Liberty shines in spring: Multiple top finishers in sports championships

Patriot runners, tennis players and golfers all took home hardware.

By Benjamin Ray • June 3, 2024 1:45 pm

Liberty High School closed out the spring season extremely well through a multitude of sports.

On the links, Liberty golfers were riddled all over fairways down in Pierce and Thurston counties. The Liberty girls team placed second at their state tournament overall, thanks in part of Audrey Park and Kylie McGrath. Last year, Park shot a 149 and placed third in state. This year, Park finished fourth and shot a 151. Her teammate McGrath tied for 13th last season and this year finished 11th (160).

To place as a team, the top four scores (out of five) are taken. The four players whose scores were taken were Park (151), junior Addison Tran (170) and sophomore Mai-Ly Lu (190).

For reference, the Patriots’ finally tally was 671 shots. They were 20 shots in front of third place Silas. But Bellevue was destined for the crown, and they were in front of the Patriots by 68 shots.

Junior 2023 runner-up Calvin Cakarnis made it back to the state tournament and played the second day. His score of 151 in 2024 placed him eighth in the entire state at the 3A level playing at The Golf Club at Hawks Prairie.

On the tennis courts, freshman Tayler Conway continued her miraculous season. Conway strolled her way to the 3A championship and really throughout the entirety of her first season. In the postseason, Conway didn’t drop a single set until she reached the championship match. Conway had quite the preparation for the postseason, as the final four in the state tournament were the final four in the KingCo and District 2 Tournament.

In the KingCo tournament and District 2 tournament, Conway didn’t drop a single set. While in state, the same pattern emerged all the way until her final match. She took on Amina Avdic from Lake Washington for the crown on May 25. Avdic is the one who has given Conway her only speed bump all season. Conway fell in straight sets in the final, but made Avdic work in the last set, falling in the tie-breaker.

Her second-place finish is the highest any Patriot has ever finished in the school’s history, which started in 1977. Placing second earned Liberty 10 points, which was enough to place fourth.

At Mount Tahoma High School for the state track and field championships, Liberty’s boys team performed well. The Patriots finished second for their highest finish since also finishing second back in 2011.

The team was led by sophomore Sutton Flint, who placed in three races. He placed fourth in the 300M hurdles, and 6th in the 110M hurdles. Flint’s one win was in the 200M with a time of 22.10.

Junior Jackson Moffitt also performed on the big stage. He finished fourth in the 200M, and second in the 500M.

Both Moffitt and Flint were on the 4X400M relay team that was the state champion. The Patriots cruised to first place, winning the race by almost four seconds.

Junior Kiona Hill took home a state crown of her own. Hill won the 3A javelin toss of 126-11, which was just enough to beat Anvi Bhatia from Lakeside by just two inches.