Cheney boys, girls win first GNL titles in victories over WV

By MIKE HUFFMAN

Staff Reporter

There was drama for the boys, not so much for the girls, but plenty of emotion all around as the Blackhawks boys and girls track teams brought down West Valley last week for Cheney's first Great Northern League track titles.

The Cheney boys won 74-71 – helped in no small part by field wins by Scott Grambo on the pole vault (9 feet, 6 inches), Aric Larson in the long jump (18-11) and triple jump (40-09), Griffon Jones at shot (49-10) and discus (145-10) and Brandon Hardie in the high jump (6-0).

In the running events, Cheney was no slouch either, with Jesus Fregoso having a great afternoon in the 100 (11 seconds), 200 (22.7) and anchoring the 400 relay to a 44.9-second win with teammates Reese Martin, Mark Benzel and DeAngelo Jones. Cash Anderson (44.6) for Cheney won the 300-meter hurdles.

Cheney's win over West Valley's girls was a bit more lopsided at 90-59, largely attributed to a dominant senior Blackhawk squad squaring off against a too-thin Eagle crew. The girls got big wins from Shelby Mauer in the 100 (12.3), Crystal Simmons in the 400 (1:00), Kyle Miller in the 800 (2:27), MacKenzie Lauber in the 100-meter hurdles (16.3), Brooke Berdis in the 300 hurdles (48.6) and all three relay events.

While the Lady Hawks didn't take the top spots in any of the field events, it didn't seem to matter to get the victory.

Since it was a dual meet, rival Deer Park was also there – but the Stags didn't have nearly the depth necessary to bring down either Cheney or West Valley. The Cheney boys beat Deer Park 123-20, and the girls came out 118-21.

Other key players for the Blackhawks were Annika Swenson, who finished third in the 100 with 13.3 and Emily Stralser, who came in fourth with 13.4. In the 200, Simmons (25.9), Amanda Swenson (27.0) and Rainee Palmer (27.2), finished second through fourth, respectively.

Taysia Weatherbee finished third in the 400 (1:04.5). Rachel Rule (2:28.8), Tracy Baird (2:29.0) and Maddie Brown (2:35.0), finished second through fourth in the 800.

Deer Park won the 1,600, but Brown (5.41.5) finished third and April Batchelor (5:52.9) came in fourth. Whitney Johnson finished in third place (13.45.0) in the 3,200-meter run for Cheney.

In the hurdles, Mikaela Young (17.3) and Chelsie Breen (51.1) finished second and third in the 100, while Breen (51.1) and Young (52.3) flip-flopped for second and third in the 300.

In the high jump, Shaley Hamm finished third at 4-10. Young (16-01), Lauber (15-11) and Batchelor (15-05) finished second through fourth in the long jump. Gem McCormic (33-0) and Hamm (32-1) came in third and fourth in the triple jump.

In the shot, Tori Adams (30-08) came in second for Cheney, while Tressee Herrera placed third with 30-01. Crystal Igbinoba (102-07) tossed for second place in the discus, with Brianna Hornbeck coming in third with 92-06.

Ceri Palk came up with a 115-09 for a second-place in the javelin toss, with Bryanna Pavlish coming in fourth with 98-06.

For the Cheney boys, Alex Steele had an 11.4 finish in the 100, good enough for third place. Steele also finished third in the 200 with 23.4 and in the 400 with 52.6.

The 800 showcased Issac Kuula's 2:01.7 for second place and Tyler Schmidt's 2:07.3 for third. Zachman (4:50) and Reese Martin (4:52) placed fourth and fifth in the 1,600 behind three West Valley runners.

Anderson (17.3) took fourth in the in the 110-meter hurdles. Cheney's team of Schmidt, Kuula, Jones and Hardie came in second in the 1,600 relay with a time of 3:36.1.

Riley Armstrong's 9-0 clearing was good enough for a fourth-place spot in the pole vault. Nathaniel Youmans (18-01), Thomas Cleary (17-11) and Mark Benzel (17-09) finished fourth through sixth in the long jump.

Youmans (39-05) placed second in the triple jump, while Sam Shellabarger's 38-04 earned him fourth place.

Jon Quisenberry had a 45-05 second-place spot in the shot, and Jeff Rogers' 131-04.5 secured second in the discus.

Jordan Hansen (146-11) and Keith Parker (146-07) finished second and third, respectively, in the javelin.

Cheney High School will host GNL schools in the district meet Friday and Saturday.

Mike Huffman can be reached at mhuffman@cheneyfreepress.com