Excitement and surprise
John Hays is excited about his Freeman High School girls track team.
“We lost Jessie DePell from last year, but that’s about it,” he said, referring to his lone senior to score at last year’s state Class 1A meet. “And we placed sixth at state last year.”
Bringing back that much veteran experience bodes well for a Freeman program that perennially places in the season-ending meet.
“We should be pretty good,” the coach said. “We have (seniors) Jennesa Miller and Maeve Sayres both back and they’ve been to state all three years. Jennesa was one of the top high hurdlers in the state last year and Maeve did the 300 hurdles and the mile.”
Miller, a three-sport standout, will run both hurdles events and a leg of the Scotties 4x400 relay as well as high jump, where she’s cleared 4-feet, 10-inches.
Sayres is the team’s best in the 800 and will run the mile and 4x400 relay.
Miller is joined in the 300 hurdles by sophomore Carley Heinen, who won the event at last weekend’s Cross State Challenge at Central Valley High, turning in a time of 50.39 seconds. She will also run the 4x400, as will freshman Taylor Naber, who ran a 66-second 400-meter at Cheney.
“I predict that Carley Heinen will break our school record in the 300 hurdles this season,” Hays said. “She was only a half-second off of it at the end of last year and she had never run that event until last year.”
Sophomore Leah Willard was second at state in the high jump as a freshman. She cleared 5-feet at the season-opening meet at Cheney.
Junior Melanie Frankart placed sixth at state in the discus last year, her first season in track. She won that event last weekend, out-distancing athletes from CV, Snohomish and Seattle Academy with a throw of 99-11.
Junior Alyssa Robinson ran the two-mile at state a year ago and will run both the 1600 and 3200 again this season.
Sophomore Sea-Ce Maier competed at state in the javelin, where she throws 90 feet.
In addition to Naber, Hays also expects big things from freshmen Stephanie Barrong, who runs the 100 in 13.6 and will double in the 200 as well as long jump, and Shannon Lyons, who is right on Barrong’s heels in the 100. The pair form half of the team’s sprint relay team that already has turned in a 56.0 lap.
“We’re really hopeful about how we will do down the road,” Hays said. “The girls are pretty solid all the way through. Obviously, with a realignment in place, the road to state will be much more difficult. Not only do we have Lakeside and Chewelah in our own league, we have to compete with Cashmere and Chelan in our district.”
On the boys side, the Scotties are also a veteran group.
Senior Chris Davis is a returning state placer in the long jump and ran on the 4x100 relay in the state meet. He leads a solid group of sprinters.
Senior Greg Emtman also returns after placing third in the 800 at state. The senior also runs the 400 and on the 4x400 relay.
Sprinter Jimmy Lara is a state veteran, running the 200 and 400 and on both relay teams at state last year as a junior.
Senior Saegan Neiman placed sixth in the high jump last year.
“Travis Hollen, who is a senior, and Andrew Godderz, who is a junior, are both really pushing each other in the shot put and the discus,” Hays said. “Andrew went 120 in the discus already and Travis has throw 41-8 in the shot.”
Juniors Jake Hamilton and Kyle Naber both throw the javelin well. Hamilton, who missed last year with an injury, already throws 155 feet, with Naber, a returning state placer, right behind at 145.
“We’re a pretty solid team right now and we’re spread out pretty good, too,” Hays said.
Valley Christian Panthers
The season is over before it starts for senior Erica Hattamer.
“She tore her ACL during basketball and she’s done for the year,” Valley Christian coach Larry Davis said. “I’ve been talking to her and her family about helping her walk-on at a college next year. She’ll be fine.”
Hattamer is a standout sprinter who placed fifth in the state 200 and third in the 400 a year ago as well as anchoring a pair of relay teams.
Behind Hattamer the Panthers are young, with just one junior on the girls roster: Polina Vorobyev. The rest of the squad is made up of freshmen and sophomores.
“The girls are in a building stage this year,” Davis said. “But they’ve surprised me. We may have some surprises there. Those sophomores were pretty key for us last year. I consider them veterans at this point.”
Davis expects the 4x100 relay to be one of the state’s best and the 4x200 to be strong as well – and both of those relays are made up of freshmen and sophomores.
Freshman Stacia Hipple, a middle school standout, looks to take over for Hattamer as the relay anchor and sophomore Kayle Combs is strong out of the blocks on each relay.
On the boys side, there is a side effect to the school’s addition of a football program.
“The football coach has been really good about encouraging his players to turnout for track,” Davis said.
The team should excel in the field events, led by three strong pole vaulters: juniors Will Hattamer, Alex Solodyankin and Howard Tu. Hattamer and Solodyankin both double in the javelin.