Merrell shines at regionals
YAKIMA – Tears welled up in Amanda Merrell’s eyes and there was a look of amazement on her face.
The Mead senior had just taken her last turn in the triple jump and her quest for one inch instead yeilded 19¾ inches and Merrell was not only going to the State 4A track meet next week, she was an Eastern Regional champion.
Moments earlier she was at the top of the runway at Zaepfel Stadium grinning, despite sitting in fifth place when only four go to state. Her best of 34-feet, 9¾-inches left her a quarter-inch short of advancing.
“It just came down to the pressure situation,” said Merrell, who was a disappointing seventh in the long jump. “I knew what I had to do. I was looking for that extra inch, I wasn’t looking to win. Actually I couldn’t stop smiling. It was the situation I wanted. It was up to me … making my own destiny.”
Then she jumped to Pasco by bounding 36-5¼.
Merrell and many of her Greater Spokane League rivals and friends shined on a Saturday when the sun didn’t always cooperate, never slowed by the constant cross-wind and an hour-long rain.
Rogers, led by the sprint triple of amazing Becca Noble, won the team race with 65 points and GSL girls captured 39 of 72 state berths.
The GSL boys were even more dominating, winning 16 of 17 events and capturing 46 of 68 spots. Mead edged Ferris for first place by six points, 72-66, as Spokane schools took the top seven places.
“We talk about it a lot,” Robert Davis of Ferris said after defending his title in the 400-meters. “We talk about the GSL dominating, not beating each other, beating (Big Nine Conference rivals).”
And that they did, dominating like never before despite getting more qualifiers than their rivals for the 10th time in 11 regionals. In fact it was just last year the Big Nine had a 39-31 edge.
“Now it’s the GSL as one against the other schools,” Shadle Park’s 110-meter hurdles champion Jared Bjerkstrand said. “It’s cool to come here and have friends with you.”
GSL girls had an advantage for only the second time, the first coming back in 1996.
There were three double winners on the boys’ side, Mead distance star Evan Garber, East Valley thrower Andy Roof and Shadle Park’s Bryan Braman in the javelin and high jump.
Eastmont’s Amanda Miller won the 800 and 1,600 and anchored the state’s fastest 1,600 relay to hold off Noble.
Girls
“I had another 10,” Noble said about her day, “except for the rain. Maybe the rain made it a 9.”
Still, she won the 100 (12.36 seconds), 200 (24.61) and 400 (54.47) easily and ran an anchor leg in the 1,600 relay as the Pirates rose from sixth to second.
With hurdler Emily Dahl winning the 100’s (14.76) and placing second in the 300’s and Cassiday Caldwell tying for second in the pole vault, the Pirates rolled up 65 points, 7½ more than Eastmont and eight up on Mt. Spokane.
“It’s pretty hard to do the triple,” Noble said. “If I can do it, I’m pretty tough. It’s a mind game … you tell your legs to do it and you can.”
It was obvious it was the GSL’s day early, when Dahl won the first race and she was joined at state by Mead’s Cassie Moore and Mt. Spokane freshman Sam Patrick.
“I came here with a 16.9 (personal record) and ended up with a 15.66,” Patrick said, still somewhat amazed she was fourth. “I was hoping to make it to the finals, I wasn’t expecting any more.”
She came out of the District 8 meet as a No. 7 and was third in her preliminary heat on Friday.
“I was thinking just believe in myself and have confidence,” she said. “I said to myself since I made it this far, just do my best. I tried hurdles for the first time last year and just fell in love with it.”
Big Nine girls won 10 events and swept the 400 relay on Friday and the javelin on Saturday, but GSL girls took three berths in eight events. All 11 Spokane schools had a state qualifier.
Boys
Garber made history by becoming the first of Spokane’s great distance runners to get a double-double, taking the 3,200 on Friday and the 1,600 on Saturday after winning them last year.
The time was 4:17.81 as Garber dominated on the home stretch. But during introductions and throughout the race the announcer kept reminding everyone history was at hand.
“It was just a race, trying to conserve as much as possible to be rested for next week,” Garber said. “A little pride steps in, I still wanted to win, but I wanted to make it as easy on myself as I can. I wanted to make it a kicker’s race.”
Then he thought about his accomplishment.
“The regional hasn’t been around that long,” he said. “There are a few other Mead kids, if the regional would have been around, who would have double-doubles. I didn’t know about it but it’s still pretty cool.”
Roof wasn’t impressed with his throw of 174-8 in the discus but he was still glowing over his 17-inch PR in winning the shotput at 58-8 on Friday.
“If I wouldn’t have thrown so well in the shotput I would be upset in the discus,” he said. “You can’t be too upset when you’re a regional champion.”
Spokane’s future remains bright as Mead sophomore Skylar Jessen won the 100 (11.0), Lewis and Clark freshman Andre Jennings won the 200 (22.13). Davis, who was second in the 200 after winning the 400 (50.23), is a junior as is Braman (6-6 in the high jump after Friday’s javelin win), Ferris’ 800 winner Ben Poffenroth (1:55.84) and Mead triple jumper Jeremy Brett (45-8¾).
Bjerkestrand, who was third in the 300’s, was relieved to win the 110’s (14.7) after finishing fifth last year.
“I didn’t want that to happen again but I wasn’t too disappointed because it was my first year hurdling,” he said.
Also notable was Central Valley juniors Aaron Grothe and Tyler Folk having to jump off for the fourth and final state berth and Spokane sweeping the pole vault and shot put Friday and the high jump Saturday.
•Pomeroy’s boys dominated the sprints while winning the team title during the District 9 B meet at Clarkston. Collin McCabe won the 400 and placed third in the 200, and Mitch Scott took runner-up finishes in the 100 and 200. The Pirates piled up 129 points for a 30-point gap on first-day co-leader Waitsburg. DeSales (122 points) ran away with the girls title, winning seven of the day’s nine finals. Heidi Olson (high jump) and Angie Jeffries (long jump) had runner-up finishes to help St. John-Endicott to second place.