Medical Lake sends nine to state 1A track

The trip to state is short, but nevertheless rewarding for the Medical Lake Cardinals.

Following a third place finish in 1A Bi-District competition that took place last Friday in Cashmere, the Cards will send nine athletes to the state 1A track championships this Friday and Saturday at Roos Field.

“We had a really good day, that’s all there is to it,” co-head coach Gene Blankenship said. Medical Lake earned 74 points to finish behind champion Lakeside (89 points) and Riverside (84).

While there were some expected victories against teams from the Northeast A and Caribou Trail leagues, Blankenship said there were also some surprises.

Sprinter Tellas Johnson won in the 200-meters but lost — by just 15/100’s of a second — in the 100, but will compete in both at EWU. He will also be part of ML’s 4x100 relay team, along with Cameron Peake, Elijah Farmen and Jared Wright, who scored a win.

Third-place finisher in the 200, Tyler Garrett, will also compete. The top four in each event go to state.

The surprises came with both a tinge of disappointment and elation.

Domenic Rehm got beat in both of his races, the 800 and 1,600 meters, “But he PR’d in both,” Blankenship said. “Then he came back and PR’d in the 4x400.”

The big surprise was Nyirenda Ross who qualified in the discus, Blankenship said. “We really weren’t anticipating that.” As a senior it’s nice to see her get to throw one more time, and on the big stage at state, Blankenship added.

Jacob and Micah Dingfield finished behind Lakeside’s Ryan Coffman in the 3,200. The Cards’ 4x400 relay team that includes Rehm, Garrett and Peake, will also have Jackson Tappero in the group. Noah Kroeze gave a great race for six laps, his coach said, but ended sixth in the 3,200.

Medical Lake had just two girls participate—Ross and Mariah Pena — and both qualified for state. “I’m hoping Mariah can make the finals in the 800, she’s going to run a prelim.”

“We thought we would do better in the boys’ javelin,” Blankenship said, but Farmen suffered a hamstring injury that hampered him with a 10th place.

Overall, Blankenship was quite pleased with both the finish Friday, but more so with the way the team progressed down the stretch. “We’ve just gotten stronger and stronger towards the end,” he said.

Paul Delaney can be reached at pdelaney@cheneyfreepress.com.