Shadle pair eager to help Highlanders take off
The recent success of the Shadle Park girls track team can be traced to the convergence of two similar athletes with opposite demeanors and destinations.
But the Highlanders’ final reward probably won’t be determined until their last meet together in late May on the John Crawford Track at Pasco’s Edgar Brown Stadium.
Expectations are that when the State 4A meet draws to a conclusion with the 1,600-meter relay, and Brianne Brown hands Jordan Carlson the baton for the final lap, the Highlanders could be on the verge of something special.
“A Greater Spokane League championship is a process we go through,” said Jamie Rees, coach of the defending GSL champion Highlanders. “Our goal this year is a state championship.”
Leading the charge are the senior co-captains, speedsters who have 13 state medals between them – or together counting relays – but no championships.
Brown is a quiet, smooth-striding quarter-miler. Carlson is a powerful sprinter and a say-anything, do-anything, wear-anything, hyperactive dynamo. That’s a combination that can make the three relays formidable.
“I think there is a lot of pressure on them, not only being their senior year and being team captains,” Rees said. “The need for greatness is there for them.”
After the final handoff, and possibly a team celebration they will go their separate ways – Brown to run at Washington State, Carlson to compete for the Washington Huskies.
The Highlanders are more than a two-person team as they proved by finishing fourth at state last year. Sophomore Andrea Nelson, slowed by a minor injury, won two distance medals at state last year and then won the cross country title in the fall. The quiet leader in the throws is senior Sara Nichols, third in the javelin last year.
“The team aspect has been there for a long time,” Rees said. “We came out of last season with high hopes and we didn’t quite reach that goal. We did some darn good things. Coming into this season having only lost (senior hurdler) Brynn (DeLong) … I think Shadle Park is a state champion. We just need to bring them all together.”
Off the wall
Carlson grew up outside, just not as a runner. Her sport of choice was rock climbing.
“I had done track before, just like the standing long jump,” Carlson said. “I never took it serious. I didn’t like to practice. I didn’t like to run. Nobody in my family was a runner.”
Then came pressure from friends and coaches.
“I hadn’t done any other sports my freshman year, so I thought I’d try it out and see where it goes,” she said. “I knew I was athletic. I’m not so sure I would say I was fast.”
To avoid running she gravitated to the pole vault, though that involved some running. One day the pole vault coach sent her over to work on sprinter starts.
“We watched her start and said, ‘Jordan, you’re a sprinter,’ ” former Highlanders coach Ivan Corley said. “That explosion, things you don’t coach, was evident from the start. … She could be a good pole vaulter. She’s a strong young lady – she has the speed and she’s fearless. People willing to hang on a cliff are pretty fearless.”
She placed in the 200 as a sophomore and helped the 800 and 1,600 relays place. Last year it was four medals, fourth in both the 100 and 200, seventh in the 400 relay and second in the 1,600 relay. Track and being a leader are important to her.
“I always want to make track that sporty kind of family,” she said. “Brianne has volleyball. I was never part of this kind of environment. It was important for me to be part of it, supporting teammates.”
She does it by being herself, which means wearing neon green leg warmers and tie-dyed shirts for luck, in addition to bouncing around to encourage everyone.
Brown considers herself lucky to have Carlson for a teammate, talent aside.
“You’ve met Jordan – she’s kind of crazy,” Brown said. “She’s like that all the time. I absolutely love it. She’s a hyped-up kind of girl.”
The natural
Brown has been on the radar since grade school.
“In elementary school you have to wait until fifth grade to run in the all-city meet,” she said. “I got to run it as a fourth-grader. They saw something in me. I was second. A sixth-grader beat me.”
She has run the 400 from the beginning.
“I like that it’s a full-out sprint the whole way,” she said. “Not many people can do that.”
She medaled as a freshman on the fourth-place 1,600 relay. As a sophomore she placed with the 800 and 1,600 relay and just missed in the high jump. Last year it was second on the 1,600 relay, third in the 400 and eighth on the 800 relay.
“I know the (WSU) coaches asked her about 800,” said Corley, now an assistant principal. “I think they see her range, her potential to be a heptathlete. I have no doubt Brianne could do more.”
The Highlanders have set school records in 10 of 18 events in the past three seasons and tied another.
They have their sights set on much more than records, but to get there their record-breakers are going to have to lead them.
“They are two very competitive young ladies,” said Rees. “They know what they want and go after it. That brings a real positive aspect to our team because everyone wants to have a part of it as well.”