Best In State, Second At Home Prep’s Turner Can’t Beat Dad, But Wins Pole Vault To Lead Gsl’s Five Victories In State Aaa Track

Dad’s got the family record but his son has the pole that may take it away from him.

And now he has the confidence of a state champion.

Gonzaga Prep senior Ryan Turner won the State AAA pole vault championship, clearing 15 feet on a pole his father used in California more than 20 years ago to vault 15-1.

“I’ll get him this summer,” Turner said confidently after his amazing performance under miserable conditions on the first day of Star Track XV.

The University boys 400-meter relay team couldn’t wait until the summer to get what it craved - a win over Cascade. The Titans, though, waited as long as possible.

U-Hi ran 42.4 seconds in the finals to defeat a Cascade team that had won the previous three meetings, including a matchup in a preliminary heat earlier Friday.

“No way. I would have tackled him before I let anybody get by me,” jubilant University anchor Jason Berger said. “I could care less if it was 44.2. It was gold.”

There was a lot of GSL gold to brighten the gloomy day of rain at Lincoln Bowl.

Ferris distance stars Jennifer Smith and Isaac Hawkins got the championships that were expected and U-Hi javelin thrower Casey Lektorich got one that wasn’t.

Smith ran 9 minutes, 39.17 seconds to defend her title in the 3,200 meters, Hawkins improved his best by 5 seconds in winning the 1,600 meters in 4:07.43 and Lektorich improved her javelin best by 6 feet on the last throw to win at 133 feet, 7 inches.

University controlled the relay from the start, thanks to the rocket start by Mike Turner.

“I knew we could do it. We had that sewed up from the jump. That’s the best start I ever had in my life,” Turner said. “I think they’re going to have to fix those blocks, I broke them.”

The only danger was a little-less-than-smooth second handoff between senior Tim Buchanan and his freshman nephew Anthony Buchanan.

“I ran up on him again but we got the baton all the way around, that’s all we had to do,” Tim Buchanan said.

Of all the GSL wins, Ryan Turner’s was most impressive, vaulting in a steady rain and changing poles after two misses at 14 feet, 9 inches. He cleared 15 feet, tacking 3 inches onto his school record.

“Everybody stepped up today. There were a lot of PRs,” he said. “With the conditions, everyone was complaining. Once everyone saw how high everyone else was going, they stepped up.”

Turner was going for it, entering at 13-6 instead of his usual 13.

“I thought today was my day,” he said. “I hoped to get 15. Finally, after all those jumps at it this year. I had at least 15 jumps at meets this year.”

He had cleared 14-9 early in the season, the first time he used his father’s 16-foot-long pole.

“The other pole I was bending too much, it shot me through the bar. I had to get a stiffer pole,” he said. “I should have switched after my first jump (at 14-9) instead of my second. I thought if I made 15 on my first jump I thought I’d get the state title. I was worried, there were a lot of guys at 14-6. I was getting to my peak and everybody was doing so well.”

Lektorich said the rain was a good omen since it rained when she PR’d at 127-5 at regional last week, though not like the downpour here that only broke between sessions.

“I don’t know what to say. It’s awesome,” said the sophomore, who took up the javelin last year because she couldn’t play high school softball as a freshman. “It’s great to get a school record and PR at the same time. It’s good to know I have two more years. It’s cool to know I’m first.”

Smith and Hawkins were first basically from the start, though Smith was boxed on the opening lap and didn’t destroy the field until after the first lap.

“It’s acceptable. I didn’t want to use the conditions as an excuse,” Smith said of a time that was 4 seconds short of a PR but good enough for a 24-second win. “I burn inside. I push myself like there was someone there. I wasn’t going to let anything stop me. I wanted to pace myself. I probably went out too slow. I got boxed in and I didn’t want to cut anybody off.”

Hawkins, a two-time state cross country champion who swept the distances here last year, was ecstatic with his PR that put him fifth in the nation.

“I hoped to run 2 or 3 seconds faster, but with this weather, I can’t complain,” he said. “(The PR) was long overdue. I knew this was in me. I had to put it together upstairs.

“It was fantastic. When you’re favored, you can go sideways or go down. You have to be careful, in this race someone can go crazy. I would have thought somebody would go. Sure, there was pressure. After last year, I set myself up there and said, ‘Here I am, come get me.”’

They’re coming to get Mead. The Panthers’ already shaky chances for a third straight boys title took a hit when long jumper Chris McCullough failed to place. The Panthers picked up 10 points when Jason Fayant was second and Morgan Thompson seventh in the 1,600. Curtis leads with 24 points, four ahead of Eastlake.

On the girls side, Garfield leads Port Angeles 20-18 thanks to Candace Young’s win in the 100 and anchor leg on the winning 400 relay team. University has 14 points, with Julie Schroeder adding a fifth in the long jump (16-9-3/4). Mead has 10 points, with Jamie Wakefield third in the long jump (16-10) and April Gallagher fifth in the discus (127-0). Jamie Brogan of Lewis and Clark was fourth in the 3,200 (11:14.76) and Shadle Park’s Carolyn Nelson made the finals of the 100.

North Central shot putters David Sandberg and Brett Jordan were fourth and eighth, respectively, at 54-1-3/4 and 52-1/2. Central Valley’s Josh Kruse was one of the pole vaulters to PR, going 14-3 for sixth.

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