Dave Trimmer

The District 8/Taco Time track meet has become a watered-down affair and not just because of the rain at Spokane Falls Community College Thursday night. However, just because half of the 16 entrants in each event advance to the Eastern AAA regional meet at SFCC next weekend, not all of the Greater Spokane League entrants coasted through the night. Mead's Allison Beatty set a meet record with a 137-foot, 11-inch throw in the javelin, erasing the 131-9 established by Mead's Jodi Orton in 1990.

It's an age-old battle, the tug on the heart against the strain on the pocketbook. That's what the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association is facing now that the city of Tacoma has decided it wants to be a big-time player in the battle for high school state championships. And it has become a battle.

Ben Holt's 76 helps Mead win I.E. golf tournament at Indian Canyon. Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review

Josphat Machuka has the look of a winner as he approaches the two-thirds mark of the men's race. Photo by Shawn Jacobson/The Spokesman-Review

Odds are defending champion Josphat Machuka and Delillah Asiago won't win Bloomsday on Sunday - but Don Kardong wouldn't bet against them. Kardong, who puts together the elite fields for the 12-kilometer (7.47-mile) race, good-naturedly handicaps the race. He's just as good-natured about his success rate. He figures he's picked both winners only once, and probably hasn't predicated the male winner half the time.

Morgan Chase of Republic is a hurdle ahead of his competition and one of the best hurdlers in any classification. Photo by Dan McComb/The Spokesman-Review

Drew Bledsoe is a regular at All Northwest Football Camp. Photo by Associated Press

Gerry Lindgren, 48, who competed in the 1964 Olympics after his graduation from Rogers, greets students at his alma mater Friday. Photo by Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review

The roar from the crowd began with the starting gun and steadily grew. Shoulder to shoulder, lap after lap. First it was Megan Troy and Missy Blackshire. Then Stephanie Goaslind and Miriah McConnaughey. And Stephanie Haney and Theresa Lyons. Finally Autumn Wood and Kristen Parrish. The Greater Spokane League dual meet at Mead on Thursday afternoon was not in doubt, Mead having dispatched Ferris to run its dual meeting winning streak to 27, but there was one more matter to settle.

Gonzaga Prep's Chris Barton, left, defeats Pasco's Trent Ady in the 110 hurdles at the Mooberry Relays held at Rogers High School on Saturday. Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review

Mead's Emily Thompson, third from right, hangs with the pack before pulling away to win the 1,600 meters. Photo by Shawn Jacobson/The Spokesman-Review

Allison Beatty figured if she could wait until the last throw to win the javelin, she could wait a little longer to celebrate. Two hours later, she had plenty to cheer about as the Mead girls won the 34th annual Pasco Invitational, the first time since 1979 the Panthers won the largest track meet in Washington.

University's Heather Silvey passes the baton to teammate Adrienne Wilson during the girls 400-meter relay against Ferris and Shadle Park on Thursday. U-Hi won in 49.8. Photo by Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review

Eight players from the Greater Spokane League and three from the Frontier League will headline the East team when the East/West All-Star Football Summer Classic moves to Spokane for the first time in 16 years. The game, for Class AAA and AA players, was last played in Spokane in 1979. Played in Everett in recent years, it is scheduled for Friday, June 30, at 7:30 p.m. at Albi Stadium. A game for Class A and B-11 players will be held a week earlier in Yakima.

When it comes to middle-distance success, junior Kristen Parrish of Ferris (foreground) leads the pack. Photo by Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review

1. Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer reminds Stanford's stars they've reached new heights because of their team play. Photo by Associated Press 2. Freuen

Hough

The Spokesman-Review's first All-Area Washington basketball teams, from left: Joe Deutsch (33), Matt Smith (32), Jennifer Stinson (43), Jennifer Swinton (52), Kelly Bartleson (42), Stacy Clinesmith (25), Tricia Lamb (22), Paul Mencke (50), Jason Smith (33) and Ryan Floyd (23). Photo by Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review

Don Van Lierop, who had North Central in the hunt for a Greater Spokane League boys basketball playoff berth one year after a winless season, has resigned as the Indians' head coach. "I resigned because I didn't wish to be a part-time coach by teaching in one school and coaching in another. That's basically what it is," Van Lierop said.

1. 'We want to get fifth so bad.' Shadle Park star Kelly Bartleson can't hide her emotions as her teammates huddle during the final minutes of the tounament-ending loss to Mead. Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review 2. Shadle's Kristen Miller runs into resistance under the hoop. Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review

Mead coach Jeanne Helfer, right, gives Shadle's Linda Sheridan a pointer. Photo by Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review

Who: Sixteen boys and girls teams, coming out of four district or regional tournaments. The only Greater Spokane League qualifiers are the Mead and Shadle Park girls.

AAA boys It's only fitting the last boys basketball game between Greater Spokane League teams would go into overtime. Somehow, though, with all the upsets that highlighted the GSL season, it seemed as if sixth-place Rogers should have played in the last game involving a GSL team. Instead, the Pirates were on their way home after reserve Mike Stueckle laid the ball into the basket just as time expired to give Lewis and Clark a wild 70-68 OT victory over Rogers in a Saturday afternoon loser-out game at the Lamb Weston Eastern AAA boys regional tournament at Pasco High School.

Almira/Coulee-Hartline's Ryan Slahtasky (31) slices through Tacoma Baptist's Weibe Van Der Hoek (42) and Adrian Russell for a finger-roll. ACH won 57-55. Photo by Shawn Jacobson/The Spokesman-Review