Prichard Redeems Herself

2A track and field

Katie Prichard of Riverside approached the 3,200 meters as an opportunity for redemption Friday.

That would explain the smile on Prichard’s face as she pulled away to victory in the first day of the State 2A track and field championships at Eastern Washington University’s Woodward Stadium.

Prichard, a sophomore, won in a meet-record time of 11 minutes, 28.65 seconds as she finished 3 seconds ahead of freshman Grace Coulter of Blaine.

The gold made up for a seventh-place finish at the state cross country meet last fall. The top six earned medals at that meet, and Prichard thought she had one locked up until Lisa dePender of South Whidbey slipped past her at the finish line.

“She took my medal away from me and that’s been in my head a lot,” Prichard said. “That really motivated me to go after it - to redeem myself.”

Prichard wasn’t about to let anyone come from behind Friday. That’s why she started to open a lead with 600 meters remaining.

“I could hear people yelling her name so I knew she pretty close by,” Prichard said of Coulter.

Prichard will be out to defend her state title in the 800 today. She’ll also challenge in the 1,600.

Running finals begin at 9:30 a.m., with the balance of field events starting at 10.

Prichard was the lone area winner Friday.

Although the 2A meet is just in its third year, six meet records were broken.

Senior Matt Harriman of Omak defended his state title in the 1,600 (4:17.30), breaking his own meet record (4:19.01).

Harriman, who took gold in state cross country last fall, will be seeking a third consecutive 3,200 title today.

Adrianne Traylor of Medical Lake had the best state-qualifying throw in the discus, but finished a disappointing third (127-7) behind champion Cathy Schmidt (135-0, a meet mark) and runner-up Lacie Garner of Chewelah (132-9).

“I want to throw this medal in the lake, to be honest, because I didn’t earn it,” Traylor said. “Everybody was expecting me to throw 140 today. There’s no excuse for it; no reason.”

Garner launched her best throw on her final prelim attempt. It came after she opened with a throw of 86-6 followed by a foul.

Garner’s lead was brief, though. Schmidt, who followed Garner in the throwing order, flung what would stand up as the winning mark seconds later.

Other winners Friday were Shaun Straka of Montesano, who captured a third straight shot put title (57-0, a meet record); Tyler Mitchell of Nooksack Valley, who repeated in the javelin (202-1, a meet record); Marques Blalock-Howard of LaCenter, who prevailed in the triple jump (43-6); Mary Ann Graves of White Salmon, who won in the long jump (19-1, a meet mark); Whitney Omlin of Quincy, who captured the pole vault (10-9), the first time the event has been scored at state; and Jacqueline Manuel of Omak, who claimed gold in the high jump (5-3).

Other area medal winners: Jess Trampush of Chewelah, second in the shot put (53-4); Kristen Bolender of Chewelah, fourth in the pole vault (10-0); Jordan Bjork of Lakeside, fourth in the triple jump (42-4); Carolee Geaudreau of Newport, sixth in the discus (121-7); Brianna Hill of Deer Park (16-1) and Melissa Dollar of Chewelah (15-8), seventh and eighth, respectively, in the long jump; and Brett Udy of Pullman, seventh in the 1,600 (4:31.69).