IEL track and field preview

The 5A competition in the boys and girls could be just as entertaining as the league has seen, and similar to the tight races that football, boys and girls basketball and softball have seen in recent years.

Perhaps even better is the quality of athletes. Boise may be considered the hotbed of track in the state, but North Idaho has nothing to be ashamed of. From 5A to 1A, the region will be well-represented at state.

The Coeur d’Alene girls and boys are the defending 5A Region I champs, and they’re favored to repeat. In the boys, Lake City and Lewiston will challenge, while in the girls all four teams will be in the hunt.

State placers

5A: Coeur d’Alene – Kinsey Gomez (1,600 and 3,200, state champ in both); David Norris (800, state champ; 3,200, 6th); Cody Curtis (1,600, state champ; 3,200, 3rd); Deon Watson (high jump, tied for 4th). Lake City – Rachel Ward (800, 2nd); Kierstie Shellman (pole vault, 2nd); Missy Morris (discus, 4th); Josh Peters (400, 4th); Zach Linscott (HJ, tied for 2nd). Post Falls – Matt Wardell (shot put, 3rd; discus, 3rd); Jordan Pastras (HJ, tied for 2nd).

4A: Lakeland – Kaitlyn Whitesitt (PV, 4th); Latecia Howell (long jump, 3rd). Moscow – Wade Schumaker (300 hurdles, state champ; 110 hurdles, 3rd).

Other things

The CdA girls and boys have much depth. CdA had its largest combined turnout of 140 and LC also had a turnout of more than 100. … The biggest pick-up for any team came for the CdA girls. Morgan Strubel, a junior hurdler, moved from Missoula. She placed third at state in the 100 hurdles in Montana last year and broke CdA’s school record in the 300 hurdles (45.8) in her second meet. … CdA boys took second at state last year and the girls were fifth. Coach Linda Lanker believes both teams can challenge for state titles. … Talk about a busy coach. Lanker is in her second year as head coach at CdA after three years as an assistant. She also is the hurdles coach at Community Colleges of Spokane where she’s been an assistant for five years.

Big meets

The Rasmussen Invitational is April 23 at CdA. The Inland Empire League meet is April 28 at LC. The District I All-Star meet is May 5 at Post Falls. The 5A and 4A Region I meets are May 12-13 at Lewiston. The 5A and 4A state track meets are May 19-20 at Boise State University and the 3A, 2A and 1A state meets are May 19-21, also at BSU.