By Steve Werhly/Journal reporter

Friday Harbor Track Coach Darrin Scheffer predicted a month ago that Willie Blackmon would set a new school record in the 300 meter hurdles.

The speedy freshman did just that Saturday, May 12, at the sub-district 1A meet in Lynden, leading three Wolverines into the tri-district meet Thursday and Saturday, May 17 and 19, at King’s High School in Shoreline.

Blackmon won the 300m hurdles in a Friday Harbor High School record time of 42.78 seconds, after having qualified for the tri-district meet in both the 100m and 200m sprints.

“The race was tight around the corner,” Scheffer said, “but when he reached the straightaway, he just left everybody behind.”

Blackmon won the 300m hurdles by nearly two full seconds.

He joined senior Lucas Jagel (discus), junior Aaron Prager (long jump and triple jump) and sophomore Alaina Scheffer (javelin) in qualifying for the tri-district meet, which in turn is a qualifying event for the state 1A/1B/2B league meet set for Cheney on May 25 and 26.

“All the kids work hard to improve every week, and it showed in the nine personal bests the team turned in” at the sub-districts, Scheffer said.

The only disappointment, according to Scheffer, was that  Jagel pulled a hamstring and couldn’t compete in the 400m run, perhaps his best event.

Jagel’s discus throw was 11 feet better that his previous best, leading Scheffer to comment that “the competition gets tougher now, but Lucas has a shot at going to state if he continues to improve” — a conclusion that no doubt applies to Blackmon, Prager and Scheffer too.