Prep track and field notebook: Davenport hurdler and Idaho State recruit Darby Soliday making the most of her busy, truncated spring

When Darby Soliday broke the tape at the 2018 State 2B track and field championships at Eastern Washington University, Davenport’s then-freshman hurdler was handed the family torch.

Before the sizable and athlete-rich Soliday family began to expand, cross-pollinate and excel in other small Washington towns, it flourished for decades in Reardan.

Soliday’s father, Monty Soliday, earned state titles and still owns Reardan’s records in the 110- (15.04 seconds) and 300-meters hurdles (39.08), set in 1994. His brothers and several other multisport star relatives were also decorated track athletes.

Twenty-four years later, Darby began to set school records for Reardan’s down-the-road rival in the 300 hurdles (44.88), 100 hurdles (15.54), 400 (59.33) and 200 (25.62) and also ran a leg on Davenport’s top 400 relay team (52.70).

But when Darby won back-to-back state titles in the 300 hurdles as a freshman and sophomore, she began aiming for two lofty goals: the rare distinction of four-time state champion in her primary event and a Division I scholarship.

She checked off one of those boxes in January when she signed with Idaho State University.

The coronavirus pandemic took away the other.

Darby believed her 2020 junior season would be her best before the pandemic caused a cancellation of the entire spring sports season.

After strenuous offseason training – she even practices hurdles in her family’s barn – and a personal goal of reaching the 42-second mark in the 300 hurdles, she was instead met with devastation.

“I cried. That was really tough,” Soliday said. “I really wanted to be a four-time and was training hard for it.”

Her senior season, which wrapped up last weekend at Ritzville, wasn’t ideal, either.

The WIAA canceled state and regional competition because of the pandemic, allowing teams across the state to only compete with members of their respective districts.

Darby made the most of her six-week season but failed to reach a personal best in the 300 hurdles (44.88), a time she hit at state in 2019. She won in 46.23.

Athletes were not allowed to compete outside of their district, so Darby was rarely pushed like she was in previous years to help reach her top times.

“Obviously, that’s frustrating,” Darby said. “But I’m just glad I got the opportunity to race at all. You get what you get, so be happy for it.”

Before signing with Idaho State, she was also generating Division I recruiting interest for soccer.

One of the top small-school soccer players in the state, Darby, who plays for her father, Monty, the Davenport girls soccer coach, was balancing soccer and track in April before her nine-game season ended without a postseason opportunity.

Darby, who is also a member of the Spokane Sounders’ club team that’s currently in season, now turns her attention to the hardwood to play for her mother, Davenport girls basketball coach Stacia (Marriott) Soliday.

The All-Northeast 2B guard and four-year starter begins her senior season this week in a delayed, shortened high school basketball season that won’t have a state tournament.

Her brother, Brenick Soliday, is a standout on the boys team.

“Playing basketball in May, it’s definitely a change,” Darby said. “You’re used to playing then walking outside to the snow.”

Several relatives went on to play college basketball, including her mother, who starred at Davenport and went on to play at Seattle University.

Her daughter is all in on track.

“I like my other sports – soccer was my favorite when I was younger – but after I won state as a freshman I knew I wanted to run track in college,” Darby said.

No state? No problem

Several Spokane-area track and field athletes posted some of the best marks in Washington in the respective classification in their shortened races despite no regional and state competition.

Here are some of the state’s best times and marks, each compiled by Athletic.net.

4A: Ferris standout and Texas Tech recruit Cole Omlin had the best triple jump mark (47 feet, 2 inches) in all six WIAA classifications. He also had the top 4A mark in the long jump (22-2) and was second in the high jump (6-5), an event he won at the 4A state meet as in 2019.

Jordynn Hutchinson, who won a girls shot put title as a sophomore in 2019, posted the best mark in the 4A classification with a toss of 43-3, a personal best.

Central Valley’s Rebekah Ross had the best 4A girls pole vault mark (13-0).

3A: If a State 3A track meet took place this month, Mt. Spokane’s girls relay teams would likely score a hat trick.

Mt. Spokane’s 400 relay (Karissa Lindner, Be Koscielski, Ellie Johnson and Brooklyn Schultz) ran a 50.3, its 800 relay (Lindner, Koscielski, Johnson and Schultz) ran a 47.2 and its 1,600 relay (Koscielski, Tabi Koscielski, Avery Tripp and Kahea Figueria) ran a 4:03, the best times in the 3A classification.

The Wildcats’ 800 relay team’s time was the best in all classifications.

2A: Arkansas recruit and North Central star Allie Janke would have likely been a four-time state champion in the 1,600 and 3,200 if not for the pandemic, but she still posted the state’s best times without being pushed.

Janke, who set 3A records in her two events before North Central dropped to 2A, concluded her decorated high school career by having her classification’s best times in the 1,600 (4:52.49) and the 3,200 (10:33.23).

In 2019 as a sophomore before the pandemic interrupted her career, Janke ran a 4:43.60 in the mile and a 10:10.83 in the two-mile.

1A: Lakeside speedster Logan Allen had the best 100 (10.93) and 200 (22.64) in the 1A ranks this spring. Riverside’s Jamar Distel was tops in the 800 (1:55.97).

The Lakeside girls also had two stars in Madison Tareski, who had 1A’s top javelin mark (135-2) and Carly Lauritzen, who was the classifications best in the pole vault (11-6).

2B: St. George’s boys 400 relay team (Kyler Doughty, Chaitanya Nalluri, Jack Morris and James Gunn) posted the best time (45.7) in the 2B ranks. Davenport’s Jarret Jacobsen had the classification’s best mark in the triple jump (41-5).

St. George’s girls 400 relay team (Reagan Ivey, Margriet Galow, Cambie Rickard and Fair Niven) was also 2B’s best (51.92) and Lind-Ritzville’s Sydney Kinch was tops in the pole vault (9-6). Davenport’s Darby Soliday had the top 2B marks in the 300 hurdles (46.32) and 200 (25.62).

1B: Oakesdale’s Jessie Reed had 1B’s best girls marks in the 100 (13.34) and long jump, teammate Bree Rawls was tops in the 100 hurdles (16.31) and triple jump (34-0), Garfield-Palouse’s Kennedy Cook was the best in the classification in the 200 (27.57) and 400 (1:03.05).

Odessa’s Hayden Schuh was also ahead of the pack in the 300 hurdles (49.82) and teammate Ashlyn Neilsen was at the top in the high jump (5-3).