The Mercer Island High School Track & Field program delivered a historic performance at the 2026 3A KingCo League Championships on May 16th, with the Women’s team capturing the league title in a 304-point landslide and the Men’s team securing a hard-fought 3rd place finish. While the Islander women more than doubled the score of their nearest competitor, the Islander men were part of a thrilling podium race, finishing with 129 points; just a half-point shy of second place.
The Islanders put on a masterclass of depth, speed, and precision at Renton Memorial Stadium, turning the track and the field into a showcase of maroon and white. The headline of the weekend belonged to the Islander women, who completely swept all three relay events in dominant fashion. The 4×100, 4×200, and 4×400 squads all climbed the top step of the podium, proving that Mercer Island’s relay chemistry and depth are second to none in the league. This collective execution complemented an absolute onslaught of individual multi-event champions across the sprints, distance races, jumps, and throws.
Individual standouts electrified the crowd over the two-day meet. On the track, Sophia Rodriguez put on a distance running clinic, capturing league titles in both the 1600 and 3200 meters. Sprinters Eloise Newman and Lauren Balousek traded elite performances, with Newman capturing crowns in the 100 meters and 100-meter hurdles, while Balousek claimed the league titles in both the 200 and 400 meters. In the field, the dominance continued as Aaliyah Khan swept the horizontal jumps with victories in the long jump and triple jump, Alisha Khan captured the javelin crown, and Aracelys Bundesmann swept the shot put and discus rings. Sarina Sawhney added to the gold rush with a brilliant triple-victory in the wheelchair shot put, discus, and javelin events.
The Islander men matched that championship energy with spectacular title-winning performances of their own. Owen Clarkson cleared an elite 15-00.00 to capture the KingCo pole vault championship, Matthew Lawrence battled to a league title in the 1600 meters, and Aidin Azeem launched a championship-winning throw to take the discus crown. Both the men’s and women’s rosters demonstrated incredible technical precision and heart, resulting in personal bests and crucial podium finishes from every single athlete on the roster.
Final Team Standings
| Rank | Women’s 3A Team | Points | Men’s 3A Team | Points |
| 1 | Mercer Island | 304 | Liberty (Issaquah) | 189.5 |
| 2 | Liberty (Issaquah) | 122 | Bellevue | 129.5 |
| 3 | Inglemoor | 116 | Mercer Island | 129 |
| 4 | Bellevue | 89 | Inglemoor | 89 |
| 5 | Sammamish | 36 | Interlake | 50 |
| 6 | Interlake | 17 | Sammamish | 46 |
| 7 | Highline | 11 | Highline | 26 |
Women’s Results
Sprints & Hurdles
- Eloise Newman: Captured 1st place in the 100 Meters with a personal best time of 12.08a. She also took 2nd in the 200 Meters with a personal best of 25.05a, and won the 100m Hurdles field event in 14.81a.
- Lauren Balousek: Secured 2nd place in the 100 Meters (12.19a), claimed 1st place in the 200 Meters (24.97a), and won the 400 Meters with a time of 56.94a.
- Hanna Lassila: Finished 4th place in the 100 Meters with a personal best of 12.56a and took 3rd place in the 200 Meters with a personal best of 25.80a.
- Aaliyah Khan: Placed 5th place in the 100 Meters, running a season-best 12.58a.
- Maia Shook: Earned 5th place in the 200 Meters with a time of 26.30a.
- Maddie O’Brien: Ran a personal best of 27.37a in the 200 Meters for 14th place, and finished 9th place in the 400 Meters at 1:03.29a.
- Savanna Rousell: Achieved two personal bests, taking 5th place in the 100m Hurdles (17.98a) and 8th place in the 300m Hurdles (51.47a) field event.
- Xinyi Zhang: Placed 13th place in the 100m Hurdles field event with a personal best time of 20.03a.
Distance
- Sophia Rodriguez: Captured 3rd place in the 800 Meters with a season-best 2:18.75a, and claimed 1st place in both the 1600 Meters (5:00.75a) and the 3200 Meters (10:46.39a).
- Rizah Despres: Took 2nd place in the 800 Meters (2:16.31a) and 3rd place in the 1600 Meters (5:13.00a).
