Mid-Columbia packs WA track and field meets. CBC baseball heads to NWAC tournament
Area track and field athletes have a quick turnaround this week after competing in last weekend’s district and regional meets.
The state high school track and field meets start this Thursday — Tacoma’s Mt. Tahoma High School for Class 4A, 3A and 2A; Yakima’s Zaepfel Stadium for 1A, 2B and 1B — and run through Saturday night.
Richland was the site for this past weekend’s District 8 meet, which pitted the Mid-Columbia Conference’s best against the top athletes from the Greater Spokane League.
There were plenty of outstanding performances by the local kids:
Class 4A boys
▪ Richland senior Keenan Kuntz might have been the weekend’s top performer.
The mid-year transfer from Spokane won the 100 meters in 10.66 seconds, then took the 200 title in 21.94 seconds. He anchored the winning 4x100 relay team, which crossed the finish line in 41.88 seconds.
▪ Chiawana senior Kade Smith will try to defend his triple jump state championship after finishing first in Richland with a mark of 44 feet, 11 inches. He also placed second in the high jump with a PR of 6-2, and finished third in the long jump.
▪ Richland’s Seth Shook blew away the 110 high hurdles field to win in 15.06 seconds. He was also on that winning 4x100 relay team, and he finished second in the long jump.
▪ Chiawana’s Ehzoc Chavez won the 800 meters with a PR of 1:55.93. The senior was also part of the top finishing 4x400 relay team.
▪ Chiawana’s Michael Mendoza won the 300 hurdles in 40.52 seconds, and he ran a leg on the Riverhawks’ winning 4x400 relay team (3:25.18).
▪ Kamiakin’s Gavyn Buchanan won the long jump with a mark of 20 feet, 10.5 inches.
▪ Hanford’s Modou Kinteh won the 400 meters title with a time of 50.79 seconds.
▪ Kamiakin’s Ezra Teeples snared a second-place finish in the 1600 meters, and he also qualified for state in the 3200 after finishing third.
▪ Hanford’s Phillip Wald ended up winning the pole vault with a height of 14 feet, 9 inches.
▪ Hanford’s Easton Woods snared a second place in the 200 meters and finished third in the 100.
Class 4A girls
▪ Kamiakin sophomore Aubrey Herrin won the triple jump with a mark of 38 feet, 11 inches. That’s the second-best mark in the entire state. She was also on the winning 4x100 and 4x200 relay teams. Herrin finished the day with a second-place finish in the high jump.
▪ Kamiakin junior Adelyn Mitchell grabbed a first-place finish in the 100 meters with a time of 12.34 seconds. She also ran a leg on the winning 4x100 and 4x200 relay teams, and finished second in the 200.
▪ Hanford’s Landry Allen was a double winner, finishing first in the high jump (5 feet, 4 inches) as well as the pole vault (12 feet, 6 inches).
▪ Chiawana’s Presly Smith qualified for state in three events, starting with a second place in the long jump and the high jump. Smith also ran on the third-place 4x400 relay team.
▪ Chiawana’s Emily Dawes won the discus with a toss of 126 feet, 6 inches. Dawes was also third in the shot put.
▪ Richland’s Alyssa Marsh won the 200 meters in 25.62 seconds. Marsh was also on the third-place 4x100 and 4x200 relay teams.
▪ Chiawana’s Emma Gis won the 800 meters in 2:18.96, and ran a leg on the third-place 4x400 relay team.
▪ Kamiakin’s Camia Howard was the district champion in the shot put, with a mark of 37 feet, 3.5 inches.
▪ Hanford’s Lynea Moran was a first-place finisher in the 300 hurdles (16.34 seconds)
▪ Chiawana’s Malia Ruud was second in the shot put, and third in the discus.
▪ Richland’s Baylee Wroble won the javelin with a toss of 132 feet, 5 inches. That ranks No. 3 in the entire state.
Class 3A boys
▪ Walla Walla senior Jake Hisaw qualified for the state meet in all four of his events. Bound for the University of Idaho in the fall, he won the 300 hurdles in 38.71 seconds and ran on the Blue Devils’ winning 4x100 relay team (42.20 seconds). Hisaw also finished second in the 200 meters in 21.56 seconds, and was third in the 110 high hurdles.
▪ Southridge senior Abdelrahim Abdelrahim was a double winner, finishing first in the long jump (21 feet even) and in the triple jump (44-10.25).
▪ Walla Walla’s Brody Hartley, bound for Notre Dame, won the 3200 in 9:05.60. Hartley also placed second in the 1600 meters.
▪ Kennewick’s Jackson Burns won the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.72 seconds. Burns also placed third in the 300 hurdles.
