Wolves send nine to State
Andrew Christiansen
Reporter
Goldendale qualified nine athletes in 11 events for this weekend's State track and field championship meet at Cheney. Qualifying was accomplished at the District meet held last Friday in Goldendale.
Leading the way as he has all year long, is Asa Israel, winner of the 800 and 1600 meter races. Israel led both races from start to finish, and was never challenged, although both winning margins were just over one second. His 4:33.98 was a second off his best time in the 1600.
The only other event winner among the Timberwolves was Tyler Hunziker, who qualified in three events. Hunziker won the high jump at 6-foot, and was second in the long jump with a leap of 20-0.5. He also qualified in the triple jump with a leap of 40-feet even.
The boys' 4x100 relay team needed help to make the cut, and it came by way of disqualification of Zillah's relay team which fouled by going out of the exchange zone on their final pass of the baton. The Timberwolf team includes Nathan Bischoff, JimJack Davenport, Torey Spaulding-Jimenez, and Steven Bischoff. Steven also qualified for State in the pole vault at 11-feet, good enough for second place.
Davenport, Spaulding-Jimenez, and Nathan Bischoff will be joined by Israel in the 4x400 relay. The quartet cranked out their fastest time of the year with a 3:37.94, one second behind winner Connell.
Nikki Williams was thrilled to make it to State in the discus. Admittedly distracted by other things in her busy senior year, Williams hadn't improved over last year's marks in the throwing events, but she was on her mark, Friday, with PRs in both shot put and discus. She will have one last chance to focus on breaking the 100 foot mark in the discus at Cheney, which would put her in the running for a podium finish. Williams will be joined by fellow senior, Hannah Swigart, who matched her personal best of 8-6 in the pole vault, for second place. Sophomore, Sadie Shattuck will go to State in the shot put, after finishing third with a 32-7.5 toss.
The District meet featured outstanding performances from a number of SCAC athletes, none of which were more impressive than the sprints of Whitney Leavitt. Leavitt, of Kiona-Benton thrilled the crowd and fellow athletes with her best times of 11.78 in the 100, and 24.82 in the 200 meter races. The drive and determination in her style explains how she is one of the top high school sprinters in the State, at any level.
Another of note was Blair Collins, of Royal. Collins won the 100 in 10.94 and was two feet longer than the runner-up in the long jump, with a leap of 22-0.75.
Mabton's Trishi Williams continued to dominate the throwing events, sweeping the discus, shot put and javelin by wide margins. She was nearly a foot longer than the competition in the shot put with a 34-10.5 toss, almost six feet longer in the discus at 107-6, and 19-7 longer than the second place toss in the javelin.
A great battle between a pair of Naches Valley long jumpers gave first place to Claire Boutillier, 16-3.25, one-quarter inch better than Justine Benner.
Freshmen were also competitive at the event. Matt Hadley, Connell, won the javelin with a throw of 158-3, although it was far short of his 171-1 thrown the week before at Highland.
There were 48 freshmen in the individual events at District, and a disproportionate number were from Goldendale (eight), suggesting a bright future for Timberwolf track. Best among the Goldendale freshmen was Kylie Montgomery, who broke the 30 foot barrier in the shot put, for sixth place. She also finished sixth in the 800.
The State track and field meet meet at Eastern Washington University runs Friday and Saturday, including championships in 1B, 2B, and 1A classes.
Bickleton, TLG share 1B team titles
Bickleton's boys track and field team scored a convincing team victory in the combined District 5, District 6 track meet in Kittitas, last Friday. The girls title was a repeat win by the Trout Lake-Glenwood girls.
The top two places earned spots at this weekend's State championship at Eastern Washington University track at Cheney. Complete results from the meet were not released by press deadline on Monday.
Top qualifier for State was Klickitat's Samantha Brewer, and although the Vandals were third at District, Coach Jim Reed believes his team has a good shot at a State team trophy. Brewer is a good candidate for top two finishes in four events: long jump, triple jump, high jump, and 100 hurdles. Joining Brewer will be surprise qualifier Kali Fargher in the javelin and triple jump. She's a surprise, because the senior wasn't out for track the past two years. Also going for the Vandal girls are throwers Zoe Lindner in the shot put and javelin, and freshman Charice McConville in the discus.
Qualifying for Bickleton were Junior Hernandez, Andrew Venema, Patrick Maeder, Edgar Molina and the 4x400 and 4x100 relay teams, which helped form the team victory. Hernandez was winner of the 3200 and runner- up in the 1600. Venema won the high jump, and came up short in his season-long battle with TLG's Tyler Cope in the hurdle events. Cope won the 110 in a virtual dead head and the 300 by less than a second. Venema was also second in the shot put, going over the 40-foot mark for the first time this year.
Maeder won the pole vault at 12-feet, and Molina was a double winner in discus, 115-2, and shot put, 46-3.5, which set a new personal best for the Pirate.
The Pirate girls were led by Katelynn Clinton, champion of the discus at 105-11, and second in high jump. Also winning was Star Kibby with a 9-foot pole vault. Danielle Raschko was second in the 800, and Holly Goodnight was runner-up in the shot put, with a 32-9.5 toss. All three girls relay teams also qualified for State.
TLG won the girls title behind the winning performances of Anna Schmid, first in the 100 in 13.1, and Anna Nakae, who was runner-up in the 100.
Turning in a winning performance for the TLG boys was Alec England, winner of the 1600 and 800 meter races. Mikael Dick was also a double winner in the 200 and 400. The TLG 4x400 will go to State by virtue of their District win.
Klickitat's boys will also be represented. Jeromie Mason set a new personal record in the triple jump for the second straight week, leaping 42-0.5, sending him on a return trip to State in a favored role. He will also compete in the long jump.
Mason's cousin, Ron Prominski was second to Venema in the high jump and will make his first trip to the State meet.
Cougars send six from tough 2B track meet
The Cougars of Lyle-Wishram faced a tough challenge to send entries to the State 2B track and field championship. The only way to get to State was to beat a number of great competitors from Riverside Christian and La Salle or eclipse the steep, state standards in the various events.
Cody Carlsen won the 200 meters in 23.08, and Teaera Churchwell was the winner of the 100 meters in 13.96. The only other individual qualifiers were Robbie Phelps who cleared 12 feet in the pole vault, and Jim Price who is a contender in the shot put with three throws over 45 feet this year, including a PR 46-2 at District last Friday.
The other qualifiers were the 4x400 relay team who turned in a very quick 3:30.47. The team consists of Ty Freemantle, Carlsen, Phelps, Henry Matai, and alternate Kyle Murphy. Matai had the tough challenge of trying to beat Dana Wells in the hurdles. Matai was second in the 110 hurdles and the field didn't have a chance in the 300 as Wells turned in a 38.74, which has only been bettered in the State at 2B by himself.
Other near misses by Cougars who placed second in events were Freemantle's 400, Jose' Martinez in the 800, Lars Fagernes by a little more than a second in the 1600, Churchwell in the 800, and Silvia Jameyson in the 200.
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