Mead Not Track Lock That It Was

Mead has a chance to win its third straight State AAA boys track title, but it won’t be easy.

The Panthers took their first blow last month with sophomore high jumper Casey Clark (6-foot-8 best) blew out a knee. At the district meet, pole vaulter Sean Gumke (14-6) had a no-height. Then at regional, pole vaulter Brian Pruess (14-6) didn’t finish in the top three and shot putter Scott McGlocklin (57-0) had three scratches.

Mead, a lock on paper before the season, can still score close to 50 points at Tacoma’s Lincoln Bowl on Friday and Saturday, but now Eastlake is probably the favorite.

On the girls side, Sehome has the best shot to upset Garfield to replace Mead as the top team.

AA track

The team races in Class AA take second billing to Ja’Warren Hooker. The Ellensburg speedster has the nation’s best 100 and 400 and is Washington’s all-time best in the 100 and 200.

West Valley, led by record-breaking discus thrower Vinny Pecht, could place high in the team race although defending champion Gig Harbor is a slight favorite over Lake Stevens.

The Lake Stevens girls are the team favorite but WV’s speed could put it into contention. The Eagles have never won an individual track title.

AA baseball

Cheney (17-6) makes its first appearance at the state final four, and two things appear to be working for the Blackhawks.

The 1-2 pitching combination of Tucker Urdahl (8-3) and Matt Caston (5-1) is fine enough, but fate may be a larger factor.

First, the final four site is Cheney Stadium in Tacoma, which is too much of a coincidence to ignore. Second, the Blackhawks’ last great athletic showing was last March in the Tacoma Dome, a title-game appearance in the AA basketball tournament.

Cheney opens against Capital (19-4) at 10 a.m. Friday. Capital, of Olympia, lost to defending champ Lindbergh of Renton in last year’s title game.

The Cheney/Capital winner plays Lake Stevens (16-9) or Gig Harbor (19-2) for the title at 1 p.m. Saturday.

AA softball

West Valley (19-2), Colville (18-3) and East Valley (16-6) advanced from District 7 to the AA/A fastpitch tournament at Tacoma’s South End Recreation Area.

Colville opens at 10 a.m. Friday against District 1 No. 3 Monroe. At noon, WV plays District 2 No. 2 Liberty (Issaquah) EV meets District 5/6 No. 1 Othello.

The title game of the 16-team tourney is 4 p.m. Saturday.

WV and Colville both advanced past the first day last year and went 1-1 on Saturday.

AA tennis

The matches are at Clover Park High School in Tacoma.

In singles matches at 9 a.m., Keli Heidenson of West Valley meets David Lamb of Meadowdale and Riverside’s Ryan Monroe faces Erik Pearson of Capital for the boys. For the girls, Sharon Wentz of East Valley faces Courtney Perkins of Mount Rainier and Bernice Stime of Riverside meets Diane Rasmussen of Hanford.

The doubles matches begin at 10:30. For the boys, Bryan Eggart and Chung Wei Kuo of Cheney play a team from W.F. West. Clarkston’s Herb Boreson and Mark Andrews play a Capital pair. In the girls competition, Pullman’s Katy Huberty and Melanie Zollars tackle a Lakeside team. Clarkston’s Marci Konrad and Lacey Abel meet a West Valley-Yakima team.

AA soccer

West Valley-Yakima represents the Eastside in soccer at Sparks Stadium in Puyallup. The Rams face Mount Rainier. The other semifinal is Seattle Prep against Kennedy.

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