Spotlight belongs to Noble

Once again there were many great performances as the District 8 4A track and field meet wrapped up Friday night at University High School, but once again everyone was talking about Becca Noble.

Running against the clock, Noble won.

Taking advantage of a break in the weather, the Rogers senior blasted around the track in 53.3 seconds, a personal record by two-tenths of a second and the third-fastest 400 meters in the nation this spring.

“We took advantage of the nice, nice weather,” Noble said of the rare appearance by the sun. “Coach told me to get a nice run because the weather was good. I’m very excited.”

That highlighted another good day by Greater Spokane League athletes as they prepared for next weekend’s Eastern Regional matchup against the Big Nine.

There were several other records and a couple of near misses as the top eight individuals and top four relay teams qualified for the regional, which will be at U-Hi on Friday and next Saturday.

Lewis and Clark star Brianne January and Ferris freshman Kelsey Adams went 5-feet, 7 inches in the high jump, a half-inch better than the oldest district record, set by Janelle Daniels of Rogers in 1979.

Catie Schuetzle of Shadle Park, who shattered the long jump record on Thursday, destroyed the triple jump record by soaring 38- 1/2 . She also won the 100 and brought the Highlanders’ 1,600 relay team from behind for a fourth win.

Mead’s Dana Giffen matched the girls pole vault record of 11-0.

But still, the buzz was about Noble, who won the 400 by 6 seconds and coasted to a 10-second win in the 800, winning by 85 meters.

“I’m feeling good with the (decision to run the) 800 and not defending the 200 (state championship) because I’m champion in the 200 and they can’t take that away from me,” Noble said. “Why not go for the 800?”

Noble’s two wins couldn’t match Mead’s Hutchinson household.

Corissa, a senior, added the shot put title to Thursday’s discus win and Ashley, a sophomore, took the javelin.

Corissa put the shot 39-10 and Ashley returned to the ring after winning the javelin and failed to beat that, she was a double winner.

That’s not a surprise since Corissa was a state champion as a freshman with a 43-0 throw, but it was little sister who was winning most of the early season.

“She gets really nervous in the shot when I’m beating her, she kind of freaks out,” Ashley said. “She doesn’t do that any more.”

But it wasn’t until last week when the sisters both broke 40 feet that big sister inched ahead.

“I didn’t think about winning,” Corissa said. “I decided to relax because I’ve been stressing out most of the year. … I really don’t know why. I started with an injury and I tried a new form, the rotary, in the shot. I went back to the glide.”

Still, it was discus that pleased her more. She had a 5-foot improvement for the season and a 9-inch boost over her state championship throw of 138-9 last spring and was just 2 inches shy of the district record.

“I’ve been struggling and haven’t been getting anywhere near my PR,” she said. “Now I’m really happy. I’ve been hitting consistently in the 140’s and hit 150 in practice. It’s a matter of time.”

Mt. Spokane junior Megan O’Reilly, two-time defending state champion in the 3,200, is another athlete coming on after missing several earlier meets, including the Pasco Invitational. She matched her season-best time in the 1,600 (5:10.2) to go with Thursday’s win in the longer race.

“It matched my PR for the season, that’s good for now, I guess,” she said. “It’s district, it’s all about getting (to regional), I still have to get my speed better. I definitely feel stronger. For some reason I think God didn’t want me in those races. It’s made me hungrier to race. I’m just waiting. I feel like I’m ready to pop one.”

LC sophomore speedster Andre Jennings was a double winner in the 100 (10.9) and 200 (22.3).

“I wanted to run well and not mess up like yesterday,” Jennings said, referring to a dropped baton in the 400 relay. “It motivated me. I dedicated the races to Robin Johnson. He’s a senior and now he doesn’t get to go on. I hope to do better at regional.”

Jennings set a state freshman record in the 200 last spring and has carried the burden of being the best all spring.

“I was putting a lot of pressure on myself early in the season but now I’m just trying to do the best I can,” he said. “You can’t win every race.”

The Tigers were running with headbands on with “JT” on them for junior distance runner Jeriel Tormo. Hospitalized with what were thought to be seizures, he died Thursday afternoon the result of minor strokes.

Ferris senior Ben Poffenroth was a double winner in the 800 and 1,600. His 1,600 time of 4:19 was a half-second off his best but he put his best effort into Thursday’s preliminary in the 800 (1:53.9), hoping for a record.

“I was trying to go for the record, but I didn’t have anybody out front and my third 200 was a little slow,” he said. “I wasn’t really think about the mile. I was expecting to run against Laef (Barnes). It sucks he was hurt. I really like running against him.”

The Mead senior was stopped by a stress fracture. He barely advanced in the 3,200 on Thursday and scratched from the 1,600. His status for regional is unclear but it doesn’t look good. He also missed the postseason last year with the same injury.

There is also a nice rivalry brewing in the boys hurdles. Mt. Spokane’s Adam Barkley won the 110s (14.9) and Kellen Lewis of University got revenge in the 300s (38.9).

“I haven’t defined it as a rivalry because I haven’t raced him but a couple of times,” said Lewis, who had a PR. “I love him being there. … He helped push me harder because I couldn’t relax. … I was a sloppy race but I still ran an excellent time.

“I’ve never been in a position where I’m a contender and I like it, not for the glory part but knowing I can do better.”