Kennewick High grad is GNAC athlete of the week + Mid-Columbia prep football matchups

Jeff Morrow
·4 min read

Kennewick High graduate Johan Correa competed in his first cross country meet a few weekends ago for Central Washington University, and he couldn’t have done any better.

Correa, a senior who specializes in track and field for the Wildcats, used his 800 meters speed at the end of the Puget Sound Invitational to win the men’s 5K race in Lakewood.

Correa clocked in at 15 minutes even.

That earned him the Great Northwest Athletic Conference male cross country runner of the week honors.

On the women’s side, Kennewick High grad Lauren Thompson was the top finisher for Central, placing 21st with a 5K time of 20:11.0.

Prep cross country

Hermiston junior Jaysen Rodriguez was the top placer at last weekend’s Runner’s Soul XC Fest in Hermiston, covering the 5,000 meters in 16 minutes, 24.70 seconds.

Other local placers in the top 10 were Tri-Cities Prep senior Ciaran St. Hilaire in third (16:34.49); Hermiston senior John Mills placing fourth (16:43.11); Richland senior Crew Martel was seventh (16:55.19); and College Place senior Jio Herrera finished eighth (16:58.31).

In the girls race, West Valley-Yakima senior Nicole Murdock crossed the finish line first in 19 minutes, 58.08 seconds.

Hermiston junior Elizabeth Newman finished second in 20:00.03, while Kennewick junior Morgan Thompson placed fifth in 20:31.44.

▪ At the prestigious Timberlake Farragut Invitational in Idaho last Saturday, Kamiakin’s Ezra Teeples placed fourth in the boys varsity 5000 meters race, finishing in 15 minutes, 49.9 seconds.

Teeples is the leader of the Braves team, which is ranked fourth in Class 4A in the latest Washington high school coaches poll that came out earlier this week.

Right now, Issaquah is ranked No. 1 in 4A boys.

Prep football

Here’s the lineup of high school football games this Friday (all times 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted):

  • College Place (1-1) at Cashmere (2-0), 6 p.m.: Visiting Hawks make long road trip to face powerful Bulldogs.

  • Connell (0-2) at Bonners Ferry (1-2): Visiting Eagles continue tough preseason schedule to prep for 1A SCAC East wars.

  • Dayton (1-1) at Waitsburg (1-1): Interesting matchup featuring schools who have been combining for 11-man program, now have their own 8-man teams.

  • Ephrata (1-1) at Othello (1-1): CWAC openers for both teams, and host Huskies may have the horses here.

  • Garfield-Palouse (2-0) at DeSales (1-1): Host Irish ready for bounce back game after tough loss at Liberty Christian last week.

  • Hermiston (1-1) at Walla Walla (0-2), Borleske Stadium: Can host Blue Devils (A) stop standout Bulldogs QB Issac Corey, and (B) get on the scoreboard this week?

  • Kamiakin (1-1) at Southridge (0-2), Lampson Stadium: Suns must find a way to move the football against top-notch Braves defense.

  • Kiona-Benton (0-2) at Warden (1-1): Visiting Bears try to get untracked against tough 1A team in Cougars.

  • Liberty Christian (2-0) at Sunnyside Christian (1-1): Charlie Branning has been outstanding at running back for visiting Patriots these first two weeks.

  • Lind-Ritzville-Sprague (2-0) vs. Tri-Cities Prep (1-1), Chiawana High: One of the best 2B teams in the state comes to Pasco to see what Jaguars have.

  • Mabton (0-1) at Lake Roosevelt (1-1): Visiting Vikings, who started season one week later than everyone else, head to Coulee City to take on Raiders.

  • Pasco (1-1) at Chiawana (1-1), Edgar Brown Stadium: Young Bulldogs have to figure out how to move the ball against solid Riverhawks D in Gravel Pit Bowl.

  • Richland (2-0) at Hanford (0-2), Fran Rish Stadium: Bombers’ Josh Woodard tossed 7 TD passes last week against Hermiston. How will Falcons answer?

  • River View (2-0) at Northwest Christian-Colbert (2-0), Riverside High, 6 p.m.: A good test for Panthers, who hit the road against one of better 2B teams in the state.

  • Royal (2-0) at Zillah (2-0): Might be the best matchup in the region. Visiting Knights QB Lance Allred is averaging over 360 yards of total offense.

  • St. John-Endicott/LaCrosse (0-2) at Touchet (1-1), 3 p.m.: Host Redhawks scored incredible 93 points last week in 8-man game against Sunnyside Christian.

  • Wahluke (1-1) at Naches Valley (1-1): Visiting Warriors coming off a big 30-6 win last week over Warden.

College soccer

McKenna Martinez, a Tri-Cities Prep graduate who played girls soccer for Richland High, has scored three goals this season for the 3-3-2 Oregon State University women’s soccer team this season.

That gives Martinez 25 career goals for the Beavers, putting her sixth on the school’s all-time list.

The junior has taken 28 shots this season, which includes 13 shots on goal.

Jeff Morrow is former sports editor for the Tri-City Herald.