One for Julie
Ashley Hutchinson knew she had to throw. She didn’t know if she could.
Barely a day after her mother, Julie, unexpectedly died in her sleep, the Mead senior stepped into the shot put ring at Spokane Falls Community College Friday evening with no idea what would happen next.
“My mom would want me to,” Hutchinson said. “She didn’t leave on purpose. She would have been here if she could and she knew how much it means to me.”
What happened was a throw of 41 feet, 8½ inches, which assured she would advance to state next weekend and almost made her father break down.
“I didn’t really (focus), I was almost crying in the ring,” she said. “I just knew this is what I’ve got to do.”
With teammates wearing handmade T-shirts that read “Julie, this one’s for you” on the front and such phrases as “Love for Hutch” on the back, Hutchinson followed up with a throw of 42-1, which was the winner at the Eastern Regional 4A meet. With her father, Bob, fighting back tears and her teammates cheering wildly, she added two more 40-footers before she was through.
There were two running finals, the 400-meter relays and 3,200, and a handful of field events in the 4A/3A meet that combines the Greater Spokane and Columbia Basin leagues. The 4A schools advance the top three finishers to state in Pasco next week, the 3A the top two, plus any finishers that reach a state-qualifying standard.
There were many outstanding performances on the first day of the two-day meet but nothing that was as emotionally draining as Hutchinson’s.
“I’ve been shaken up the last couple of days – I couldn’t eat or sleep,” she said. “I didn’t expect to do that. Knowing that my mom was here with me kept me going.”
Hutchinson is a strong contender to advance in the discus today.
“Having the shot put first helped a lot,” she said. “Getting ready my mind was all over the place. I had to borrow a teammate’s shorts. For the discus you have to be more mentally there. Today was a practice run.”
Among the other highlights:
“Lewis and Clark boys 400 relay, fourth at district after a dropped baton, won handily in 42.98 seconds, a big season best.
“North Central’s boys trumped that, running 42.20 in the 3A, the third-fastest run by a Spokane quartet.
“Sean Coyle sprinted down the stretch in the 3,200 to set the Central Valley record by almost 10 seconds with a 12-second personal record of 9:12.99.
“Shadle Park freshman Andrea Nelson, running alone, lopped 8 seconds off her PR with a 10:46.80 in the 3,200.
“Two girls, including Mt. Spokane’s Jackie Goldman, met the qualifying standard in the javelin, joining Wildcats Anna Banks and Lindsey Snyder at state.
“The East Valley girls finished third in the 400 relay but also made the state standard.
“University senior Andrew Ditto, who didn’t make it out of districts the last two years, cleared 14-0 in the pole vault to win regional with a 6-inch PR.
“Kelly McNamee continued her consistently outstanding high jumping, clearing 5-8, an inch shy of the meet record.
The track meet resumes at 10:30 this morning.
4A
The boy’s 3,200 was dramatic because of the depth of the GSL, which swept the top eight places. At district, Shadle’s Peter Miller took off with 500 meters left and was uncontested because eight advanced.
“I had a different strategy,” Coyle said, “be more aware, be more alert, to what is going on in the race. We went out a lot faster, which limited guys from making surges, and I got in a real comfortable rhythm.”
When Miller surged, Coyle went with him then blasted past him on the final turn.
“In the fifth lap, when I got fatigued, I thought about what my cousin told me when he called last night,” Coyle said. “He said the body can do more than what the mind thinks it can do. I knew it would be fast, but I’ve never run 9:12 before and I ran 9:24 as a sophomore. Yesterday I told the coach I was going to run 9:12.”
LC had a special feeling before the relay, and not because of the bright orange uniforms. Junior Christian Collins relinquished his leg to senior DeRoice Solomon.
“He scratched himself for the good of the team,” Alex Shaw said. “He knew it was DeRoice’s last year and he deserves to run. It’s about servitude, serving our brothers, serving our program.”
Ditto spent two years stuck at 12-6, but just getting to regional wasn’t enough.
“I felt I could make it to state, I made that my goal,” he said. “It was just wanting it so bad. I’ve been training to get over 14 all year. I practice we put the bar at 14-6 or 15. I knew I could do it, I just had to do it in a meet.”
It was touch and go. If he didn’t clear 13-9 on his third and final attempt he would have failed to advance.
“I was really nervous but on my last attempt I felt good,” he said. “Running down the runway I knew it was going to be good.”
Nelson’s run was a little surprising, knowing she is going to face a daunting field in the 1,600 today.
“I just felt really good,” she said. “I didn’t know how the race was going to be. I had to be prepared for anything.”
Shadle won the GSL title with a dominating performance on the track, leaving javelin thrower Sara Nichols in the background.
She stepped forward, winning the javelin by almost eight feet at 130-3.
“I wasn’t as focused last week,” the junior said. “I felt really excited coming into this meet, knowing I’d have to compete. I didn’t even know what a javelin looked like until I was a sophomore and I fell in love with it.”
3A
The NC runners, through injury and ineligibility never got together before this meet.
“It just felt good getting the team together,” anchor Nick Roark said. “I personally think we can get the state record.”
Alex Cassis, coming back from a hamstring injury, said, “Our handoffs were pretty good. None of us were going all out and we ran pretty good.”
Mt. Spokane senior Anna Banks was facing much more of a challenge than junior teammates Goldman and Snyder, the district champion.
“It’s a complete head game for me,” she said. “The last couple of weeks I’ve been really struggling with myself. I finally overcame it.”
She said the problem is she didn’t believe in herself despite placing third at state last year.
A miserable practice on Wednesday prompted some good advice from javelin coach Jeanne Helfer and her pole vault coach Sean Gumke.
“They told me I needed to get me out of my head,” said Banks, who vaults today. “I’m so excited for next week.”