▪ Southridge’s Lucien Cone won the 100 meters with a 10.91 seconds time. He was also on the Suns’ second-place 4x100 relay team.
Other event winners included Southridge’s Carson Condie (shot put) and Jackson Darling (discus).
Class 3A girls
▪ Walla Walla’s Cami Martin won the triple jump with a mark of 36 feet, 9.25 inches; and was on the winning 4x100 relay team, as well as the first-place 4x200 relay team, which won in 1:43.44.
▪ Wa-HI’s Ashlyn Nielsen ran a leg in the winning 4x100 relay team (49.06 seconds), as well as the 4x200 relay team. She also finished second in the 100 meters.
▪ Southridge’s Diana Kuwa won the 100-meter high hurdles with a time of 15.53 seconds.
▪ Walla Walla’s Jailyn Davenport was on the winning 4x100 and 4x200 relay teams.
▪ Walla Walla’s Ava Nelson was on that top 4x200 relay team.
Small-school track and field
Leading the way for Prosser this week will be senior Trey Webb, who won the boys discus title in the Class 2A regional meet last Friday in Ephrata.
Webb won the event with a throw of 161 feet, 7 inches.
The top Mustangs girls were Naomi Chavez, who finished second in the 300 hurdles, and ran a leg on the third-place 4x100 and 4x200 relay teams.
Othello’s Lacey Garza qualified for state in the girls discus by placing second.
▪ Connell is sending a large contingent to Yakima for both boys and girls in the 1A state meet.
Last week at the SCAC district meet in College Place, the Eagles’ Chase Nielson was outstanding for the boys, winning the 200 meters (22.69 seconds) and the triple jump (41-7.5).
Other Connell boys to watch include Cade Clyde, one of the state’s better shot putters; and Christian Larios, who won the 800 meters and ran a leg on the team’s winning 4x400 relay team.
College Place’s Jio Herrera heads to state as a district champ in both the 1600 and 3200 meters; while Kiona-Benton’s Kaleb Norman was 300 hurdles champion, and also qualified in the 110 high hurdles.
On the girls’ side, keep an eye out for College Place’s Mya Adams, who has qualified for state in the long jump, high jump and in the 4x100 relay.
Connell’s Emilee VanBuren is the district 400 meters champion, as well as part of two state-qualifying relay teams in the 4x200 and 4x400. Royal’s Ivy Delay has qualified in the 100, 200 and as part of the Knights’ 4x100 relay team.
▪ At the 1B District 7 and 9 meet, as well as the 2B regional meet, in Colfax last Saturday, DeSales’ Morgan Thomas was the area’s biggest star.
The DeSales senior won the 1B girls discus (124 feet, 11 inches) and shot put (35-8) events.
In 2B girls, Lind-Ritzville’s Zoe Galbreath won the pole vault title with a height of 9 feet. She also qualified for state in the 400 meters.
Lind-Ritzville’s Hayden Melcher was a state qualifier in 2B boys by placing second in both the 100 and 200 meters.
Prescott’s Salvador Ayala is a state qualifier in the 1B boys 110 high hurdles after placing third.
NWAC baseball
Columbia Basin College’s baseball team qualified for the Northwest Athletic Conference (NWAC) championship tournament after the Hawks swept Pierce College 2 games to none in this past weekend’s Super Regional tournament in Pasco.
Pierce defeated Skagit Valley 4-3 in 11 innings on Friday, eliminating the Cardinals from further play. That set up a best-of-3 series for Pierce against the Hawks for the right to advance to the tournament finals.
In Game 1 on Friday, CBC beat Pierce 3-1. Hawks starter Cameron Soliz (Texas) picked up the victory, going 7 innings and striking out 5.
Landon Webb (Richland) finished the game on the mound, striking out 2 in 2 scoreless and hitless innings. Harper Huang (Taiwan/Green River CC) had two hits for the Hawks.
On Saturday, CBC swept the series by winning Game 2 5-4.
Huang was 2x2 with a double and two RBIs, while both Brooks Rasmussen (Meridian, Idaho) and Steven Meier (Southridge) were each 3 for 5 at the plate.
Reliever Brady Toth (Boise Borah) pitched shutout relief over the final two innings.
CBC next opens championship tournament play at 12:35 p.m. Thursday against Linn-Benton.
Other first-round games on Thursday are Tacoma vs. Bellevue at 9:35 a.m.; Lane vs. Spokane at 4:35 p.m.; and Edmonds against host Lower Columbia at 7:35 p.m.
The double-elimination tournament runs through Monday.
Jeff Morrow is former sports editor for the Tri-City Herald.
