MARYSVILLE — Three event victories at the Tomahawk Classic helped the Lakewood boys and girls track teams catapult over some larger competition to finish squarely in the middle of the pack at the April 25 meet.

A light rain fell on contests throughout most of the day, but not everyone found it unwelcome.

Lakewood junior Taylor Guske weathered the early legs of the 1,600 to have his best race of the year. He won the mile in a time of 4:28.09, besting Dylan Hopper of Cascade and Joel Brose of North Kitsap.

“I didn’t feel strong my entire race, but when it got down to kicking with the guy, I had to go at it. I knew I could take him,” Guske said. “He flew by me but I kept with him, and I knew when I’d start my kick, he wouldn’t be able to keep up with me.”

Guske finished the race about three seconds ahead of Hopper and Brose. Another distance runner boosted Lakewood — senior Lacey Nation was a winner in the girls 800, her time of 2:22.04 better than Cascade’s Breanna Huschka, as well as district rivals from Burlington-Edison and Anacortes.

Back on the boys side, senior Spencer Hulslander had a big win for Lakewood in the pole vault, and a big personal win too. Flying seven inches higher than he ever had before and a foot and a half over runner-up and teammate Payden Butler, the vaulter cleared 14-1 to handily take the event. The mark is one of the best in 2A track and field, tying him for the state’s third best jump in the division.

Hulslander also placed fourth in the high jump with a best mark of 5-8, while Butler was a two-time runner-up with a throw of 152-4 in the javelin.

The Lakewood boys placed fourth out of 10 squads while the girls were seventh.

— Akaash Saini contributed to this report.