State 4A/3A track meet this weekend in Pasco

Central Valley boys are among the 4A state team trophy contenders when track and field takes center stage this week, the final weekend of high school sports competition during the 2006-07 school year.

The Bears are led by distance runner Sean Coyle and two sub-50 second 400 meter runners, James Adams and Brad Whitley, who have helped them to a state-best 3:20.46 1,600 relay – less than two seconds faster than East Valley’s 3A lead.

State 4A/3A meet is Friday and Saturday in Pasco.

Coyle last weekend won the 3,200-meter regional race in 9:12.99 which puts him among the top four 4A state fastest. He also placed third at 1,600 meters in 4:15.17.

Adams and Whitley were first and second in the 400, timing 49.2 and 49.7 respectively and were joined by Danny Groby and David Churchill in recording the state’s best long relay time.

But both Adams and Whitley took a back seat to EV Knight Case Parker‘s 48.73 400 which is second best in state.

They are among a number of Valley athletes headed to state.

EV has a dozen qualifiers including long sprinter Parker, who won the 200, and hurdler Tim Armstrong, who will be among the state favorites.

Other notable regional efforts were by EV’s Laurie Bourgeous who won the 200-meter dash and finished second in the 100-meter hurdles.

In the field, CV’s William Davis and Evander Cobbs continued to swap first place in the triple jump, Davis winning regional.

West Valley and Freeman are competing in the 2A and 1A meets at Mt. Tahoma in Tacoma. Eagle Bri Almy is among the fastest 2A 200 sprinters, winning in 25.4 at district to advance. She was also second in the 100.

Alyssa Wold and Melissa Mauro went 1-2 in the high jump, Bailey Wold and Ashley Kenney, the discus champion and ranked second in state among all throwers, qualified in two events each.

WV’s 1,600 relay team of Richard Keroack, Alex Allison, Parker Flynn and Tim Pring is among the state 2A favorites at 3:26.8.

Freeman’s Luke Mathews won regional 1A long jump and Melanie Frankart was the girls discus champion.

Valley Christian’s Jeff Pope qualified in all three distance events for the State 2B meet at Eastern Washington University

Titans thrill fans

University baseball players gave their fans a thrill last weekend in Region IV of the State 4A baseball tournament, rallying from nine runs down in the fifth inning to beat Moses Lake 12-11.

Leadoff batter Danny Jordan had hits in his last three at-bats including a three-run home run, scoring three times and finishing with four RBIs. He was also the winning pitcher in relief.

Number two batter Jacob Olsufka was 3-for-4, doubling in the winning two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Billy Moon, who started the game but found himself in a 5-0 hole in the first inning, had two hits and drove in three runs.

“Billy just could not find the dish and that’s very unlike him,” said coach Scott Sutherland. “But, gosh dang it, they just don’t panic.”

Trailing 11-2, the Titans scored two runs each in the fourth and fifth innings, three in the sixth and five in the seventh.

Ben Borgman, batting seventh, doubled and singled to score twice and Kyle Barker, who followed him, also scored two runs.

Pitching exhausted, U-Hi lost its bid to reach the state semifinals falling 15-5 to Richland in the second game. Six regulars return next year.

U-Hi falls short

Walla Walla proved University’s nemesis, beating the Titans twice in regional softball to deny the Titans a state berth.

They lost 6-1 and 10-3 in the first and fourth games of their tournament to fall one place shy of state.

But U-Hi did make things interesting with Saturday wins over Central Valley 10-1 and Pasco 15-4, including three home runs in the latter game by Ashley Fargher who drove in 10 runs.

All told U-Hi hit seven home runs in the tournament, two by Ali Warren.

Central Valley, which lost two straight, nearly had the upset of the tournament, taking eventual finalist Richland to 12 innings before a hard-luck 10-9 loss on opening night on a three-run game-ending home run.

The Bears had scored twice in the top of the 12th for the lead.

Mickenzie Alden hit homers in each game and finished her career with four hits.

Both teams are young and with improved pitching can contend for state again next year.

EV season ends

East Valley’s magic soccer season ended in the State 3A quarterfinals with a 3-1 loss to visiting Camas.

But it was one of the most successful years in school history for a team which won three straight Greater Spokane League titles for outgoing coach Jeff Rose.