WV’s Mauro delivers present

TACOMA – Melissa Mauro had the perfect birthday present for her father Friday during the first day of the State 2A/1A track and field championships at Mount Tahoma Stadium.

The West Valley junior gave dad a state championship. Mauro vaulted 5 feet, 5 inches to capture the 2A girls high jump, topping her personal best by 3 inches.

“Every time I jumped I kept thinking about it being my dad’s birthday today,” Mauro said.

She didn’t even know which birthday it was either, saying her father, Joe, is in his late 40s but didn’t want to guess on his age in case she was wrong.

Mauro was just tickled to jump. Last week at district, she fought terrible pain in her back, an ailment she said is related to an ACL knee injury she suffered in basketball as a freshman. She didn’t jump in WV’s final two regular-season meets.

“I was in terrible, terrible pain last week, but I thought I’d at least give it a try,” Mauro said.

She said the pain is related to something in her hips that she has apparently overcompensated for relating to her knee injury.

Mauro had a strategy. She noticed that many of the top-seeded qualifiers had jumped about 5-2 at state-qualifying meets last week.

“So I wanted to have as many clean jumps through 5-2 that I could have just in case it came down to (fewer) misses,” Mauro said.

Her strategy paid off. She made her first attempts at 4-10, 5-0 and 5-2 before her first miss on the first attempt at 5-3. She made 5-3 on her second attempt. She also made 5-4 and 5-5 on her second attempts, securing the state title over Sabrina Hoeks of Black Hills, who also cleared 5-5. Mauro’s teammate, sophomore Alyssa Wold, who edged Mauro for the district title, took third (5-4).

“I’m probably more excited about doing this on my dad’s birthday than actually winning a state title,” Mauro said. “Every time I cleared a height, I looked over at him and he gave me a thumb’s up.”

It’s a birthday present Joe Mauro will always remember.

Anna Albrecht of Pullman was the second state champ from the area.

Albrecht defended her 2A title in the girls shot put and broke a state-meet record in the process.

Albrecht heaved the shot 43-11¼, eclipsing the previous state mark of 42-7¼ set by McKenzie Burgess of Kiona-Benton in 2003.

She wanted at least another inch so she could have topped her career best of 44-0, which she threw at district.

“When I’m doing things wrong I get all twisted up, but I knew it was going to be a decent throw when I let it go,” Albrecht said of her record toss, which came on her second attempt in prelims. “I’m greedy, though. I wanted to get a (personal best), too.”

Albrecht improved her career best this year by more than 2 feet, and her state-title throw was more than 4 feet farther than her winning toss a year ago.

Lindsay Myron of Pullman was dethroned as the triple jump champion. Myron, a senior, took third (34-11¼). That jump was about 2½ feet shorter than her meet-record mark from a year ago (37-5½).

Her jumps were consistent, though. Seven marks were 34 feet or farther.

She said she hasn’t fully recovered from a sprained ankle she suffered when she stepped in a hole while playing catch with her boyfriend during spring break.

Lakeside (Nine Mile Falls) senior Ryan Taylor, fourth at district in the 1A boys pole vault, took second, equaling his personal best (13-6).

He called his effort bittersweet, though.

“I really wanted to get 14,” Taylor said. “That’s been my goal all year.”

Other area 2A medal winners were: Taylor Walker of Pullman in the javelin (second, 128-5); Ashley Kenney of WV in the shot (sixth, 38-1); Brittney Williams of Colville in the 3,200 (fifth, 11:08.11); Mitch Chandler of Riverside in the 1,600 (sixth, 4:24.52); Griffon Jones of Cheney in the discus (eighth, 145-4); and Tyson Luu of Colville in the long jump (eighth, 19-10).

Other area 1A medal winners were: Kia Gibson of Lakeside in the shot (third, 37-11); Rebecca Johnstone of Chewelah in the triple jump (fourth, 34-8½); Kayloni Jones of Lakeside in the 3,200 (fifth, 11:44.56); Kyle Johnson of Lakeside in the 1,600 (fifth, 4:30.04); Willie Lohman of Chewelah in the discus (fifth, 137-10); Kelli Tikker of Lakeside in the high jump (sixth, 5-0); and Marc Soelberg of Freeman in the pole vault (fifth, 13-0).