Touché Toussaint

PASCO – It seemed like every meet was a struggle for Rashaad Toussaint.

Something was always bugging the West Valley junior and it would often take three attempts for the best horizontal jumper in Spokane to get a legal leap.

The trend continued at the State 3A track meet.

He scratched twice before getting off a 22-foot, 4 1/4 -inch effort in the long jump on Friday but couldn’t improve in the finals and finished sixth, like last year.

Maybe that was an omen because he also won the triple jump at Edgar Brown Stadium.

But on Saturday Toussaint cleared his head, took the advice of his coach and became the most prolific triple jumper in Spokane history.

After one scratch, Toussaint jumped into the lead with a 48-footer, then bounded 49-2 1/4 , making him the eighth-best jumper in state history and surpassing the 48-7 1/2 Mead’s Steve Lucas went in 1983.

It also left the talkative Toussaint temporarily at a loss for words.

“Winning for the first time was the best feeling in my life,” he said. “A lot of people I didn’t know were pulling for me. I made a lot of friends. I was looking for 50 to get me that same feeling.”

Katie Kimball’s feelings were obvious after the Cheney junior won the only other 3A title for the Greater Spokane League.

Every time she tried to talk after winning the 300-meter hurdles she choked up.

“I never believed I could be a state champion,” she said. “I usually cry after my races if I win a hard one. I’m just competitive, it takes a lot out of me.”

Boys

Toussaint propelled West Valley into the top 10, 27 points good for a tie for seventh.

“I was more focused than I was yesterday with hitting the board,” he said. “I was pretty nervous before, but I talked to my dad and he said it was just me jumping, don’t focus on the weather, don’t let nothing get in the way. I’m sick, I have pneumonia, and they told me to forget about being sick, forget about the weather, and jump.”

Which he did, keyed by a perfect first step, which determines how he hits the board.

“Every meet there was something,” he said. “With no excuses it reminded me of last year when I didn’t have any excuses.”

And with no distractions, he jumped into fourth place on the all-time junior list.

The only disappointment was the wind was 2.6 meters-per-second, just over the allowable 2.3.

A pair of underclassmen also got points for the Eagles. Junior Keven Lemieux was fourth in the discus and sophomore Marc Smith was sixth in the 400. Cheney sophomore Bob Wilske tied for fourth in the high jump.

O’Dea repeated as team champion with 61 points, one less than last year but 18 ahead of Yelm, which only lost by seven a year ago.

Girls

Kimball was sixth in the 300 hurdles last year and had already placed sixth in the 100 hurdles, but that didn’t calm the nerves of the 3A hurdler with the best time coming in.

“I’ve never been so nervous before a race because I was close to winning,” she said. “I knew I had a chance.”

She then went out and ran away with the race, going 45.36-seconds, the third-best time in the state this year.

Teammate Ruby Palmer was a surprise third in the 400, helping the Blackhawks score 23 points to tie for 10th.

Palmer had a PR of 59.07 at the regional but only had the sixth fastest time in the prelims.

“I accomplished every single goal I set before the season,” she said. “When I got here, getting to the finals was iffy. Then I was ranked sixth. To come up with a third is something else. I was running for fun, no pressure. It was probably the best race I’ve ever run.”

Cheney junior Jessica LaCambra was sixth in the pole vault.

The star of the meet was Rainier Beach junior sprinter Jacqua Williams, who won the 100, 200, long jump and anchored the winning 400 relay. That gave Beach the team title with 46 points.