Shot putters lead way
Before the first league meet, before ideal weather even made an appearance, albeit briefly, the Greater Spokane League had four 50-foot shot putters.
Three of them got together Thursday afternoon at Rogers for the first league track and field competition, with Mead’s Mike Banta drawing first blood.
Banta’s season-best toss of 51 feet, 11/2 inches beat teammate Sam Wright and Central Valley sophomore Billy Rowell, who both came up short of their earlier efforts with throws of 50-1/2.
“It’s going to be a good competition this year,” Banta said. “(Wright) has been whipping me in practice. Today was my day. We’ll see what happens.”
Those Mead practices must be tough, since Austin Helgeson is hot on their heels with a best of 49-8.
“If you throw bad one week, you might not be on varsity,” Wright said. “It’s competitive, but it’s fun at the same time. We’re hard on each other, but we’re friends.”
The throwers helped Mead beat CV 99-50 in the early-season showdown between last season’s top two finishers. On the girls’ side, Mead swept the Bears and Pirates.
Not all competitors need competition to push them to new heights. The case in point is Mead high jumper A.J. Maricich, who is jumping a good half-foot higher than almost anyone else around.
Not only did the junior match the 6-8 he cleared in winning the state title last year, he went over the magical 7-foot barrier, only to clip the bar with his heel.
“Each week I’ve been getting closer and closer,” he said. “It’s just a matter of time before I get it. I was hoping to get it early. I just have to kick faster. We’ve been working on it in practice. I have to get accustomed to it.”
The chilly weather didn’t faze him at all.
“I’m used to training in this weather,” he said. “The heat usually just sucks the energy out of me.”
Steve Kutsch won the 800 (2 minutes, 1.3 seconds) and 1,600 (4:32.6); Justin Graff had a solid throw in the javelin (188-9); and Keith Webber tied for the state lead in the pole vault (15-0) for the Panthers.
Corde Bailey had an impressive double for Rogers in the 100 (10.8) and 200 (22.4).
Jazmine Redmon won the 100, 200 and long jump for the Mead girls, and Baylee Mires won the 800-1,600. Emily Deischl of CV had a nice double in the javelin (130-9) and shot put (36-51/2).
In other GSL meets: At Gonzaga Prep, Mt. Spokane’s boys and the host Bullpups girls came out 2-0 in competition that included Shadle Park. Both were decided by wins in the closing 1,600-meter relays. The Mt. Spokane boys edged Shadle 76-69 while the G-Prep girls tripped Mt. Spokane 79-70, thanks to the 5-0 in points for winning the relay. Bo Schuetzle of Shadle won the 100 and both horizontal jumps. Megan Lindsay sparked the G-Prep girls by taking the 100 and 200. … At Ferris, the host Saxons swept South Hill rival Lewis and Clark, 81-64 on the boys’ side, 78.67-63.33 on the girls’. Adam Thorne swept the three distance races to lead the boys, and Kjelby Oiland won the discus and the shot put with a league-leading throw of 53-71/2. Kelsey Lin dominated the sprints with area-leading times in the 100 (12.5), 200 (25.4) and 400 (1:00.3) to carry the girls. … At University, the North Central boys and host Titans girls swept meets that included East Valley. Spencer Wordell won the long jump, the 200 and the 110 hurdles to lead NC’s dominance on the track. The Indians won all but the 100 and 400 relay and swept the top three places in the 1,600. The U-Hi girls edged NC 79-71 by winning the 1,600 relay. Maddy Fuchs was a triple winner for the Titans, getting both hurdles and the 200.
Intermountain League: At Bonners Ferry, the Timberlake boys and girls swept the Badgers and Priest River. The PR boys and BF girls went 1-1.
Boys soccer
Great Northern League: Austin Walker scored on a breakaway in the second overtime as league-leading Cheney (6-1, 6-0) pulled out a 1-0 win at Clarkston (2-4, 1-4). Andrew Wilson made 12 saves to get the shutout. … Petra Lee scored in the first half and assisted on Mark Clayton’s two second-half goals as Medical Lake (5-2, 4-2) defeated visiting West Valley (4-2, 4-2) 3-0. … At Pullman, Trevor Snodgrass scored twice in the second half of a 4-0 win for the Greyhounds (4-2, 4-1) over Deer Park (2-4, 2-4). Malte Lang scored the winner for Pullman with the only goal of the first half. … Brian Scott cashed in a direct kick from midfield by Trevor Dornquast late in the second overtime to give host Riverside (1-5, 1-4) a 2-1 win over Colville (0-5, 0-5).