CV hurdles over field
Despite a time that would suggest he was the fastest 110-meter hurdler on the 4A side of the Greater Spokane League, Central Valley junior Greg Barnes had nothing to do after school on Friday except hang out with a friend.
That’s because a bad preliminary race at the District 8 track and field meet on Thursday meant he didn’t qualify for Friday’s finals.
Then his coach called and about 90 minutes later he was a district champion.
“Not everyone gets a second chance,” Barnes said. “I wanted to prove I deserved to get in there. … I learned even if you’re in a rush, with the right mindset, you can do it.”
That was the first final at Spokane Falls Community College and when the Bears quartet of James Theordorsen, Danny Groby, Michael Williams and Brad Whitley combined to close out the meet with a state-best of 3 minutes, 21.54 seconds in the 1,600 relay, CV had a 148½-144½ edge over Mead for the 4A boys title.
And under rare, near-perfect conditions, there were a number of season-best performances.
Groby, the male track athlete of the meet, also contributed a win in the 300 hurdles (40.24), Theordorsen won the 400 (49.87) and Whitley the 800 (1:58.61).
The only 4A male individual double winner was Zach Robinson of third-place Lewis and Clark, taking the 100 (11.12) and 200 (22.58), as well as anchoring the winning 400 relay on Thursday.
Teammate Joe Zimmerman, who threw the javelin 205 feet, was the male field athlete of the meet.
With Kelly McNamee easily winning the 100 hurdles (15.32) for her third individual title, Ferris won the 4A girls title with 139½ points. Mead, which closed the meet with a state-best 3:57 in the 1,600 relay, was second with 128. McNamee was the female field athlete of the meet.
The top eight individuals and top four relays advance to the 4A regional in Richland next Friday and Saturday.
On the 3A side, Courtney Zalud won the 800 (2:19.44) and 1,600 (5:21.21) to lead Mt. Spokane to the girls title, 84½-58 over North Central. East Valley’s Lori Bourgous was the female track athlete of the meet for winning the 100 hurdles (15.30) and 300 hurdles (45.77).
The North Central boys, with David Butler dominating the 110 (15.01) and 300 hurdles (40.02), scored 75½ to beat Mt. Spokane, which had 58.
The top four individuals and top two relays move on to the 3A regional.
4A
With the top three in each heat plus the next two fastest times advancing to the finals, there was bound to be a mistake during the cold, wet conditions on Thursday. Fortunately for Barnes, the error in his event was found just in time.
“I had to get to the school and get my stuff,” he said. “It was still wet from yesterday.”
With precious little time to warm up, his time of 15.84 seconds wasn’t too close to his best.
“I didn’t finish as good as I wanted to,” he said. “It’s not about time, it’s who competes the best. I’m hoping to be better next week. I’ll be prepared for that.
“It feels really good, good to do that for the team. It’s not so much about me.”
Another surprise win came from LC’s Levi Taylor. It’s not so much that he bounded 45 feet, 9½ inches in the triple jump, just a half-foot PR, it’s that he managed to do it this week.
“I should have gone farther but I tore up my ankle messing around, just being a dumb sophomore,” he said. “I sprained it on Wednesday in the gym. It hurts. I just tried to ignore it but I wasn’t getting half the pop I thought I should have.”
Outside of McNamee’s dominating performance, the highlight for the girls was a 1,600-meter showdown between two talented youngsters.
Mead freshman Bailee Mires went 4:58.77 in 1,600 to beat Shadle Park sophomore Andrea Nelson, the defending champion, by more than 10 seconds.
“That was fun,” Mires said after the 4-second PR. “Coach kept telling me I could break 5 if I wanted to, just have fun. Andrea is tough. I was really nervous. I didn’t know how she would play it. The third lap I surged on her and decided to keep going, it wasn’t going to hurt any more.”
Nelson, who won the 3,200 the night before, couldn’t respond after going through the first half in 2:28.
“It was bad,” she said. “I was feeling really good and then all of a sudden my arms and legs felt real heavy. I wanted to make it a race, no matter how it turned out. Last year I went 11-flat (in the 3,000) and 4:58. This year 11:15 and whatever (5:09.05).”
3A
With only three schools, there were a host of double winners.
A not surprising, but interesting, one was East Valley senior Case Parker, who cruised in the 400 (48.99) and powered away down the stretch in the 200 (22.13) despite a splint on his right middle finger. For good measure he came from well off the pace to give the Knights a win in the 1,600 relay (3:24.94).
“I broke it on someone’s jersey playing ultimate football in PE,” he said. “It feels kind of weird running with the finger straight, it feels kind of heavy.”
One somewhat surprising winner was North Central sophomore Jessica Lively in the 100 (13.04). Though her best time was tied for the league lead going in, she only made the jump to the time in recent weeks.
“When we started going against 4A schools, and I wasn’t getting last, running against faster people made me faster,” she said. “I’m just glad I progressed this much. When we started the seniors were all faster, now I’m the fastest girl sprinter at our school. I’m pretty happy about that.”
Also coming on late is Bourgous, who injured her back during winter conditioning.
“It’s my drive, my passion for running,” she said of her recent surge. “I was struggling so much I almost quit. My coaches and parents encouraged me. Now all that hard work is paying off. I’m coming out of nowhere, flying under the radar. Now I’m back.”
Mt. Spokane’s Ian Schneidmiller added the shot put (52-2¼) title to the discus he won the day before and teammate Brandon Jared added the