Speed shines at Mooberry Relays

There are all kinds of long races, many included in relays, at the Mooberry Relays at Rogers, birthplace of the distance running boom in Spokane some four decades ago.

The signature event is the Lindgren Mile, named for legendary Pirates distance runner Gerry Lindgren. But on a sunny Saturday, it was speed that stood out.

A pair of small-school athletes, Gale Nelson of Lakeside and Ashton Gant of Pullman, stepped up and won the 100 meters, beating most of Spokane’s best in quality times despite a biting headwind out of the northeast.

“I was kind of negative,” Nelson said. “I didn’t think I could win. I didn’t know what to expect; it is my first time at this meet.”

Gant, a senior, was more confident, having beaten most of the area’s best at Pasco last weekend. He also teamed with Zach Elder to give the Greyhounds first in the two-man long jump “relay.” That helped earn him the male Athlete of the Meet honor.

“It’s really exciting for me,” he said. “It’s always exciting for somebody from a little school to come up to a big school and win something this big.”

The female honor went to Megan O’Reilly, who joined with Mt. Spokane teammates Jenna Carter, Courtney Zalud and Jessica Klier to set meet records in the distance medley relay and 3,200 relay.

Shadle Park scored 84 points to win the girls title, 18 ahead of East Valley, with North Central in third at 65. East Valley won a tight battle for the boys team title, scoring 78 points to edge Central Valley by one and Lewis and Clark by three. That gave the Knights the combined team trophy.

Girls: Nelson may not have had confidence, but she had motivation.

“My parents said they would pay me $100 if I won,” she said after her season-best time of 12.7 seconds. “It was nerve-wracking. You just have to push through. You have to get over your fears.”

She did that just fine and helped the Eagles finish fifth in the 800 relay.

“My confidence has grown,” she said. “It’s good to race against the best. It’s the only way you can be the best.”

O’Reilly didn’t run any open races, choosing a less stressful weekend between Pasco and an open 5,000 next weekend at Stanford.

“I raced, but it wasn’t as bad as Pasco,” she said. “I didn’t have a certain time. My mentality is different; it doesn’t seem as hard. So it was like a good workout.”

The Wildcats opened by going 12:17.4 in the distance medley, 20 seconds under the previous meet record and the second fastest in state history.

“We weren’t trying for any records. We were just trying to run as fast as we can,” O’Reilly said. “I don’t think any of us even knew the 4x800 record, but after the DMR we said let’s try to get another.”

Mead’s Ryan Torpie defended her title in the Lindgren Mile, running 5:18.8.

Boys: Gant, who went 21 feet, 5 inches in the long jump, hopes to convert his success against a field of mostly Greater Spokane League schools into success in the 2A postseason.

“These guys are really, really competitive,” he said. “You have to rise to the competition. I was pretty confident. I’ve raced against these guys before.”

Gant was the clear leader, but the field closed fast before Gant hit the tape in 10.8 seconds into the wind. NC’s J.T. Washington was second at 10.9, followed by EV’s Anthony Laborin at 11.0.

“It definitely makes you happy to come out and be successful against the big schools,” Gant said.

Another tight race was the Lindgren Mile, with Lakeside’s hard-charging Max Reeder edging Mead’s Ryan Bishop with a lean. It was quite a finish for Reeder, who opened a big lead on the first lap and then fell back as far as eighth.

“I felt good today, so I went out fast,” said the junior, who was a soccer player before this spring and is just learning strategy and pace. “They passed me but didn’t get too far ahead. My coach said kick at 200. Once I started passing people, I saw he was in my reach. I didn’t want to give up. I kept striving for it.”

Because of the relay nature of the Mooberry, a fine performance by NC junior Tim Hight was overlooked. In his first season of serious track, Hight won the 400, ran the second leg on the Indians’ winning 1,600 and 800 relays and anchored the third-place 400 relay.