1A Track & Field: Castle Rock's Kleine cruises to twin State titles

Around The Track – The Rock reaches State podium again and again; plus The Kalama report

Castle Rock’s Casie Klein flashes a smile while standing atop the podium as a State champion in the 200-meter race at the 1A State Championships, Saturday, May 31, at Zaepfel Stadium in Yakima. Klein also won the 400-meter title. / Photo by Dylan Wilhelm of The Chronicle.

By Drew Lawson for Blast Zone Media / blastzonenews@gmail.com

High School Track and Field

YAKIMA— A small contingent of the stands at Eisenhower High School clad in Rocket red rose to their feet just in front of the finish line as Castle Rock senior Casie Kleine surged away from the competition to claim her third 1A girls 400-meter State title on Saturday.

And then, that same contingent sprung up in similar jubilation a few hours later as Kleine added a second state title for good measure, this time in the 200 meters.

The first title, of the 400-meter variety, came as gusting winds blew in the face of competition on the final 100-meter stretch.

But Kleine’s fast start and closing surge pushed her nearly a second ahead of second-place Allison Eggers of Bellevue Christian at 59.33.

“I got out and then the wind hit me. That pushed me back,” Kleine said. “I was trying to stride through it on the back stretch. I tried to pick up my pace a little bit and the last 100 meters hit it as hard as I could.”

Kleine knew she had to fuel up to try and gain another State title in the 200 meters. So, naturally, she headed inside the Eisenhower gym and fell asleep.

The strategy worked, as she set a personal-best while pulling away for the 200-meter title with a 25.15 mark. That time, the wind was more helpful as it had changed directions around lunch time.

“One thing is the wind, that was pushing me,” Kleine said. “Another one was, I was trying to fuel a lot after my 400 to get ready for this race, so I took a nap in the gym and then I just hydrated and stuff so I think my body was well-prepared for this race.”

Castle Rock’s Casie Klein (187) finishes in a tight cluster at the finish line in the 1A girls 100-meter dash during the final day of the 1B/2B/1A State Track and Field Championships at Zaepfel Stadium, Saturday, May 31, in Yakima. Kleine won two State titles, and finished sixth in the 100-meter dash. / Photo by Ridley Hudson of The Chronicle

Kleine bookended her day with a morning sixth-place finish in the 100-meter dash at 12.83 and joined Jasmine Schatz, Ellie Powers and Myah Manzano in a 4X400 relay where the senior passed three competitors in the final leg to give the Rockets a fifth-place finish at 4:11.96.

All told, the Rocket girls scored 27 points to take home seventh place in the team competition.

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