Young Panthers run wild

Mead coaches were expecting the worst, but a pair of underclassmen gave them their best and allowed the Panthers to open the Greater Spokane League with wins against visiting North Central on a windy but nice Wednesday afternoon.

Sophomore Mike Senescall and junior Nikki Codd were surprise winners in the 400 meters, turning around meets their coaches were not too confident about winning.

“Coach (John) Mires said it was a really big event, it could be the turning point because NC has good runners,” Senescall said. “There was a lot of pressure on my shoulders. Coming around the third corner I thought I could win. It was probably the most inspirational for us winning this meet, plus they beat us last year.”

With Senescall and Warren Anderson finishing 1-3 in the 400, the Panthers pulled away for an 80-65 win in a meet that included Rogers. Codd upset NC state placer Anna Walters and then anchored the 1,600 relay team that secured the 79-71 win.

“Coach (Dori) Robertson basically told me to go all out in the 400 and don’t worry about my other races,” Codd said.

GSL league meets are generally held on Thursdays, but the coaches decided to move up the openers because of a conflict.

The day’s only other meet was Gonzaga Prep and Shadle Park at Mt. Spokane. The other three meets were not moved and will be held today.

Boys

Senescall’s win in a personal-record 52.6 seconds cannot be overstated, considering NC swept the top three places in the 100 and 200 and beat the Panthers in both relays and horizontal jumps. NC also swept the high jump and got a surprise second-place finish from Jake Sanders in the 1,600.

“I PR’d by about 2 seconds – I’m pretty proud of it,” said Senescall, who was fifth in the 100 and 200. “I went into that not too confident. But that turned it around. We were expected to lose, (but) it’s not all about pen and paper. Warren Anderson PR’d, too. It was good points for the team.”

Mead also got big points sweeping the 3,200 and all three throws, including a win by senior Paul Senescall in a shot put competition that had four Panthers surpass 50 feet.

Paul Senescall, a standout football player headed for Idaho, threw 51 feet, 63/4 inches to edge teammate Emilio Sulpzio by less than an inch.

“It’s good to look to my brother, who set a good name for us,” Mike Senescall said. “I’d glad to live up to it.”

Mike Senescall was a reluctant 400 runner as a freshman, but his attitude is changing.

“I tried hard not to do it, but it paid off today,” he said. “It was my least favorite event until today – now it’s my favorite. I’ve got work to do. This just makes me want to try harder.”

Dylan Hatcher won the 800 (2:04.3) and 1,600 (4:34.1) for the Panthers. Rogers had two double winners, J.T. Washington in the 100 (11.0) and “190” (the starting line was accidentally moved up 10 meters), and Sean Adelbeyo in the long jump (19-111/2) and triple jump (42-41/2).

At Mt. Spokane, the host Wildcats swept with depth. Mike Hartnov was the only double winner in the 800 (1:59.8) and 3,200 (10:03.9). Shadle’s Mitch Kamstra had the unusual triple of shot put (49-10), javelin (164-3) and high jump (6-0).

Girls

Codd was somewhat of a surprise. She didn’t run in the postseason last year because she broke a collarbone when she lunged and fell trying to make a handoff in the 200 relay in late April. But even then she still wanted to run the 400 at that meet.

“I kept thinking about it,” she said. “I wanted to go to state so bad and having that chance taken away, it fueled the fire so much.”

But beating Walters, who won the 100 (13.0), “190” and anchored the 400 relay, was also too much to expect.

“I love Anna, she’s so nice,” Codd said. “Last year she beat me. This year I didn’t know what to expect. I worked so hard, I wanted to be good. She pushed me so hard.”

Codd doubled back to push NC’s Mary Graesser to the wire in the 800 and was disappointed to be 21/2 seconds back in 2:30.

“I think it was basically I got comfortable,” Codd said. “I got in the mindset I had already done well, done my part.”

Graesser also won the 1,600 (5:16.2) but couldn’t pull off the much-needed triple, losing to Mead’s Ryan Thorpie in the 3,200 (11:57.4).

Mead’s Ashley Hutchinson was the only other double winner, taking the shot put (38-61/2) and javelin (118-0).

At Mt. Spokane, Jordan Carlson won the 100 (12.5) and 200 (27.1) and Shadle won all three relays to sweep the meet. Mt. Spokane’s Megan O’Reilly coasted to wins in the 800 (2:26.6) and 1,600 (5:12). Gonzaga Prep’s Erica Cheney got off to a good start in the shot put (40-4) and won the discus (117-5).