Kasen Williams' Three State Titles Pace Skyline at State Track Championships

Kasen Williams has seen two sports seasons end in disappointment during his senior year. The  football team fell in the 4A state title game to Ferris and the Spartans basketball team fell short of the state tournament.

With track and field his last chance for a successful prep sports career send-off, Williams went off in style.

Williams won three state titles, including a state record in the 4A boys triple jump, to help lead Skyline to a fourth-place finish at the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) state track and field championships on Saturday at Mount Tahoma High School in Tacoma.

It was a fitting send-off for the young man who has become perhaps the greatest athlete in Skyline High School history. The future University of Washington football player started his weekend strong, with a state record in the triple jump. Williams jumped a distance of 50 feet, 9 3/4 inches to take control of the state record that his father once held for 22 years.

“Me and my dad kept saying, ‘It’s got to come back in the family,’” Williams said of his record-setting jump. “So I threw something out there…and just gave it a shot.”

Williams followed that feat up with a win in the 4A boys high jump competition. The senior cleared 6 feet 10 inches, but was clearly disappointed after he failed to clear seven feet for the second year in a row. Despite taking the state title, Williams was somber after the win.

“I have a lot of expectations for myself and I’m not satisfied until I accomplish all my goals," Williams said.

Williams set the goal of breaking the state meet record in the long jump on Saturday but had to settle for simply beating out an ultra-competitive field that included future Oregon track competitor Alec Fellows of Edmonds-Woodway. Despite falling short of his goal, Williams was all smiles following the award ceremony that presented him with his third first-place finish of the tournament.

"My mentality coming in was to get all three records," Williams said. "But, yes, the title is good enough."

Williams three wins gave Skyline 30 of its 31 team points, with the other point coming from an eighth-place finish by the 4 x 400 meter relay team of Blake Young, Trevon Clark, Andrew Millett and Drew Matthews. Williams said afterwards that he wanted to leave a legacy behind at the state tournament.

"I wanted to put something out there that I knew wouldn't get touched for a long time."

After three state titles and a new state record, it looks like he succeeded.