LC wins GSL girls track
It’s nice to see an old man cry and Pat Pfeifer almost did.
The retiring Lewis and Clark girls track coach was on the verge of tears as he told his team how proud he was after they pulled out a trio of tense wins Thursday afternoon at North Central to win the Greater Spokane League championship.
LC beat NC 81-69, Mt. Spokane 80-70 and Ferris 78-72. Mt. Spokane ended up second, Ferris third and NC fourth.
“That was exciting. It was a great team effort,” Pfeifer said of LC’s first title since 1983 when he was the coach before going to Ferris to coach football in the fall of 1984. “We stressed team all year. We always said support your teammates and it will make you better. We never keep score, we just say PR. If you PR, it will happen naturally and this proved it out.”
That is especially true considering the Tigers were swamped 91-54 by Mt. Spokane three weeks ago.
“We just got better,” said the coach who is in his third year back at LC though he has been retired from teaching for six years. “We had a lot of young kids improve. Back then we didn’t know where they would go. We were experimenting.”
But the Tigers have an abundance of speed, which they utilized nicely in the sprints, relays and horizontal jumps. Freshman Brittany Kennedy, whose sister Jennifer holds two sprint records at NC, won the 100 (12.5, well behind sis’s 11.9) and 200 (25.1, the same as sis) for LC and helped the Tigers win two relays. They set a GSL dual-meet record of 1:44.4 in the 800 relay.
They also got a big boost in the distances when Whitney Porter had 7-second personal records in both the 1,600 (5:15.3) and 3,200 (11:26.8) to finish third and second, respectively.
“It helps when you have people that are really competitive,” the senior co-captain said. “When the competition is good like this it really helps you. There were a lot of PRs. I’m really surprised. I’ve been sore (because) I ran Bloomsday. I was really nervous but it really helps, it gives you adrenaline. It really doesn’t effect me negatively.”
The distance star was Mt. Spokane triple winner Megan O’Reilly, but the Wildcats also got a push from senior Jill Keller, who tripled for the first time, starting with a 4-second PR to finish second in the 1,600 (5:14.7).
“I didn’t expect that,” Keller said. “I knew it would be a fast race, but I didn’t know it would be that fast. I had to bust it out. … I’m glad I could triple. It was interesting. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. At the beginning of the meet I just asked God to give me strength.”
One of the Ferris standouts was freshman Kelly McNamee, who won the 100 hurdles (16.1), was second in the 300s, was second in the high jump and helped the Saxons win the 1,600 relay (4:05.6).
“I didn’t get PRs, but that’s OK,” she said. “You just have to do your best because in a sense you don’t know what place you’re in, so you have to give it your all.”
Her second place in the high jump – 5 feet, 4 inches, behind LC defending state champion Brianne January’s PR of 5-7 – was the most impressive considering in junior high last year she never cleared 4-4.
“I’m progressing in both in hurdles and high jump,” McNamee said. “I like both of them.”
NC got a surprising win in the pole vault when junior Krista Hoffman improved her best by 6 inches to 10-6.
“It’s just unthinkable,” she said as she takes aim at the school record (10-7). “My coach (former Washington State vaulter Lex Katich) is just incredible. I’ve been moving up poles all year, now I’m on my fourth one. That’s given me lots of confidence. I always told myself I’ve got to be consistent before I could get better. I cleared 9-6 like four meets in a row before I made 10.”
Still, the day belonged to Lewis and Clark.
“It was unexpected,” senior co-captain Hilary Love said. “You line up the top 16 and we were going to lose to NC and Mt. Spokane, Ferris wasn’t even in it. Then Ferris was our closest one. That’s why you run the meets.
“It feels so good to share it with special people. I’ve never had any kind of championship before. I’m so lucky… . We’ve never even been close. A lot of us never though of track as a team sport.”
Although the Tigers lose high-scoring senior captains Love, Porter and January, most of the team returns, giving Pfeifer reason to reconsider.
“It makes you have second thoughts (about retiring),” he admitted, unable to wipe away the smile. “I’ll have to ponder that. They almost all come back.”
Elsewhere, Shadle Park went 3-0 at East Valley to finish fifth with the Knights sixth, Mead seventh and Central Valley eighth. At University, the last six spots were determined by invitational scoring with Cheney coming out on top, followed by the Titans, Gonzaga Prep, Clarkston, Rogers and West Valley. … At EV, Shadle edged the Knights by 2 seconds in the 1,600 relay for a 75-71 win. Catie Schuetzle had a huge day for Shadle, matching a season best in the 100 (12.3), missing her long jump best by a quarter-inch (18-2¼) and missing her best in the triple jump by a half-inch (38-1¼). Three shot putters went past 40 feet – East Valley’s Lyndzie Johnson (40-10½) and Mead sisters Corissa (40-4) and Ashley Hutchinson (40-1). … Becca Noble of Rogers (200, 400), hurdler Katie Kimball of Cheney and Gonzaga Prep thrower Erica Chaney (shot put, discus) were double winners at U-Hi. Kimball lowered her league best in the 100 hurdles to 15.5. Chaney improved her best in the shot put by an inch (40-4) with West Valley’s Emily Sasse passing 40 feet (40-1½). … The boys wrap today at 4:30 with the championship meet at Mt. Spokane. Central Valley, East Valley and Mead are in the finals. The other meets are at Lewis and Clark and West Valley.