Warm weather gets District 8 track and field off to hot start

The athletes appreciated the warmth and the results showed it Thursday in the first day of the District 8 4A and 3A track meets.

Central Valley senior Mariah Cunningham had the most success, recording individual firsts in the 4A high jump and long jump and running a leg on the winning 400-meter relay at Spokane Falls Community College.

“It really helped a lot,” Cunningham said of the hottest day of the spring which reached 82 degrees.

Cunningham jumped a season- best 5 feet, 6 inches to win the high jump. She just missed on an attempt at 5-8.

In the long jump, Cunningham leaped 17-9 1/2.

She teamed with Savannah Hoekstra, Kelsey Turnbow and Hailey Hawkins for a season-best time of 49.30 seconds in the 400 relay.

The top eight individuals and top four relays in 4A and 3A advance to the two-day regional meet, beginning Friday in Pasco.

Action begins this evening at 5 with finals on the track and a few field events. It’s supposed to be 5 degrees cooler with the possibility of lightning.

Girls

North Central senior Sabrina Keys broke out fast in the 3A shot put. She had a season-best throw of 45 feet, 7 inches on her first attempt. It was a five-inch improvement.

Keys didn’t come close to that mark on her final five throws.

“My form went downhill and I was over thinking everything,” Keys said. “The first throw came off pretty easy.”

CV senior Liz Adams has made big strides in just her second year throwing the javelin.

She threw a season best by six feet (131-3) for first.

“I felt really great – better than I have in a couple of weeks,” Adams said. “All the hard work I’ve put in is paying off. I hit a stretch in the middle of the season where I was suffering from fatigue.”

The Mt. Spokane 400 relay team of Katie Nilsson, Ciara Bland, Cheyenne Konrad and Ashlee Pederson had no difficulty, winning in 48.83 seconds, breaking the district record (49.3) set by Pullman in 1982.

“I thought the handoffs were good,” Pederson said.

Tierra White of Rogers captured the high jump, winning with a vault of 5-6. She just clipped the bar on an attempt at 5-7.

In the 4A shot, Joselynn Tensley of CV won (35-6).

In the 3A javelin, Megan Arnold of NC won (111-3).

Amanda Konynenbelt of Shadle Park won the 3A long jump (16-4).

In the 3,200 finals, Lauren Dunnell of Shadle (11:33.26) won in 3A and freshman Kearan Nelson of CV won in 4A (11:31.14).

“I’m going to go higher,” White said. “It’s going to take patience.”

The CV won all six events, piling up 106.5 points for a sizeable lead over Mead (64).

“It’s a good start,” CV coach Geoff Arte said.

In 3A, Mt. Spokane leads with 61 and Shadle Park is next at 46.

Boys

The NC 400 relay foursome of Quinn Zerba, Jimmy Weigel, Jamal Edwards and Isaac Wicks trimmed four-tenths of a second off its season best in victory with a time of 43.39.

“We were rolling,” Wicks said. “It felt good. Everyone had a good leg and the handoffs were pretty flawless.”

Mead’s 400 relay team of Garrett Norris, Sam Johnson, Bryan Anderson and Sam Brown didn’t run the event last year because of seniors ahead of them.

They combined for a half second improvement, winning in 43.18.

The Panthers switched the order a couple of weeks ago to put their fastest sprinters on the straightaways. The move has paid off.

Mead’s pole vaulters dominated led by Braden Barranco, who won with a leap of 15-0.

Jack Bamis of Gonzaga Prep doubled his pleasure in the long jump, leaping 22-7 not once but twice to win.

Bamis had difficulty in the prelims, scratching on two of three attempts.

“I didn’t really have a good mark and I had to stutter step,” he said. “I had a run-through before the finals and I adjusted my mark. Then practice took over.”

Kai Wilmot of NC showed why he was a national cross country champion as he cruised in the 3,200 (9:17.25). Teammate Tanner Anderson (9:24.35) took second.

Peter Helman of Ferris won the 4A 3,200 in a time of 9:29.08.

J.T. Konrad of Mt. Spokane won the 3A pole vault with a jump of 14-7.

Trevor Payne of Mt. Spokane won the 3A discus (163-9).

Brandon Gleese of Shadle Park won the 3A long jump (20-9½).

Jonah Jordan of Mead won the 4A discus (153-1).

Mt. Spokane built a commanding lead in 3A with 77 points. NC is next with 43.

In 4A, Mead set the pace early with 65 points. Ferris is next with 49.