Cooperation results in success
Between wrestling matches during state competition in Tacoma last week I took in gymnastics and noticed a disparity of talent between athletes from western Washington and those from the Greater Spokane League.
An exception was freshman Alana Norman from Shadle Park, who placed second in vault and third on balance beam in her first state trip.
Mead finished fourth as a team, which has been fairly typical. There have been a few exceptions – the Panthers finished second three years ago – but there has been only one team champion in history, Shadle, back when it was an invitational meet in 1970.
“We compete well with what we have,” said Panthers coach Laurie Chadwick, which is to say without the level 9 and 10 club performers of West Side schools.
How good, for instance, was team champion Woodinville? The team had six of 10 floor exercise individual finalists. Five individuals count toward team scoring.
University coach Tracy Duncan said that west side club gymnasts and high school teams often work out in the same location.
Here, most club coaches won’t allow their gymnasts to compete for high schools. Norman and Lakeside (Nine Mile Falls) state placer Anandae Egland are exceptions. They compete for Amy Allen at the Spokane Junior Gymnastics Academy.
Allen spent eight years coaching North Central. She was in the stands Friday and Saturday cheering them on. She allows her athletes to compete at their high schools.
“Ninety-nine percent of the coaches won’t,” Allen said.
She said their rationale is understandable, worrying about the possibility of injury or that a high school coach might try to change a person without knowing her habits and quirks.
“I think they need to shine in high school,” she said of her decision. “It’s where they get acknowledgement from their classmates and teachers. They work hard for a lot of years and there’s much more appreciation.”
Competing for their high schools didn’t seem detrimental to all those high-level performers representing their high schools at state. It was their chance to impress appreciative new eyes.
How’d we get here?
A couple of weeks ago West Valley boys basketball stood third in the Great Northern League and its coaches were plotting where they might finish in the district playoff race.
The Eagles faced a gauntlet that included, in succession, games at dangerous rival Cheney, against league-leading Clarkston, at Medical Lake in a spirit game and second-place Pullman.
They won them all, not allowing a foe 50 points. When Pullman beat Clarkston Tuesday night, WV (16-4 and on a nine-game winning streak) became league champion and top seed to district.
“The stretch we had to go through, I didn’t think we could sweep all those,” coach Jamie Nilles said. “To do that was nice.”
WV’s defense has been constant. Of late, the Eagles have received offensive support for Jordan Lupfer-Graham from players like post Matt Roth and sophomore Brady Bagby, plus veterans like Brian Haffner, Bryer Reynolds and Nick Brown.
Clarkston (12-7) and Pullman (14-6) play off the second-place tie on Thursday at Colfax. The loser hosts Colville (7-13) and Cheney (9-11) hosts Medical Lake (8-12) when the loser-out first round of 2A district begins Saturday.
Pullman (18-2) and Clarkston (15-5) girls finished 1-2. Medical Lake (6-12) is at WV (15-5) and Colville (9-11) is at Cheney (8-12) on Saturday, losers out. The tournament continues on Tuesday.
Academic champs
Mead junior Jacob Trotter was not only 215-pound state wrestling champion, but an academic one as well. He was one of six Panthers (out of 14 weight classes) so honored. The others were Caleb Erb (103), Chance Johnstone (145), Damiano Seghetti (135), Kyle Courtney (152) and Carter Comito (285).