, while teammates Derek Parrish (40.76, second place) and Cooper Hartman (42.02, sixth) also advanced.

CK senior Rustin Winger won the 800 run in 1:57.73, while sophomore teammate Cascade Herriott placed fifth at 1:59.26. Winger was third at 1:58.93 in the prelims. This time, Winger decided to stay back a bit and was sixth in the early going.

“I was trying to be optimistic, but you never know how a race is going to go,” he said. “Everything clicked at the right time.”

Robbin Harris, a CK senior, won the high jump at 6 feet, 6 inches.

The Cougars didn’t qualify in either relay.

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