Prep notebook: Mead Panthers aim for perfection

The Mead boys and girls track teams can complete perfect regular seasons this afternoon when they host Mt. Spokane, East Valley and Lewis and Clark in a Greater Spokane League finale.

The meet begins at 4. LC and Mt. Spokane boys and girls could challenge the Panthers’ quest.

The Mead boys and girls are coming off victories at the 46th annual Centennial meet at Gresham, Ore., last Saturday. Mead’s boys posted 100 points, while the Panthers girls finished with 59.

The boys were led by winners Casey Monahan in the 110-meter hurdles (14.57 seconds), Wes Bailey in the 300 hurdles (39.97), Andrew Gardner in the 3,000 (8:37.06) and A.J. Maricich in the high jump (6 feet, 9 inches).

The girls were led by winners Jazmine Redmon in the 400 (58.95), Tasha Clark in the pole vault (12-0, a meet record) and Baylee Mires in the 800 (2:13.41) and 1,500 (4:45.72). Mires was named the meet’s outstanding female athlete.

•The 11th annual District I All-Star Meet of Champions is this afternoon at Post Falls High School.

The meet features the top athletes from all classifications. Field events begin at 2:30 with running finals at 3:30.

District soccer under way

The District 8 4A boys soccer tournament continues Friday with a pair of matches at Albi Stadium.

Greater Spokane League co-champion and No. 2 seeded Central Valley (11-1-0) faces third-seeded Ferris (9-5-1) at 5 p.m., and top-seeded Mead (11-2), which shared the GSL title with CV, takes on Gonzaga Prep (9-4-1).

The two losers in today’s matches will meet at Albi on Tuesday in a 5 p.m. loser-out showdown to determine the district’s No. 3 seed to regionals, while today’s two winners will meet at 7 that same evening to determine the district’s top two regional seeds.

Field dedicated

The baseball field at Deer Park High School has been named Dave Franklin Field.

Franklin served on the Deer Park school board for nine years. He coached American Legion in the late 1980s through the mid 1990s and was a volunteer coach at the high school.

“Dave served on the city council in Deer Park and was on just about every possible board and organization in Deer Park,” Deer Park athletic director Scott Carlson said.

Sandpoint coach named

It didn’t take Sandpoint athletic director Tom Albertson long to replace longtime successful boys soccer coach Randy Thoreson, who announced his retirement last month.

Sandpoint girls coach Adam Tajan has been picked to succeed Thoreson, who led the Bulldogs to seven state titles since 2000.

Tajan, a 1996 Sandpoint graduate, coached the girls to four state titles in eight years. He is looking forward to the challenge of filling Thoreson’s shoes.

“We can always get better,” Tajan said.

Bullpup nominated

Gonzaga Prep standout junior running back Bishop Sankey, who has given an oral commitment to Washington State, has been nominated to play in the 2011 U.S. Army All-American Bowl on Jan. 8 in San Antonio.

About 400 athletes have been nominated, of which 90 will be selected to play in the East-West matchup.