State 1A, 2B, 1B girls track and field: Oakesdale’s Bree Rawls helps Nighthawks claim 1B team title

The future promises to be bright for Oakesdale freshman Bree Rawls.

The present isn’t too shabby, either.

Rawls won two events and added respective second- and third-place finishes to power Oakesdale to a team championship in the State 1B track and field meet at Eastern Washington University on Saturday.

Rawls won the 100- and 300-meter hurdles in convincing fashion. She scorched the field by more than one-half second in both hurdle events, finishing the 100 in 16.66 seconds and the 300 in 47.44.

“I just wanted to run like I did in the prelims,” Rawls said. “I’ve worked really hard for this, and I’m really happy.”

Rawls, who also placed second in the triple jump and third in the long jump, wasn’t the only member of her family with an individual title to celebrate. Her older sister Lauryn caught lightning in a bottle for one throw and heaved the discus 129 feet, 8 inches to win that event.

“I was expecting to place pretty well, but I was not expecting to throw 129 feet,” said the older Rawls, a junior. “It felt amazing. I’m kind of shocked, almost.”

Logan Reed, Madison Dingman, Lizzy Perry and Amber Jones combined to lead Oakesdale to a victory in the 1,600 relay with a time of 4 minutes, 21.8 seconds, 4 seconds ahead of second-place Concordia Christian.

Perry also placed third in the 800 (2:30.43), and teammate Aliya Rutledge was third in the javelin (114-1).

Anais Mills of Garfield-Palouse was third in the 3,200 (12:37.26).

Oakesdale scored 107 points to walk away with the 1B team title. Trout Lake was second with 70 points.

In the 2B meet, St. George’s set an all-classification record with a fifth consecutive state championship in the 1,600 relay. Maggie McLaughlin, Grace Harrill, Jora Gleason and Reagan Ivey finished the race in 4:09.32, nearly 4 seconds ahead of second-place DeSales.

“It feels amazing,” Harrill said. “It’s awesome. We ran our hearts out and did the best we could. I’m glad we did it for the past 4-by-4 teammates, too. It’s just awesome.”

Harrill joined Gleason, Ivey and Fair Niven to win the 800 relay (1:47.40).

Lillian Kirry of Chewelah won the 100 hurdles (15.72) and the 200 (25.67), and tacked on a second-place finish in the 300 hurdles. She said she was the only member of her team to qualify for state when Chewelah was a 1A school last year, but she had plenty of company this year, with 15 teammates making the trip.

“It was kind of lonely last year,” she said. “I did better than I expected. Last year I was battling injuries, but this year I stayed close to injury-free. I’m tired, but I’m proud.”

Kirry placed second behind defending champ Darby Soliday of Davenport in the 300 hurdles. Soliday crossed the line in 44.88, eking out a win by just eight-hundredths of a second.

“I’m just good at this race,” Soliday said. “I know how good I am at this race. Plus, I am very competitive. I don’t want (anyone else) to win.”

Soliday also placed second in the 400 (59.43), just ahead of third-place Madison Clark of Wilbur-Creston (59.80).

Sydnee Balzer placed second in the 100 for Asotin, which won the 2B team championship with 72.5 points. Balzer also helped Asotin place second in the 400 relay (51.16) behind St. George’s (50.74).

Reardan’s Ayden Krupke was second behind Kirry in the 200 (26.12).

Janaye Wilkie of Davenport was third in the high jump (5-2).

Okanogan won the 1A team title with 72 points. Connell was second with 54.

Medical Lake’s Jaxyn Farmen won the triple jump in 37-4, more than 17 inches ahead of the field.

Rachel Garrity of Lakeside placed second in the 100 hurdles (15.31).