Schmaljohn Helps CV To Huge Outing
District 8-AAA track and field
The Central Valley girls put their eggs in one basket and they’re turning out to be golden.
Led by senior sprint star Whitney Schmaljohn, the Bears swept the three relays at the Greater Spokane League District 8 track meet Friday evening at CV, setting two meet records to highlight the regional qualifying meet.
CV barely missed the 400-meter relay record, but the Bears were just warming up. In the 800, they ran 1:42.7, erasing the 1:43.7 of Rogers in 1986. That Rogers team suffered a double hit when CV came right back to win the 1,600 in 3:56.2.
Schmaljohn was the only one of the CV sprinters to run in an individual event, coasting to the 200 title in 25 seconds. She set a meet record of 24.7 in Thursday’s preliminaries.
The records listed in the meet program were for GSL meets and not the district. None of the records reported from Thursday’s qualifying was a new district mark except for Schmaljohn’s.
The top eight in each individual event and the top four relay teams advance to the regional meet next weekend at CV. The meet, which also includes the best of the Big Nine, will be held in conjunction with the Northeast A District 7 meet.
The Bears needed the record in the 1,600 to hold off Lewis and Clark, which ran a second slower and was still under the 3:57.6 University ran five years ago. A bad last handoff cost the Tigers, and even anchor Theresa Brooks, who set a record in the open 400, couldn’t make up the difference.
Brooks ran 56.8 in the 400, just under the 56.9 run by Kelly Gamby of Rogers in 1986.
“I was shooting for the meet record. I’ve been praying for this forever,” said Brooks, a sophomore who only started running the quarter late last season. “I felt like I had a shot after last night (57-flat). I was nervous. My goal is about a 55. … I’m hoping to win state. If I work hard, I can do it.”
Lisa Bradley of Gonzaga Prep is rounding into shape after a slow start because of a hamstring injury and won both hurdles races. She took the 100-meter hurdles in 15 flat and the 300’s in 46.7 to win by more than a second.
“I’d say the 100 is my best event,” Bradley said. “I like it a lot better, it’s a shorter distance. The 300 hurdles are a horrible, long race.”
There were three other double winners, and all three made it look easy.
Jason Berger of U-Hi won the 100 (10.7) and 200 (21.7) and just for good measure ran legs on the winning 400 (42.8) and 1,600 (3:23) relay teams.
Ferris’ senior distances aces didn’t coast, they dominated.
Jennifer Smith, after winning the 1,600 on Thursday, crushed the 3,200 field by 42 seconds, finishing in 10:41.6. Isaac Hawkins, who got the 3,200 the first day, won the 1,600 in 4:17.5, despite a bad start. He held off fast-closing Jason Fayant of Mead by little more than a half-second.
Oliver Cook of Shadle Park could have been a double winner but teammate Sam Glanzer went 44-7 on his last triple jump. Cook, who won the javelin on Thursday, was at 44-1/2.
The two seniors almost didn’t get to compete, getting caught on the freeway on their way to the Valley. An accident made them late and they didn’t get a chance to warm up.
, DataTimes