The Washington track and field team put on a strong performance on Wednesday as it won the boys meet and tied for first in the girls meet during its clash with Bertie, West Craven and Mattamuskeet.

The Pam Pack boys ran away with first place as they tallied 111 points. Trailing Washington was Bertie (74), West Craven (63) and Mattamuskeet (6).

In the girls meet, Washington tallied 66 points to tie Bertie for first place while West Craven placed second with 46 points and Mattamuskeet took third with three points.

“I’m very pleased with the way we performed today,” Washington coach Jon Blank said. “I felt like we needed a good meet today because we have had a couple of rough days at practice and we have been dealing with some injuries, so to come out and win today was big for us.”

Minus star sprinter Raheem Patterson, the Pam Pack boys team overcame his absence and racked up eight first-place finishes.

“One of our top runners was down today with a groin injury in Raheem Patterson and to be able to come out and get a lot of points we had to have a lot of guys step up,” Blank said. “William Ellegor really stepped up today and Thomas Sutton really stepped up today, plus we have a lot of young guys who have come around too.”

Sutton, a senior distance runner, supplied the Pam Pack with three first place finishes as he won the 3,200-meter run (11:31), the 1,600-meter run (5:17), the 800-meter run (2:14).

“We haven’t had (Sutton) out since he was a freshman and we got him out here this week and he is just a great competitor,” Blank said. “He is a kid that you want to have on your team and I think most coaches would feel that way about him.”

Washington’s Kevin Chapman took first place in the shot put with a throw of 46-feet-1-inch, while Jaquez Columbus’ throw of 118-feet-9-inches in the discuss was tops.

Blank  said the expectations are high for Chapman, who placed second in the state during the indoor season.

“Every time out we really hope that he is going to take first place,” Blank said. “We feel like he should be the best thrower in our conference … We are really hoping to improve every week and get him in the 50s by the end of the season.”

The Pam Pack also took first in the 4×800-meter relay as Brandon Cutler, Martin Morales, Sylvester Bolviar and Oscar Alverez-Ortiz ran a time of 9:16.

Washington’s 4×200-meter relay also took first as Raphael Gibbs, Darnell Windley, Keane Graham and William Ellegor finished the race in 1:36.

William Ellegor soared 20 feet in the long jump to lock up first place, while teammate Ricky Dunlop took third with a jump of 18-feet-8-inches.

Pernell Razor ran a time of 45.17 in the 300-meter hurdles to grab gold and his performance on the day was good enough to catch Blank’s eye.

“I was really surprised by the way Pernell ran in the hurdles, I thought he did a great job,” Blank said. “I was also surprised by the way he stepped in for Patterson in the 4×100 (which took second place).

The girls team tallied four first-place finishes and was led By senior Haley Hiatt who participated in three of the four gold-winning events.

Hiatt was tops in the discuss with a throw of 81-feet-5-inches, while her time of 1:09 in the 400-meter was fast enough to take gold.

Hiatt then joined up with Janell Griffin, Datisha Redmond and Yasmin Horton to take first in the 4×100-meter relay as they ran a regional-qualifying time of 51.5.

“Haley is a top competitor for us and mentally when she is on she can win every event that she competes in and today she was pretty focused,” Blank said.

Blank said he was pleased to see his 4×100 team qualify for the regional meet.

“I’m proud of that group,” Blank said. “That group of girls has worked hard to qualify and they were very excited to qualify and I’m excited for them. I think that’s a great group of girls, they always try to get better.”

Megan Woolard accounted for the Pam Pack girls’ fourth first place finish as she jumped 22-feet-1-inch in the triple jump.

Washington will be back in action on Monday when it hosts Rocky Mount, New Bern, Kinston, Jones Senior and Mattamuskeet.