Mead wins Pasco Invite track title

PASCO – The weather and the competition lived up to billing Saturday at the sun-splashed 51st annual Pasco Invite track and field meet.

Mead’s boys captured a 12th Pasco championship behind double individual winner Wes Bailey (200 meters and 400), Davian Barlow (long jump) and Sam Hilmes (javelin).

Bailey, who was named the outstanding male athlete of the meet, teamed with Evan Maack, Austin Stone and Gunnar Kayser to take the 400 relay.

The Panthers finished with 68.42 points to knock off runner-up and 2011 champ Wenatchee (55).

Lewis and Clark took third with 36 and North Central was fourth with 30.

Kamiakin’s speedy girls nearly lapped the field, capturing a team title with 74. Auburn Riverside was second (47) and Coeur d’Alene took third (40).

NC was the highest-placing Greater Spokane League girls team as the Indians tied for ninth (21). Mead was three points back in 12th.

Boys

Mead, which fell four points short of a third straight State 4A title last year, made an early statement at the state’s largest invitational.

“We’re chasing a (state) trophy,” Mead coach John Mires said. “It’s definitely a true evaluator of where you are as a team in the state. The kids know the significance of the meet.”

The speedy Bailey put on a show. He came from behind in the 400 to win in 48.69 seconds. He ran a season-best 48.04 in the prelims.

“It felt like hell,” Bailey said of the final. “I had to use my kick.”

It was the 200 and a showdown with sophomore Isaiah Brandt-Sims of Wenatchee that most excited Bailey. Bailey finished in 21.72, .04 ahead of Brandt-Sims.

Sims won the 200 state title last year and Bailey was third.

“It was my best race so far this season,” said Bailey, who said the key was his start and how he attacked the turn. “My finish wasn’t as good as it could have been.”

While Bailey was honored to win the outstanding athlete award, he was more pleased with the team title.

“That team trophy needs to come back home,” Bailey said.

Mires praised Bailey.

“He’s a pretty special kid,” he said.

Mead’s 400 relay foursome thought it raced well as it defended its title (42.48).

“Our time was faster than we ran here last year (42.87),” Kayser said.

“I was getting a little lightheaded because of the heat,” Maack said.

Barlow won the long jump with a season-best 22-1, a quarter of an inch farther than runner-up Brennan Schon of LC.

Hilmes, who threw a season-best 189-8 in a dual Thursday, was pleased with his consistency. His winning toss was 187-5.

“I messed up on a few minor things that I can fix,” Hilmes said.

Aaron Castle of Newport defended his title in the shot put with a pedestrian – for him – 62-10½. He strained his throwing wrist on his first throw.

In the discus, Castle couldn’t make it out of prelims as he put all three of his attempts out of bounds.

Josh Syrotchen of LC captured the discus (179-0). As he stepped in the ring for his final attempt, he blew a kiss to his assistant coach.

“I was just trying to keep the pressure off and have fun,” Syrotchen said of the teasing gesture. “It was barely out of bounds. It felt like my best one of the day, like about 190 feet. My hands were a little sweaty because of the heat. We weren’t used to this weather.”

Nathan Weitz of Shadle Park and Andrew Gardner of Mead hoped to push each other to sub 9-minute times in the 3,200. But a slow first-mile pace squashed that hope.

Weitz won in 9:03.11, just ahead of Gardner (9:06.63).

Girls

Anandae Clark of Lakeside (Nine Mile Falls) easily soared past area athletes.

Clark broke the Washington state record in the pole vault, leaping 13 feet to eclipse the 12-10 mark set by Stevie Marshalek of Kentlake in 2002. It tied Clark for the second-best vault in the nation this spring.

It was an impressive performance considering Clark was coming back from a hamstring pull in her first meet. She took two weeks off, returning to practice the Friday of spring break.

Clark almost didn’t get the record. She needed a third and final attempt at 12-3. In fact, after she cleared the bar her pole bounced against it but didn’t knock it off the standard.

She made 12-7 on her second try, topping the Pasco Invite record (12-3), and she cleared 13-0 easily on her second attempt.

Clark took three stabs at 13-5¼. Her best attempt came on the final try, but the pole got trapped against her body and knocked off the bar.

Her record day came with her coach absent. He was helping with a small-school meet at Medical Lake.

Clark’s coach will see all of her jumps, though. Clark’s mom and a teammate took video.

“From last year to this year I’ve made dramatic improvement,” said Clark, a three-time State 1A champ. “(13-0) has been my goal. It’s such a huge height.”

Katie Knight of NC took first in the girls elite mile (4:51.75) and second in the 800 (2:14.91). Both were season bests.

“That’s what I was hoping for, a fast race,” Knight said of the mile. “It’s early in the season. I want to be running near my (personal best) in a month.”

A pair of CdA athletes captured titles – Morgan Struble in the 300 hurdles (43.95), a season best, and Madison Seaman in the discus (132-10), a personal best and 4 feet shy of the school record she’s chasing.

Just before Seaman’s winning throw, she took a few moments to think about her technique.

“I had to get my hips around and I did,” Seaman said.

Courtney Hutchinson of Mead didn’t top the personal best she threw in the discus (45-1) in a dual Thursday, but she had a respectable effort, defending her title (44-11½).