County track athletes take state medals

Whitman county qualifiers carved out a slice of the action Friday and Saturday in the 2B section of the state track and field championships at Cheney.

Top team honors for the girls side again went to the west side schools with Northwest Christian of Lacey stacking an amazing 141 points, 49 ahead of number-two Pe Ell.

Colfax girls finished seventh at 31.75 points and Tekoa/Oakesdale/Rosalia finished two places back with 24.

The SJELW girls team finished with nine team points.

Asotin boys carried the honors for the east side of the state with 64 points to edge LaConner.

Colfax boys placed 14th and the TOR boys placed 16th.

Colfax coach Jason Cooper noted the Bulldogs had many young competitors who scored points and that bodes well for the coming seasons.

Cooper pointed out team points in the middle ranks can change with the fates of one or two events. The Bulldog girls 4 X 200 relay team sustained a baton drop during the rainy Friday prelims to knock out their chances of adding points on Saturday.

Lone winner out of the county entries was LaCrosse junior Darcy Stamper who cleared 6-6 in the high jump. Stamper dueled in final jumps with Tyler Blakeley, Rosalia senior who cleared 6-4 for second place.

Blakeley Saturday placed sixth in the 100 sprint and seventh in the 200 to add points for TOR.

Second place finishes on the girls side were booked by the Bulldog girls 4 X 100 relay team, freshman Scout Cai in the pole vault, and TOR sophomore Olivia Pakootas in the high jump.

Pakootas came closest to first place when she tied with Allison Sowers of Northwest Christian-Lacey after clearing the 5-6 height. The first-place medal went to Sowers on the least misses rule.

Courtenay Perry added TOR points with a fifth in the 800 and a seventh in the 1600.

Bailey Mackleit, who fell in the 100 hurdles event last year, placed fifth this year for the Bulldogs with a 16.64. Mackleit moved her placing up three notches from her qualifying finish in the prelims the day before.

Junior Nicole Sheer booked a fifth in the shot put and eighth in the discus. Taylor Cai lanced a 106-7 for a personal recond in the javelin and finished ninth.

Olivia Mellor, another Colfax freshman, placed third in the state triple jump final with a 31-9.75.

One of the big PRs for Colfax was the 12-0 cleared by Sam Dailey in the pole vault. Dailey qualified last week with an 11-6 at Riverside and added another six inches against a strong field at Cheney Saturday to place sixth.

Justin Aucutt, one of the Colfax seniors, marked a big farewell with a third place finish in a tough 400 meter race and also ran a power leg for the Colfax 4 X 100 team.

SJEL also booked points with a fourth by Gretchen Van Lith in the long jump. Heather Siegel placed seventh in the 3200, and Annie Bailey placed seventh in the javelin.

BOYS EVENTS

100 meters—1.James Thompkins-Waitsburg/Prescott 11.37, 6.Tyler Blakeley-TOR 11.4.

200 meters 1.Thompkins 22.52, 7. Blakeley 23.65.

400 meters1.Thompkins 50.49, 3.Justin Aucutt-Cx 51.26.

4 X 100 relay 1.Waitsburg-Prescott 44.73 (DJ Leroue, Brendan Donovan Alex Dill, Thompkins 44.73, 8.Colfax (Bo Claassen, Aucutt, Cody Fulfs, Dylan Hall 46.94.

Discus—1.Alex Vanderholm-Manson 154-3, 8. Josh Brown-Cx 129-8.

High jump-1.Darcy Stamper-SJELW 6-6, 2.Blakeley 6-4, 3.Skylar Simpson-Cx 6-4 (5-way tie).

Pole vault 1.Matt Driver-Kittitas 13-4, 6. Sam Dailey-Cx 12-0.

Long jump1.Jamali James-LaConner 22-1.25, 8.Stamper 20-2.

Triple jump1.James 44-4. 10.Cody Fulfs 38-8.75.

GIRLS EVENTS

800 meters—1.Anna Henry-NWC-C 2:27.28, 5.Courtenay Perry-TOR 2:32.5.

1600 meters1.Hailey Bredeson-NWC-L 5:20.59, 7.Perry 5:31.48.

3200Meters—1.Sierra Speiker-Oroville 11:31.74, 7. Heather Siegel-SJELW 12:17.94.

100 hurdles1.Alissa Brooks-Johnson-Pe Ell 15.15, 5.Bailey Mackleit-Cx 16.64.

4 X 100 relay.Tacoma Baptist (McKenna Neufeld, Jane Cooksley, Ashley Brooks, Rebecca McDonald) 49.92, 2.Colfax (Amelie Bruya, Leah Heiner, Nicole Sheer, Mackleit) 51.21.

4 X 400 relay1. Northwest Christian-Lacey-(Megan Teigen, Abby McSheffrey, Savannah Schilter, Hannah Gabel) 4:13.58, 4.Tekoa/Oakesdale/Rosalia (Melissa Groom, Olivia Pakootas, Perry, Maddie Bogenreif) 4:18.82.

Shot put—1.Karen Bulger-NWC-L 42-2.5, 5. Sheer-Cx 35-10.75, 12.Taylor Cai-Cx 31-1.

Discus1.Piper Loop-Asotin 127-1, 8.Sheer 102-4.

Javelin-1.Bulger 154-4, 7. Annie Bailey-SJEL 111-10, 9.Taylor Cai-Cx 106.7.

High jump—1.Allison Sowers-NWC-L 5-6, 2.Pakootas 5-6, 6. Scout Cai-Cx 5-0.

Pole vault— 1.Lauren Friese-WillapasValley 9-6, 2.Scout Cai 9-0, 7.Morgan Lord-Cx 7-0.

Long jump1. Sammi Robinson-Pe El 18-1.5, 4. Gretchen Van Lith-SJEL 16-6.25.

Triple jump1.Brooks-Johnson 37-1.75, 6.Olivia Mellor-Cx 31-9.75, 15. Rachel Gfeller-SJEL 28-0.25.