1,000+ athletes from WA, OR and ID descend on Tri-Cities for Pasco Invite this week
Back on Nov. 29, John Crawford passed away at the age of 81.
It left a void in the Tri-Cities sports community that would be hard to fill.
Crawford was a long-time teacher and coach at Pasco High School.
He was also the guy who computerized high school sporting events back in the 1980s — whether it be the state cross country championships, the annual Pasco Invitational track and field meet, high school basketball games statistics, or final results from a wrestling tournament.
Whether athletes or coaches knew it or not, Crawford’s work made a big impression on everyone involved in sports around the Tri-Cities and the state.
He made big events even better, and helped provide lasting memories for everyone.
After his passing, Crawford’s family decided to wait to have a celebration of his life.
Well, that time has finally come, and I don’t think it could be at a better place than Edgar Brown Stadium in Pasco.
Upstairs at the stadium, across from the concession stands, the public is invited to have cake and reminisce about Crawford’s life from 1:30 to 5 p.m. on Friday.
Especially fitting is that it’s at the stadium in which the track is called John Crawford Track.
And the timing couldn’t be better, as it’s the day before the Pasco Invitational, still billed as the largest single-day high school track and field meet in the nation.
Crawford himself would have loved the timing and the location.
Pasco Invite
The 60th running of this meet will feature well over 1,000 athletes from Washington, Oregon and Idaho.
The national anthem is at 9 a.m., kicking off the day’s schedule.
The first field finals begin at 9:15 a.m., while the first track finals — the boys and girls 100 meters dash — will be run at 12:50 p.m.
The final event, the 4x400 relays, should be finished around 6:30 to 6:45 p.m.
Every Mid-Columbia Conference school will be competing, as will numerous Big Nine Conference and Greater Spokane League schools.
Here are a few Mid-Columbia region athletes to keep your eyes on Saturday:
▪ Walla Walla senior Brody Hartley, a distance runner who finished fifth in the seeded men’s 3200 meters last Saturday at the prestigious Arcadia Invitational in Southern California.
Hartley, who is headed to run track and cross country in the fall at Notre Dame, ran the 3200 in 8 minutes, 52.81 seconds for a personal record.
▪ Kamiakin’s Aubrey Herrin has great leaping ability. She showed that during the recent girls basketball season with her rebounding talent.
She’s transferred that talent into the girls triple jump, where she’s ranked second in the state right now with a mark of 37 feet, 5 inches.
▪ Connell junior Kellen Riner. I don’t know what it is about the Riner family and throwing javelins, but the combination works. Kellen’s older sister, Ashton Riner-Lunt, attends BYU and is the defending NCAA champion in the women’s javelin throw.
Kellen Riner has the state’s second best throw so far this spring at 178 feet, 2 inches.
▪ Chiawana senior Kade Smith sits No. 3 in the state in the boys triple jump at 45-9.
But Smith is the defending state 4A champion in this event, and it’s about this time of the year — the Pasco Invite — in which many of the state’s outstanding track and field athletes start to take off.
▪ Every now and then, an athlete from a small 1B school steps into the spotlight, regardless of classification. This is the case for DeSales senior Morgan Thomas. On March 11, Thomas tossed the discus 134 feet, 11 inches, at the Walla Walla Jamboree.
That’s a PR for her, and it ranks her No. 2 in the entire state. This is the beauty of the Pasco Invite: it’s a chance for small-school athletes to show what they can do against the bigger schools.
Visiting athletes
The other great thing about the Pasco Invite is being able to watch future Olympians and NCAA champions come into our own backyard and compete.
The assumption is the following athletes will be attending, since their schools will be competing.
And if they do, we can see some fireworks.
▪ Chiawana’s Smith could see some competition in that boys triple jump, as Victor Byaundaombe of Capital High in Boise enters as the top triple jumper out of Idaho.
▪ JaiCieonna Gero-Holt of Emerald Ridge is a sophomore who has started making a name for herself. She is currently the state leader (all classifications) in the following events: 100-meter hurdles, javelin and high jump. She’s also among the top three in the shot put and long jump.
What will be interesting is what events she may compete in. Usually athletes can only do four.
▪ The boys 3200 meters could be fun. In addition to Walla Walla’s Hartley, who ranks third in the state, there is Blanchet’s Vincent Recupero (second in Washington), and Oregon’s leader in Jesuit’s Jacob Nenow, as well as Idaho’s leader in Rocky Mountain’s Landon Heemeyer.
▪ Tahoma’s Brooke Lyons is among the state’s leaders in the girls 100, 200 and 400 meters.
NWAC softball
This weekend marks numerous community college softball teams playing in crossover tournaments.
So it might be a good time to take a look at the NWAC East Region standings, which has Walla Walla Community College on top with a 14-2 record.
But sitting two games back at 12-4 is Columbia Basin College with two other squads: North Idaho and Treasure Valley.
Current NWAC East Region standings:
Walla Walla 14-2 East, 21-5 overall
CBC 12-4, 19-7
North Idaho 12-4, 17-8
Treasure Valley 12-4, 12-10
Spokane 7-9, 10-10
Wenatchee Valley 6-10, 10-13-1
Yakima Valley 5-11, 6-14
Blue Mountain 2-14, 4-21-1
Big Bend 2-14, 2-14
▪ While everyone is involved in non-conference play around the state this coming weekend, next Tuesday presents an excellent opportunity for local softball fans, as CBC will play host to Walla Walla in an East Region doubleheader. First game will start at 2 p.m.
Jeff Morrow is former sports editor of the Tri-City Herald.
