MOORE – Her final trip to the Class 5A State Track and Field Championships left a sweet and sour taste for El Reno High School senior Tamika Sonnier.
The sweet side - one of her longest throws on the season in the shot put competition was good enough to net a silver medal. The sour side was Sonnier's inability to complete a double-medal quest in the discus.
“That was a little bittersweet,” Sonnier said. “This was my senior year and I really wanted to medal in both. My goal was to get on the podium in the discus. But overall I feel pretty good.”
As one of the state's leaders in the shot put, Sonnier competed out of the second flight – which allowed her the luxury of sitting back and watching all but two throwers compete ahead of her.
“That helped me size up the competition,” Sonnier said. “That really helped motivate me because I knew what I had to beat.”
Sonnier beat all those ahead of her on the opening toss in the prelims – which covered 37 feet, 6.5 inches. However, the one thrower behind her, Durant's Janeshia Lewis, would surpass that mark on her first toss – measuring 41 feet, 11 inches.
“That girl from Durant just made a good throw,” Sonnier said.
As it turned out, the run for the gold was between Sonnier and Lewis.
Sonnier's second toss in the prelims went 38-5, which bested Lewis' second attempt by over 2 feet. Sonnier would scratch on her third attempt, while Lewis had a toss of 39-4, sending the pair into the finals with the top two distances.
In the finals, the two traded punches with Sonnier having throws of 36-11.5 and 37.5. Lewis countered with distances of 35-10.5 and 39-3 to hang on to the gold going into the third and final round.
On her final throw, Sonnier got her farthest mark of the meet at 38 feet, 9 inches.
“I just thought to myself to go for it now,” Sonnier said. “I thought I had already locked up second place but I sort of sealed it with my last throw.”
Lewis had a final throw only 6 inches farther than Sonnier.
For the competition, Lewis had a total distance of 231 feet, 2 inches or an average of 38 feet, 5.3 inches per throw. Sonnier had a total of 189 feet, 3.75 inches or an average of 37 feet, 8.75 inches per attempt.
“It was a good event except for that one throw,” El Reno head coach Shawn Mason said of the back-and-forth battle between Sonnier and Lewis. “The Durant girl threw 41-11 and there's not much you can do about that.”
Sonnier found herself in the second flight for the discus, which placed the senior up against the top throwers in the state.
“That flight was stacked and all the throwers were really good,” Sonnier said. “The Ardmore girls sort of took over, but they throw the discus year round and it's really not my forte – mine is the shot.”
Sonnier opened the prelims with a throw of 101 feet, 9 inches – which was the fourth farthest in the field of 16 throwers. However, her second attempt, which would have been farther, landed 3 feet out of bounds.
Her third attempt went 100 feet, 10 inches. She would end up in 11th place, three spots shy of the medal round. Ironically, the last spot in the finals went to Lewis, who had a throw of 105-9 on her last preliminary toss.