Thomas Jefferson's boys team lost but the girls won in running, throwing, jumping, hurdling action, hosting Kent-Meridian in a track and field opening South Puget Sound League North regular season dual meet Thursday

The girls team was good last year, and, so was the boys for that matter, at 4-3. But the girls were 6-0-1 during the season and look to be better than last year.

"Deeper," said girls coach Paul Ruston, adding, "Better we don't know."

With Ruston's track record, getting his girls cross country team to state finishes, fourth, third, and, second, and other good ones too, and always winning the SPSL North cross country titles, his coaching has got to make one think "better" is not a bad bet to go with.The best bet on this day for getting more than even money back, so to speak, belonged to bets on senior thrower Sofia Malamura, who took two first places, just edging out teammate and senior distance runner Cassidy Robey, who was first in the 800 meter run, and second, by a toe, to junior teammate Camryn Patrick in the 1,600.

The latter is trying to stay in big sister Kenna Patrick's footsteps. Kenna won the cross country state title last year.

"We can do it without her," said Camryn Patrick, wiht her friend, Vanessa Bennum, also a good distance runner, chiming in, "Yeah."

Both laughed. Then both, and Robey, there too, said, in unison pretty much, 'No, just kidding. We miss Kenna. Yeah."

Speaking of Malamura, a tall, muscular young lady -- a good word for her is '"cut" -- she was fourth and fifth at state in the discus and shotput, respectively. She is on pace to further improve in both those events as she has a good shot of going places after this season as motivation for herself.

"I need to throw a 43 in the shot and a 140 in the discus to get a scholarship to Eastern," said Malamura, speaking of the NCAA D-1 university in eastern washington.

Malamura knows what's needed.

"I have to follow a set program from my coach (Tommy Decker),'" she said. "I need to automatically be at pr at mid-season. He has a program for nutrition."

For actual throwing of the discus and shot, Malamura says she can improve some things still.

"I need to work on keeping my arm back in the discus and bringing my foot to right position for shotput."

Her coach, Decker, thinks Malamura can achieve and get that tuition-paid scholarship from EWU.

"She is a very cerebral thrower," said Decker. "Some think it (throwing) is just brute strength, but it is more mind."

And Malamura has the right mindset.

"She is interested in technique improvements more than distance and prs," said Decker. "Obviously she wants to do well, of course. She is just a really hard worker. A lot of high schoolers don't know what they can do or where they can go. She is very athletic but she is also a very smart girl."

Malamura is in the "Running Start" program that is an advanced program of upper level classes that are college-credit courses kids can take while in high school.

Decker coaches sprints and strength events as said, but he also is the boys head coach. That side of things has some young men worth mentioning, like the 4x400 relay team that made it to the Star Track state meet in Pasco last May.

"We missed the finals barely. We took ninth (first in the consolation finals)," said Trent Pinson, the Raiders' top boys sprinter. He won the 100 in 11.1 and the 200 in 23.5 against K-M. Tyler McGrew, on that 4x100 team last year, won his event in the K-M dual meet in 53 seconds.

"It's going to get better," said McGrew.

"It's cold outside.It was cold and rainy and windy and just ugly ," as sprint, hurdles and horizontal jumps coach, Pat Kirby put it best. "I've been here 15-20 years and I would put this on the five worst weather days."

So that affected times and throws, but affecting times and throws, of course, is that this was just the first meet of the season.

There is a lot of time for improvement, 10 weeks of meets leading up to state. McGrew, for one, is looking to get to state one way or another, and he's saying he's working hard to get there.

"We'll make it maybe in the 4x100 and 4x400 and maybe, who knows, I might get there in the 400," said McGrew

The boys 4x400, who were missing one key runner, and another went down last minute with tightness, were second in the closest race of the night, the second to last event.

Pinson, the anchor leg, was some 25 yards behind the K-M runner to start and only the K-M's diving kamikaze lean into the finish line gave him the victory. Times were 3:46.8 to 3:46.9. Other winners were from the girls, Bennum, in the 3,200 in 12:42, Patrick in the 1,600 in 5:39.49 and Robey in the 800 in 2:37.7.

Robey just missed state in that event last year, running a 2:17, so she should be there in that this year with a qualification time around 2:16. And Robey just about caught Patrick in the 1,600 to tie Malamura's two firsts on the day, to note.

"I saw her take off and said I can't let her go without me the last 100, so I took off and she said, 'Crap,' and out-sprinted me to the finish."

Robey's time in the 1.600 was maybe a 10th of a second behind Patrick.

Malamura won the shot, putting it 34-9, and, the discus at 108.

Jen Wamsley was first in the triple jump at 31-10 and third in the long jump at 14-6. Wamsley went to state in the triple, long and high jump last year. Morgan Green, a junior, was second in the long jump at 14-9.

For boys, other winners were Jeff Baklund in the 1,600 in 4:48 and the 800 in 2:07. Jason Howard won the discus at 118-8.