Chiawana’s athlete wins 2 events at Pasco Invite + Kamiakin girls take team title
Kade Smith was ready to go home on Saturday night, planning on icing his knees.
Smith, a Chiawana senior, had a long day of activities. First, he won two events at the 60th Pasco Invitational track and field meet at Edgar Brown Stadium.
Then he headed over to Columbia Basin College, where he played for the Tri-Cities team in the SWX Classic all-star basketball game, which pitted some of the top Tri-Cities area players against some of the Yakima region’s best.
The basketball game tipped off at 7 p.m.
“I wasn’t even sure I was going to make the SWX event,” Smith admitted. “At 6:20 p.m., I was standing on the podium.”
Ah, yes. Smith was getting his first-place plaque for his victory in the boys triple jump after he had a mark of 45 feet, 4.25 inches. Smith hit that mark on his very first jump of the day, in the preliminaries.
This all followed his boys long jump win earlier in the day, where his leap of 22-2.5 held up over the rest of the field.
The Riverhawks standout, who is planning to play football this coming fall at University of Montana Western, was the only male athlete in the invite to win two individual events.
That’s not bad for a guy who only took up track and field a year ago.
“And I only started with six weeks left in the season,” he said.
Previously, Smith had been a baseball player. But a broken finger suffered his freshman year affected a growth plate in a knuckle on his throwing hand — making it hard to throw the ball.
So track it was, and all Smith did last year was win the 4A state title in the triple jump.
Still, Smith wasn’t sure what to expect in Saturday’s meet.
“I definitely have a lot more room to improve,” Smith said. “With Abdulrahim Abdulrahim of Southridge also in the triple jump, it’s a battle every time we compete with each other.”
Abdulrahim, in fact, finished second in the triple jump, with a leap of 43 feet, 11 inches.
Smith’s two titles was just one example of many great performances on the day, which featured some partly sunny weather, no winds, and over 1,200 athletes.
Here are some other top storylines of the day:
Kamiakin girls win team title
Kamiakin scored 62 points to take the team title, beating out Rocky Mountain and its 57 points.
Leading the way was sophomore Aubrey Herrin winning the triple jump event with a mark of 37 feet, 9.25 inches; and the winning 4x100 relay team with a top time of 49.32 seconds.
That team consisted of Danica Helms, Herrin, Katie Christian, and anchor leg Adelyn Mitchell.
It was Mitchell who outleaned Rocky Mountain’s Ciara Brown at the finish line for the victory by a split second.
“One hundred percent I knew I had to outlean her,” said Mitchell, a junior. “I love this (relay) team. We know each other so well. We play soccer together (in the fall).”
Kamiakin’s winning time made the Braves the fastest girls 4x100 relay team in the state.
And Mitchell, a good soccer player, is starting to think that maybe track and field could be in her future after high school.
“I just feel good when I run,” said Mitchell. “I’m improving every race.”
Mitchell added a second-place finish in the 100 meters, and was fourth in the 200.
Herrin, meanwhile, added a third-place finish in the high jump.
Walla Walla stars
Walla Walla’s boys used a lethal combination of Jake Hisaw and Brody Hartley to score 58 points. It wasn’t enough to win the team title — Idaho’s deep Rocky Mountain squad rolled to the boys team title with 95 points — but the two Blue Devils seniors made an impression.
Hisaw won the boys 300 meter hurdles in a state-best 38.79 seconds.
“It’s nice to get a good start, and I got my steps in (between the hurdles) right,” said Hisaw, who is headed to the University of Idaho next year. “I’m much, much farther ahead than where I was last year at this time. I’m about 3 seconds faster in the 300, and about 1 second faster in the 110 hurdles.”
Hartley, committed to running for Notre Dame in the fall, held off two hard-charging Rocky Mountain runners to win the boys 800 meters title in 1:57.86.
“It was kind of a weird race,” admitted Hartley. “I had tired legs going into it. Honestly, I was hoping for a 1:54.”
And together, Hisaw and Hartley combined with their Blue Devils teammates to win the 4x400 relay title. Hartley also was on the winning Distance Medley Relay squad.
Both seniors are eyeing a state team title in May.
“A team title is the most important thing,” said Hisaw. “The team has gotten me to where I am so far.”
Hartley agrees.
“The ultimate goal is to win that team state title,” he said.
Bombers boys relay sprints to victory
Richland’s boys 4x100 relay team won its event.
Seth Shook, Lex Luther, Ethan Child and Keegan Kuntz handed the baton perfectly to each other on Saturday, and crossed the finish line in 42.53 seconds.
Shook, a standout wide receiver who will play football at Idaho, said circumstances such as illness and vacations had kept the four runners apart until this past week.
“It was the first time we ran together this year,” said Shook. “We were expecting to win. We were here on Thursday at Edgar Brown in a conference meet. But we dropped the baton. We told each other we’ve got Saturday.”
On Saturday, when Kuntz got the baton as the anchor, he really wowed the crowd. He stuck it into high gear and blew by the leader for the win.
“After Thursday, we knew we just had to clean up the handoffs,” said Kuntz.
Kuntz also won the boys 200 meters and finished second in the long jump.
Kuntz played football last fall at Mead High School in Spokane, and he has a scholarship to play at the University of Washington this coming fall.
His family moved to Richland right after Christmas.
Other Saturday standouts
Here’s a look at some of the other better performances Saturday:
Rocky Mountain’s Ciara Brown won the girls 400 meters (58.46 seconds); first in the 4x400 relay; second in the 4x100 relay;
Rocky Mountain’s Brighton Hayward was on the winning 4x400 girls relay team; was second in the girls 800, third in the 1600;
Rocky Mountain’s Landon Heemeyer won in the boys 3200 (9;17.04), second in the 1600;
Sandpoint’s Rusty Lee won the boys 110 high hurdles (14.36 seconds); second in the 300 hurdles;
University’s Addy MacArthur won the girls shot put (42 feet, 8.5 inches); placed third in the discus;
Post Falls’ Trevor Miller won the boys discus (168-6); second in the shot put;
Lewiston’s Damaris Stuffle won the girls 100 hurdles (15.77 seconds); was second in the 300 hurdles.
Note: More Pasco Invite recap coming this week.
Jeff Morrow is former sports editor for the Tri-City Herald.
