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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Musson, Williams heat up day


Timberlake junior Cammy Kuchenski clears the bar in the pole vault. 
 (Ingrid Lindemann / The Spokesman-Review)

The relentless rain that showered the track and field athletes all day Saturday at Central Valley High School didn’t seem to bother Colville’s David Musson and Brittany Williams.

Musson had the sole record-breaking performance of the day and Williams won the girls 1,600- and 3,200-meter races at the 23rd annual Freeman Invitational.

Musson shattered the record of 185 feet, 7 1/2 inches, which he set at last year’s meet, when he threw the javelin 199-8. The second-place finisher, Republic’s Kaleb Koontz, threw 159-8.

“I didn’t have any wind against me,” Musson said. “I’m just really happy with it, I had good conditions. I threw (the 199-8) on my last throw and I had been frustrated with my earlier throws. I wanted to break (200 feet), but it was a good day, I’m very pleased.”

Musson’s mark didn’t surprise Colville coach Bill Carpenter.

“(David) is kind of on a strict throwing regime to where he’s not throwing 100 percent until he needs to,” Carpenter said. “Today it worked out great. (Central Valley) is the perfect place to throw – the wind helps the javelin a little bit.”

Williams was the only girl to win multiple events. She edged Katie Reidy of St. George’s in the 1,600 by 3 seconds, finishing in 5 minutes, 31 seconds. In the 3,200, Williams turned in a time of 11:47, coming in well ahead of second-place finisher Andrea Collins of Liberty. Collins finished in 12:21.

“(Brittany’s) come a long way,” Carpenter said. “She’s worked really hard and is further ahead of (the last two years) at this point. She has a 5-minute mark (for the 1,600) and an 11-minute mark (for the 3,200) in her head, and she’s right on track.”

Carpenter also mentioned that the rain had no effect on Williams.

“It could be snowing and it wouldn’t bother her,” he said.

Freeman senior Jennesa Miller, who has competed in the past four Freeman invitationals, won the 100 hurdles in 16.82.

“It wasn’t my (personal best), but it was still a decent race,” Miller said. “The (100 hurdles) was my favorite race here and now it’s over, it hasn’t really sunk in.”

Northwest Christian’s Jared Friedly ran a season-best 52.17 to win the boys 400, finishing ahead of Medical Lake’s Tyler Souders, who ran 52.45. Friedly, a junior, was thrilled with his performance.

“I had no intention of getting a (52.17),” Friedly said. “I haven’t run below a (54.0) all season. I enjoy running against guys that push me. I was thinking there was no way I could beat all those guys, but I pushed through it and came out on top.”

The Timberlake boys dominated the field, winning the team trophy with 112 points. Lakeland was second with 72 points and Colville came in third with 56 points.

The champion Tigers’ wins: the distance medley; 400 and 1,600 relays; Levi Powers in the 300 hurdles (41.70); Nick Puckett in the 200 (22.71); John Macklin in the pole vault (12-6); and Frank Lagrimanta in the 3,200 (9:57.72).

Liberty’s Andrew Canning was the only boy to win two events, taking home top honors in the long jump (20-7 1/2) and triple jump (42-9 1/2).

The Mead Panthers won the girls team trophy with 81.5 points. Liberty came in second with 71 and Freeman was third with 62.

Mead’s Tifa Puletasi earned first place in the girls discus throw (109- 1/2) and was second in the shot put (34-2).