Panthers sweep three-way meet at Ferris

The unofficial motto of the Mead track teams is: Whatever it takes.

The Panthers boys and girls swept their Greater Spokane League track meets with Gonzaga Prep and Ferris Thursday afternoon at Ferris, but not quite as expected.

Ferris jumped on the Mead boys early, forcing some lineup shuffling before the Panthers prevailed 81-64 in a matchup of the last of the league’s unbeaten teams.

Meanwhile, in what was expected to be a tense three-way girls battle, Mead coasted, beating the Saxons 90-60 and the Bullpups 91-59. That left the Panthers as the lone unbeaten team. Ferris defeated G-Prep 84½-65½.

To illustrate how these meets went down, check the 800.

Baylee Mires, the sophomore distance star for the Mead girls who was on call for four events, coasted to wins in the 1,600 and 800 meters then called it a day.

Jason Curnutt, the top 800 runner for the boys, planned some speed work in the 400 and 200 in preparation for a fast 800 on Saturday in Oregon. But when the Panthers got down early he was back in the 800, where a 1-2 finish helped complete the comeback.

“We knew the Ferris guys were good, but we thought we had the upper hand,” Curnutt said. “A couple of things happened that we didn’t expect, so we had to change things up. We needed the points, so I had to double back. I wasn’t planning on it, but it needed to be done.”

The Mead comeback started in the 400, when Curnutt, with a season best of 50.6 seconds, dueled with Justin Zimmerman, who had the area-best of 50.5 for Ferris. Curnutt ran 50.3 to 50.6 for Zimmerman.

Then, to be safe, Curnutt was asked to join Steven Kutsch to throw a 1-2 punch at Zimmerman.

Kutsch went out quickly and when Zimmerman let him go a little bit, Curnutt hung back, trusting his kick to allow him to cruise in second behind his teammate.

“I don’t feel like I lose when I lose to Steve,” Curnutt said. “Obviously, we’re competitive. We push each other every day in practice.”

After Ferris did a 1-2 on the young Panthers in the 1,600, Kutsch jumped in to lead the charge in the 3,200.

“I was told to let Adam (Thorne of Ferris) go and don’t let the other (Saxons) beat me,” said Kutsch, who was expecting a one-race day. “I could have stayed with him. The 2-mile didn’t feel bad at all. (I) knew what I had to do to help the team.”

Ferris still had a big day. Garrett Saiki got the Saxons off to a good start in the 100 (11.1) and won the 200 (22.6). Thorne had the distance double (4:19.1, 9:46.4), Shannon Winant won the long (22 feet, 5 inches) and triple (42-8) jumps, and Scott Kolb became the league’s third 15-foot pole vaulter.

The girls meet turned on the relays. G-Prep needed to pull out the opening 800 relay, and Ferris gambled it could put league-leading sprinter Kelsey Lin in another event and still win the 400 relay. The Bullpups fumbled away the first relay, and the Saxons lost their gamble when Jazmine Redmon anchored the Panthers to an easy win.

“I love running against (Lin) – she makes me run so much faster,” Redmon said. “I was surprised they didn’t put her in.”

Lin won the 100 (12.6), 200 (26.3) and 400, lowering her area best to 58.1.

Redmon, who runs a leg on the 1,600 relay, carried the momentum from the short relay to the long jump, which she won easily with a leap of 17-½, a strong performance for a basketball-first athlete who took five days off to play in an Arizona tournament last weekend.

“If I run an event before the long jump I’m loose, faster on the runway,” she said. “Track will make me better and stronger in basketball. It all ties in.”

With Mires’ day cut short, Danielle Maldonado became a star in the 3,200. Despite the biting wind, the freshman cut about 10 seconds off her personal best to win in 12:08. She took the lead on the backstretch of the sixth lap and never looked back.

“Without Baylee in there, we all needed to step up,” Maldonado said. “These girls beat me at Pasco so I felt the pressure, but pressure gives you more of an edge. Doing it for the team makes you that much more strong.”

•In other GSL meets: At Hart Field, in both meets, Central Valley defeated University and host Lewis and Clark, and U-Hi topped LC. Brad Whitley won the 400 (50.6) and 800 (2:00.5) for CV’s Bears and Evander Cobbs won the horizontal jumps (21-5, 43-7½). CV’s Kendra Szoke won the girls horizontal jumps (15-10½, 33-1¼), and her twin sister Brittnay finished second in the long jump (15-6) after a surprising win in the shot put (35-5). U-Hi had two double winners, hurdler Maddy Fuchs (16.7, 46.4), whose letter of intent to Montana State was announced by MSU Thursday, and Amy Thornton in the 800 (2:23.3) and 1,600 (5:13). … At North Central, the host Indians swept the boys 800, 1,600, 3,200, high jump, triple jump and javelin to whip Mt. Spokane and Rogers. Spencer Wordell was the only double winner (200, high jump) for NC. Mt. Spokane’s girls went 2-0 with Courtney Zalud winning the 800 and 1,600. … At Spokane Falls Community College, East Valley won the boys 1,600 relay to pull out a 76-68 win of a dual with Shadle Park. Nick Bellomy won the 100 (11.1) and 200 (22.9) for EV’s Knights and Zach Ames got the shot put (47-5) and javelin (180-9). For Shadle, Matt Barnes won the hurdles (16.2, 41.7) and Bo Schuetzle the horizontal jumps (22-4¾, 43-3¾). Shadle’s girls won easily as Bianca Pope regained the area lead in the javelin (137-2) on her way to a triple, winning the shot (34-3½) and discus (112-6). Shadle’s Amy Before won the 800 (2:21.9) and the long jump (15-8¼).

•Great Northern League: Cheney had no trouble sweeping visiting Medical Lake. Nathaniel Youmans won the 200 (23.4), long jump (20-4½) and triple jump (40-6¼) for the boys. Double winners for Cheney’s girls were Emily Stralser in the hurdles (16.0, 48.7, Emily Pike in the shot and disc (31-5, 99-1) and Mikaela Young in the horizontal jumps (16-5, 30-9).

Boys soccer

Great Northern League: Jake Bender made two saves in the shootout and Brian Scott scored the clinching goal as Riverside (4-7, 4-6) upset visiting West Valley (5-5, 5-5) 1-0. … At Medical Lake, Dan Melvin’s shot from the top of the box found the low right corner midway through the first half to give the host Cardinals (7-5, 6-4) a 1-0 win over Clarkston (6-5, 5-5). … Cheney (8-2, 8-1) got two goals and two assists from Austin Walker and a goal and two assists from Jacob Mager to coast to a 7-2 win at Deer Park. John Bloss had both goals for the Stags (4-6, 3-6).