- Cassidy Anderson: Placed 5th place in the 800 Meters with a season-best 2:21.32a, and 6th place in the 1600 Meters (5:14.81a).
- Bella Heczey: Earned 8th place in the 1600 Meters (5:19.08a) and 2nd place in the 3200 Meters (11:27.01a).
- Ella Zhang: Finished 11th place in the 1600 Meters (5:22.89a) and 3rd place in the 3200 Meters (11:28.83a).
- Dora Cheng: Secured 5th place in the 3200 Meters with a time of 11:45.14a.
- Anna Ahrenholz: Placed 6th place in the 3200 Meters, crossing the line in 12:33.63a.
- Elsa Bergman: Finished 7th place in the 3200 Meters with a personal best of 12:33.91a.
- Tess Ahrenholz: Achieved a personal best of 12:36.30a for 8th place in the 3200 Meters.
- Thea Allen: Took 10th place in the 3200 Meters with a personal best of 12:42.21a.
- Langley Foster: Ran a season-best 12:55.72a to finish 12th place in the 3200 Meters.
- Sidney Callihan: Placed 14th place in the 3200 Meters, setting a personal best of 12:58.89a.
Relays
- 4×100 Relay: The team of Hanna Lassila, Lauren Balousek, Eloise Newman, and Aaliyah Khan captured 1st place with a spectacular time of 48.46a.
- 4×200 Relay: Maia Shook, Hanna Lassila, Maddie O’Brien, and Nicolette Nguyen captured 1st place in 1:45.06a.
- 4×400 Relay: Maddie O’Brien, Rizah Despres, Sophia Rodriguez, and Maia Shook brought home 1st place with a time of 3:57.25a.
Throws
- Aracelys Bundesmann: Won 1st place in the throwing field events for Shot Put (35-07.50) and Discus with a personal best of 106-07.
- Aimee Montpellier: Secured 4th place in the Shot Put (27-11.00), 3rd place in the Discus (87-09), and 7th place in the Javelin (88-02) throwing events.
- Chloe Yu: Achieved personal bests across the throwing field events, finishing 6th place in the Shot Put (26-10.50), 8th place in the Discus (75-10), and 13th place in the Javelin (67-09).
- Vy Nguyen: Placed 14th place in the Discus throwing field event with a mark of 64-03.
- Alisha Khan: Captured 1st place in the Javelin throwing field event with an impressive mark of 118-05.
Jumps & Vault
- Nicolette Nguyen: Won 1st place in the High Jump event, clearing a height of 5-02.00.
- Wilhelmina Shopay: Placed 2nd place in the High Jump (5-01.00), 2nd place in the Long Jump (17-06.50), and 3rd place in the Triple Jump with a personal best of 35-08.50.
- Scout Bates: Secured 3rd place in the High Jump event with a mark of 4-11.00.
- Madeline Schubert: Finished 5th place in the High Jump event with a season-best clearance of 4-09.00.
- Alana Precht: Tied for 9th place in the High Jump event at 4-07.00, and also competed in the Pole Vault field event.
- Vivian Lim: Took 9th place in the Long Jump event with a distance of 14-09.50, and also competed in the High Jump.
- Emma Moore: Placed 10th place in the Pole Vault event with a personal best clearance of 7-06.00.
- Amelia Sung: Tied for 15th place in the Pole Vault, clearing a height of 6-00.00.
- Aaliyah Khan: Dominated the horizontal jumps, winning 1st place in both the Long Jump (18-02.25) and Triple Jump (38-07.00) field events.
- Alisha Khan: Earned 3rd place in the Long Jump (16-11.00) and 4th place in the Triple Jump (34-11.75) field events.
- Ashley Levitt: Placed 12th place in the Long Jump with a personal best of 14-06.75, and 7th place in the Triple Jump with a personal best of 32-09.00.
- Blakely Bourke: Competed and represented the Islanders in the High Jump field event.
Wheelchair Events
- Sarina Sawhney: Swept the wheelchair throwing events, capturing 1st place in the Shot Put (17-08.50), Discus (43-01.00), and Javelin (41-03.00).
