Records fall at Mooberry Relays; Noah Martin goes 7-3 in high jump

It was a record-breaking day at the 53rd annual Mooberry Relays.

The Central Valley girls team rewrote most of the records and University senior Noah Martin continued his brilliant season.

CV broke records in the distance medley, 3,200-meter and sprint medley relays as the Bears dominated, finishing with 116 points. Mead was second (79).

The most impressive record and easily the best individual performance was turned in by Martin, who seemingly stands out each week.

Martin, who was named the male athlete of the meet, eclipsed his personal best in the high jump not once but twice and took three jumps at the all-time Washington record of 7 feet, 4½ inches.

He made 7-1 on his third attempt and within a minute made 7-3 on his first vault before finishing with three tries at 7-5.

Martin took off so early on his first attempt at 7-1 that it prompted his coach, Liz Wardsworth, to smile and say, “Honey, it’s not the long jump.”

For CV, Briegan Bester, Anna Fomin, Kearan Nelson and Katie Hawkins were on two of the relays. They combined for a time of 12 minutes, 17.11 seconds in the distance medley, breaking the previous best by nearly three-tenths of a second.

Fomin, Bester and Hawkins, along with Hayden McAuliff, teamed in the sprint medley, finishing in 4:12.81 to top the previous record.

And twins Anna and Erica Pecha, along with Nelson and Aly Tolman, won the 3,200 relay in 9:27.56, eclipsing the meet record by more than 7 seconds.

CV’s three record-setting relays were named female athletes of the meet.

What amazed CV coach Geoff Arte is his foursome on the 3,200 averaged 2:22 an 800 – respectable times on any day.

“That’s as impressive as we have ever been,” Arte said of his team’s third straight Mooberry title. “We placed in every event.”

Then to put an exclamation point on the day, the Pechas, along with Nelson and Ahna Duggan, won the 1,600 relay.

For Arte, the meet – considered the midway point of the season – comes at the perfect time.

“Competitively, it’s a different format, but it’s refreshing,” Arte said. “Our kids love this meet. It plays into our hands because we can use a lot of different kids.”

For a second week in a row, Mead’s boys won a team title, finishing with 102 points. CV was second with 97.

Mead surprised by winning the Pasco Invite without the benefit of an individual winner last week.

When high jump winner Martin awoke Saturday morning, it felt like another day to him. By early afternoon, it was anything but another day.

Martin got over the bar so effortlessly at 7-3, it appeared as if he’d done it several times before.

“It felt like the perfect jump,” Martin said.

“First of all, he held his composure well,” Wardsworth said. “He looked fresh. He was focused.”

Kirk Unland of Ferris had a terrific time in an event that isn’t sanctioned for state competition but is held infrequently at different meets.

He won the hammer with a heave of 207-3 – a personal best by 27 feet and a meet record by 19 feet.

Unland won the shot put (53-6 1/2) and was second in the discus.

He plans to do all three throws at the University of Wyoming, where his older brother, Damon, a junior, is throwing but redshirting this spring.