Banner day at 4A, 3A track
PASCO – Becca Noble lived up to expectations but Barry Poffenroth stole the show.
While Noble completed her 400-meters three-peat and won the much-anticipated 800 showdown with Brie Felnagle, Poffenroth completed an impressive and dramatic – if somewhat controversial – double of his own as the Star Track XXIII wrapped up at Edgar Brown Stadium on Saturday.
Poffenroth, a Ferris senior, easily won the 1,600 (4 minutes, 13.11 seconds) and came back 2½ hours later to win the 800 (1:54.95) at the wire.
“I had doubts in that first lap and when they made their move at 300 meters I didn’t know if I could go,” said Poffenroth. “I was pretty wiped out, I threw up earlier. My plan the whole race was to sit back and kick. At 100 to 150 meters, the plan was to just go and that’s what I did. That’s all I had.”
Unlike the 1,600, when he took off at 200 meters and took control down the stretch so he could start celebrating before the finish line, the 800 finish was in doubt. In the final five meters he caught Jimmy Schofield of Bethel, stuck his left arm in front of Schofield and almost dove over the finish line, falling to the infield. Disqualification for impeding was discussed.
“I didn’t push him back,” Poffenroth said. “I was leaning so far to get over that line I don’t think he pushed me. I just fell.”
The mile played out just like he envisioned it.
“Through the first two laps of the mile I’m thinking 800,” he said. “I don’t think anyone can touch me in the 800. It helps out a lot. It felt awesome, the mile felt so good. That last lap was so easy.”
Noble cruised through her 400, lowering her meet record to 54.14 seconds, and 90 minutes later came back to dog Felnagle for 700 meters before pulling away to set another meet record of 2:08.61. That brought her large fan club to it its feet.
The group was sporting bright yellow T-shirts with “Noble Prize” on the front and “Hillyard Style” on the back.
Felnagle had no real chance after a slow first lap of almost 67 seconds. Felnagle tried to get away in the next 200 meters and when Noble caught her on the final turn she tried go again.
“She surged at 100 meters and I went with her,” Noble said. “It helps to be a sprinter. … I wanted it bad. It felt good, I was ready.”
Still, Felnagle deserves credit for the attempt. After a dominating 3,200 win on Friday night she set a meet record in the 1,600 two hours before the 800, running 4:42.28.
“I was a little surprised (at the mile time), then I figured out she was going for the record,” Noble said after the 400, which she estimated at 85 percent effort. “It kind of helps me for the 8. … What I ran is what I ran, I was saving stuff for the 8.”
No other Greater Spokane League 4A athletes won championships but there were some good performances.
Ferris finished third in the team race with Robert Davis providing most of the other points by finishing second in the 400 (48.37) and third in the 200 (22.22).
“It was good to get what I got but I didn’t exactly get what I wanted,” said Davis, who missed the postseason last year because of “injuries for the most part. I’m glad I got to come here and do what I did.”
The Saxons had 49 points, 11 behind Gig Harbor and eight in back of Ballard. Mead and Shadle Park tied for sixth with 26 points.
Bellarmine Prep crushed the girls’ field with 74 points. Skyline and Wenatchee had 35. Shadle Park was fifth with 29.
Catie Schuetzle led the Highlanders by medaling in four events. Her last day consisted of sixth in the 100, second in the triple jump (39 feet) and fourth in the 1,600 relay, which lowered its school record to 4:00.63.
“I’m happy,” she said. “My last jumping event was a PR. It feels just as good as a first place. I got over the long jump (where she failed to defend her title on Friday). It was my goal to come here in four events and get medals in four events.”
Teammate Bryan Braman got three medals but after finishing third in the javelin and long jump on Friday he failed to get a championship in the high jump, his favorite event.
He just missed matching the state-best 6-10 he got last week, losing to Kevin DeBell of Lake Washington on misses at 6-8. Though he was a good sport, he was disappointed.
“I came to state and didn’t win a (dang) event,” he said. “I should have won.”
There were two other impressive seconds and PR’s, Gonzaga Prep’s Erica Chaney in the shot put (41-4), 11 inches ahead of Mead’s Corissa Hutchinson, and University’s Kellen Lewis in the 300 hurdles (38.45).
“I wasn’t really as nervous as I probably should have been,” said Chaney, a junior. “Four inches off the school record, but that was cool. It was just fun being here and seeing all the other good throwers.”
Lewis was all smiles after Wenatchee’s Tom Bellinger pulled him to another PR for the second straight week.
“It was still a little sloppy but it was good,” said Lewis, who hopes to be a walk-on at Notre Dame next year. “I’m happy, how can I not be happy? It was awesome.”
It was that kind of weekend, with the GSL, which had 70 entries, winning 47 medals.