Deming, Prasad and Mouw lead track at tournament

By Oliver Lazenby

Blaine’s Josie Deming, Rani Prasad and Dalton Mouw all endured terrible weather to snag second place finishes at the Birger Solberg Invitational track and field tournament on April 7 at Civic Stadium.

The tournament included 35 schools and was one of the toughest tests yet for Blaine athletes, who are now less than a month away from the district tournament.

Mouw finished second in the 200 meters in 23.35 seconds, and third in the 100 meters in 11.66 seconds. Mouw also ran for ninth place in the 4x400 relay with Trevor Freeland, Max Miller and Seth Blomeen.

Mouw could go to state this year in all three events, said Blaine head coach Fryth Rasar.

“Not everyone could handle this load but Dalton can, no question,” Rasar said. “These events are spread out enough through the meet that he has plenty of recovery time in between.”

Blaine’s next top finisher, Prasad, took second in shot put with a throw of 36-feet, 11-inches, her best throw this season. Prasad also placed fifth in the discus throw at 102 feet. Shot put is Prasad’s best event, but she’s worked hard at discus this year and improved her best throw by about 20 feet.

“Her goal is to compete at the state level in [discus] along with shot put,” Rasar said.

In her second year in track and field, Deming has become the county’s best javelin thrower. At Birger Solberg, she placed second behind Paige Shimkus of Lakewood with a throw of 131 feet.

Deming broke Blaine High School’s javelin record last year at state; her throw last weekend sailed an extra 10 feet.

Porter Schmidt landed in fourth place in shot put with a throw of 45 feet, 10.75 inches, a season best. Schmidt, Mouw, Prasad and Deming have placed near the top in competition all season long.

Blaine track and field teams compete next at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, April 14, at the Mountlake Terrace Invite at Edmonds Woodway High School.