PASCO--History repeats itself.

It did for the Highline girls 4X100 relay team, which won the WIAA track and field competition for the second straight year.

"We talked about it right after last season," said girls head coach Jerry Bamburg. "This is the goal. We want to go back and win it again."

What did the girls think about that statement?

"I didn't think we could do it. I mean you saw our time, 50 seconds, and teams like Issaquah, 49 something (49.26), and North Central (49.05), and I really wondered," said Kelly Mason, who anchored this relay team.

One of the four, and, ironically it was the new relay member, junior Kaitlyn Heinsohn, spoke for the positive.

"I was thinking, 'No one can beat us," she said.

The other girls looked at her and their faces said the look of 'really.'

No one can disagree now as this foursome flew around the track just fast enough, beating both teams --- Issaquah and North Central - that Mason, and relay members Whitney Wagner, and Nkeiru Ugwoaba, were afraid of going in.

But the race came and there was no question who was fastest. Times went right out the door, for the real word that really matters -- the finish. Highline won in 49.20, NC crossed second in 49.55, and Issaquah finished third in 49.79.

There were some tense moments in the race. The first exchange from leadoff Heinsohn to Wagner was smooth and the one from Wagner to Ugwoaba was exchanged well before the mark that if one crosses it means disqualification.

But the last exchange from Ugwoaba to Mason was close.

"I was nervous like um, um, um, (waiting for the baton to be put in her hand), and she goes like whoosh before the white line mark and I was like, yeah," said Mason.

Yeah, she raced like a champion down the lane and these girls were victorious again. They wanted to thank their coach, John Penton.

"He was really good," said Heinsohn.

"We've all improved our 100 times a lot," said Wagner, a junior.

"He gives us workouts that really work us, really benefit us," said Mason.

"We do 300s, like jogging 100, sprinting a 100, jogging a 100," said Heinsohn.

"He blows the whistle, jog to sprint, jog to sprint."

"We are working on the transititions," added Ugwoaba.

Ugwoaba seemed to pretty much let all these younger ones (She's the only senior) do all the talking. But she talks too.

"Yeah, it was fun," said Ugwoaba. "I don't think it's worth it if it's not fun."

Ugwoaba also ran the 100 and the 200, taking fourth in both, 12.83 and 25.76 respectively. Mason was eighth in the 200 final, 26.53.

Only two girls finished in the top eight besides Mason and Ugwoaba in a given event at Star Track XXIV, and their places, from Squalicum, were seventh and eighth in the 1600 meter run. So Mason, eighth, and Ugwoaba, third, in the 200, added up to the best 1,2 effort of the entire meet for runners from the same school.

Ugwoaba was way out there again in the triple jump, giving her a 1,2,1 placing for all of her high school career in the event.

Unfortunately, Ugwoaba scratched on her third jump and that was the one that was going to be the one. You were going to win it with that third jump?

"Yes," said Ugwoaba, smiling at the question. "It was by this much."

Ugwoaba showed how much she scratched by, less than an inch.

"My last jump would have been a pretty good jump," she said. "Anything past 38 would have won it and I think my last jump would have been past 38."

It was sad to see that scratch for her third and final jump, but Ugwoaba did win this event as a sophomore at state and as a junior was second by three inches, 37-5 to 37-8. This year she went 37-10.5, so she was better than those other two efforts of her junior and sophomore year.

Her consistent effort in the triple jump and sprints, third in the 100 last year and fourth in the 200, deserves commendation, too.

Boys sprinter Marlon Murray was strong too. He took fifth in the 100 in 11.14 and third in the 200.

"I'm still a little slow out of the blocks, my start is what I need to work on," said Murray, who is working hard on his school too, said he has A's in all his classes except one 'C' holding him back. "I am going to bring that up to a 'B,".

He also will use another 'b' word in his next sentence.

"I'm only a junior," he said. "I will be back."

So those girls did the community proud, again. Some others that were at Star Track doing well were from Evergreen, like Vicente Cordova, finishing a few feet short of his best jumps this year but he had a reason for it.

"I hurt my heel in the high jump," he said. It was obvious because his grimacing for his final jumps for the high jump could visually be seen. He went 6-2, two feet away from his season best. He also jumped 39-11.25 in the triple jump. Again, that was over three feet off his season best jump (43-10.5).

"I didn't get the distance I wanted," said Cordova. "Coming down wrong the heel screwed up the whole jump, but that's not an excuse. I just didn't come out and do it today."

Tyrone Curry spoke of his high jump.

"He couldn't get the hip up. We've been working on getting the hip up, but he just couldn't do it today," said Curry.

On the triple jump, Curry said, "He just couldn't get his steps right."

Cordova did admit that, too.

"I changed up my steps, trying to go farther," said Cordova of the triple jump."That was my worst (triple) jump of the season, I've been doing 42, and 43 consistently."

Curry had several athletes there that competed but did not get past their grouping to the final round. Violina Vili competed in the discus, Seu Hafoka and Naomi Afereti competed in the shot put.

"My goal was to get as many kids to state as we could," said Curry, mentioning his co-coach, who works a lot with Cordova and Hafoka and Afereti and Vili too. He would be Ty Ivey.

"Ty does a great job with the kids," said Curry.

Others that competed at state were Mount Rainier's Ryan Prentice, who took sixth in the 3,200 and was also in the 1,600 final but did not place top eighth. David Lopez made sixth, 50-8, in the shot put, in the final round.

Kennedy's Nate Williams made it to state in the long jump but did not make finals. Udoka Odoemene made state in th triple jump but not finals.

Stephanie Slatt made state in high jump but not finals.