Noble prepares for final act in stellar career

From the expected coronation of Becca Noble as “Queen of the 400” to the potential domination of the B boys sprints by Northport speedster Chad Butorac, the track season concludes this weekend with a host of story lines for area athletes.

More intriguing than the possibility of Noble becoming the third Spokane athlete – second in the largest classification – to win the same event three consecutive years is the highly anticipated matchup between the Rogers senior and Brie Felnagle of Bellarmine Prep in the 800 meters during the State 4A and 3A meet in Pasco beginning Friday.

While Noble is going for a 400 three-peat, Felnagle is attempting the distance triple, adding the 3,200 to help the Lions compete for a team title.

What makes that 800 race intriguing is that Felnagle is one one-hundredth of a second short of being more dominant at that distance than Noble is in the 400. Felnagle won the 800 as a freshman and junior and lost to Amanda Miller of Eastmont by .01-second two years ago.

Noble and Felnagle hooked up a month ago with Noble shocking Felnagle by running the third-fastest time in state history, 2:06.75. Felnagle’s time of 2:07.9 makes her the fourth-fastest 800 runner in state history.

With lane assignments determined by last week’s qualifying results, Noble and Felnagle are in the same preliminary early Friday afternoon. Noble will have almost two hours before her 400 prelim, Felnagle more than seven hours before the 3,200. On Saturday, Felnagle has the 1,600 about two hours before the 800 final and Noble will have the 400 almost 90 minutes between races.

Felnagle is the two-time defending champion in the 1,600 and is the state leader by 14 seconds. She also leads the 3,200 by 13 seconds but will have to contend with two-time defending champion Megan O’Reilly of Mt. Spokane.

Noble, who was fourth in the 400 as a freshman, won the 2003 race by 1.14 seconds over the defending champion and increased her winning margin to 1.86 seconds last year. This spring no one is within 4 seconds of her best of 53.3 – second-fastest in state history.

Lewis and Clark’s Paul Swift won the long jump in 1927, ‘28 and ‘29 when there was only one classification. Mike Shill of East Valley won the shot put in 1978, ‘79 and ‘80, but the Knights were in the second-largest classification.

If Noble wins both races, she’ll have five individual titles, matching Swift, who won the 100 and 200 in 1929, and Shill, who won the discus and javelin in 1980. Certainly neither of them could match the anchor leg Noble ran last year in willing Rogers to a win in the 1,600 relay.

The 2A, 1A and B kickoff tonight at Woodward Field in Cheney with the 3,200 finals for the boys and 1,600 finals for the girls and the B boys pole vault.

Butorac, a senior at Northport, is the defending State B champion in the 100 and 200 and has the state’s best time in the 400 at 48.75 seconds. If Franklin Chambers defends his title in the javelin, the Mustangs could improve on last year’s fifth-place finish.

Newport is a heavy favorite to win the 1A boys title, with Freeman in the hunt for its seventh straight top-four finish. In 2A, Lakeside-Nine Mile Falls’ girls are expected to make a run at the team title, with both the Pullman girls and boys in contention.