Men’s Results
Sprints & Hurdles
- Nicholas Castaneda: Took 3rd place in the 100 Meters (10.99a) and 5th place in the 200 Meters (22.79a).
- Jonah Thiese: Secured 8th place in the 100 Meters with a personal best of 11.32a, and finished 4th place in the 400 Meters in 52.15a.
- Parker Blosch: Ran a personal best of 23.68a to place 14th place in the 200 Meters.
- Thomas Castaneda: Finished 13th place in the 400 Meters with a time of 53.70a.
- Simon Fang: Earned 8th place in the 110m Hurdles field event with a personal best of 17.37a.
- Natan Danielli: Placed 12th place in the 110m Hurdles (18.68a) and 6th place in the 300m Hurdles field event with a personal best of 42.95a.
- Khai McMullan: Took 15th place in the 110m Hurdles (19.25a) and 12th place in the 300m Hurdles field event with a personal best of 44.90a.
Distance
- Matthew Lawrence: Claimed 1st place in the 1600 Meters (4:26.35a) and 5th place in the 3200 Meters (9:48.70a).
- Finn Bunker: Took 3rd place in the 800 Meters (1:58.55a) and 8th place in the 1600 Meters (4:32.87a).
- Matthew Greer: Finished 5th place in the 800 Meters (1:58.99a) and 12th place in the 1600 Meters (4:42.60a).
- Bodie Thomas: Secured 4th place in the 1600 Meters (4:28.94a) and 4th place in the 3200 Meters (9:48.33a).
- Connor Ward: Placed 5th place in the 1600 Meters (4:29.09a) and 2nd place in the 3200 Meters (9:36.86a).
- Jake Powell: Took 11th place in the 1600 Meters (4:41.11a) and earned 3rd place in the 3200 Meters (9:43.82a).
- Silas Rennie: Finished 14th place in the 1600 Meters with a time of 4:45.28a.
- Kellan Doroski: Ran a time of 9:53.21a to secure 6th place in the 3200 Meters.
- Dino Hajdarpasic: Placed 7th place in the 3200 Meters with a personal best time of 10:06.59a.
- Kai Bergman: Finished 9th place in the 3200 Meters, clocking a personal best time of 10:09.14a.
Relays
- 4×100 Relay: The team of Jonah Thiese, Parker Blosch, Owen Clarkson, and Nicholas Castaneda sprinted to a 2nd place finish with a time of 43.24a.
- 4×400 Relay: Matthew Greer, Jonah Thiese, Matthew Lawrence, and Finn Bunker secured 2nd place with a time of 3:30.46a.
Throws
- Aidin Azeem: Had a massive meet, taking 1st place in the Discus (141-10), 5th place in the Javelin (135-01), and 10th place in the Shot Put (38-01.00) throwing field events.
- Samo Lassila: Threw a personal best of 115-02 to secure 6th place in the Discus throwing event.
- Lorenzo Santana: Competed and represented the team in the Discus throwing field event.
Jumps & Vault
- Owen Clarkson: Captured 1st place as the champion in the Pole Vault field event, clearing an impressive height of 15-00.00.
- Simon Fang: Took 10th place in the Pole Vault event with a personal best clearance of 10-06.00.
- Marcus Wiatr: Cleared a personal best height of 5-10.00 to finish 5th place in the High Jump event.
- Zane Shiers: Secured 7th place in the High Jump (5-08.00) and 9th place in the Triple Jump event with a personal best of 36-07.75.
- Eli Kercher: Placed 10th place in the High Jump (5-04.00) and 9th place in the Long Jump event with a personal best distance of 19-08.50.
- Graham Goodrum: Tied for 10th place in the High Jump field event, clearing a height of 5-04.00.
- Siarhei Kushal: Jumped a season-best distance of 38-01.75 to take 8th place in the Triple Jump field event.
- Marcus Johanson: Represented the Islanders in the Pole Vault field event.
- Max Wiatr: Represented the Islanders in the High Jump field event.
Check out the KingCo League Championship Track & Field results for 2026. Photos below provided by our team’s amazing photographer Scott Knoblich.
