Track athletes aim for state
As if Shantel Haugen’s junior year weren’t disheartening enough, another setback popped up.
The North Central junior athletic standout had already lost most of her entire junior basketball season to an anterior cruciate ligament tear sustained last summer.
Two weekends ago, the Indians’ second-best javelin thrower again injured the knee while playing basketball.
But there was a positive ending to this story during last week’s District 8 championships. Haugen, her knee trussed in a brace, threw the javelin 119-4 on Friday and won the league title.
She, along with a horde of other track and field athletes in five classifications, have earned at least one more week of competition during regional and district meets that will qualify athletes to state.
“My knee’s a little sore,” Haugen said last Friday. “But it’s OK.”
Earning all-league status with a district win can ease the sting.
Haugen joined track last year to run sprint workouts and get faster for basketball. In a class of young talent, she had been a two-time double-figures scorer. But she only got minimal playing time as a junior last winter.
Haugen had taken up the javelin midway through her sophomore track season and this year threw better than 120 feet before tweaking the knee again during a weekend basketball tournament.
Initial diagnosis was that the ACL didn’t tear again, she said, “but there’s still something wrong.”
You wouldn’t have known it last week with her district-winning performance.
The GSL is a talented group that’s headed to Yakima for state-qualifying 3A and 4A competition today and Saturday. There are several standouts in the three other enrollment classifications as well.
The GSL has state top-eight boys performers in nearly every event, including Evan Garber and Justin Houck in the distances. The regional 1,600 and 3,200 are loaded with quality. Mead is considered a contender for the team title at state.
Pullman distance runner Phil Hinrichs ran a district record at 1,600 meters and high hurdler JD Kottwitz of Medical Lake set a record of 15.0 on Tuesday in the 2A district meet at Riverside. The meet concludes today.
West Valley field events and relays are the strength of its boys and girls 3A regional challenge.
Four-event standout Kevin Hatch of Freeman and distance star Steve Vandenburg of Northwest Christian are athletes to watch in the 1A regional in Tonasket.
Rogers girls, including multi-faceted sprinter Becca Noble, hurdler Emily Dahl and pole vaulter Cassidy Caldwell are hoping regionals is a stepping stone to a state trophy challenge. Mt. Spokane’s Megan O’Reilly and University’s Amie Dahnke are the top two distance runners in state.
Districts 7 and 9 have state B leaders in 16 of 35 events.
Softball regionals
The 4A regional at Franklin Park tonight and Saturday (see schedule in Stat Sheet) isn’t the only one in the Spokane area.
2A: Medical Lake High will host the event, starting today at 4 p.m. with two loser-out games, the first between Lakeside and Medical Lake, the other pitting Chewelah and Riverside. The Lakeside/Medical Lake winner will face Pullman on Saturday at 10 a.m. At the same time, the Chewelah/Riverside winner will take on Colville, which was undefeated in Great Northern League play. Winners of those two games will meet at 12:30 p.m. with the top seed to the state tournament on the line. The last state berth will be decided at 2:30. The 2A state tournament will be in Wenatchee next Friday and Saturday, like all state tourneys.
3A: The regional, with six schools playing for three state spots, will finish today. It starts at 1 p.m. in Richland, with Clarkston and West Valley representing the GSL. The 4A and 3A state tournaments will be in Tacoma.
1A: The regional in Moses Lake is Saturday, with Colfax, Freeman and Kettle Falls representing the Northeast A. Colfax and Freeman play loser-out games at noon, while district champ Kettle Falls waits for the Colfax/Liberty Bell winner for a 2 p.m. winner-to-state game. If Freeman can top Okanogan, the Scotties will face Brewster at 2 for a state berth. There are three berths from this region. The 1A state tournament is in Moses Lake.
B: The District 7 B tourney is in Kettle Falls Saturday with games starting at noon. Six teams (Selkirk, Davenport, Odessa, Curlew, Inchelium and Republic) play for four state berths. The District 9 B tournament is at Pasco’s TRAC Field the same day, with eight schools vying for three berths starting at 10 a.m. The state B tournament is in Wenatchee.