Blackhawks drop meets at Mt. Spokane

MEAD – The Blackhawks boys continue to show competitive form, albeit in a losing cause last Saturday at Mt. Spokane. Cheney lost a close meet, 75.5 – 64.5, to the Wildcats, with the girls falling 108-42.

Ryan Rieckmann was pretty much “Mr. Everything” for the boys. The senior set a new personal record of 191 feet to win the javelin by a mile — actually 24 feet, 8 inches over Mt. Spokane’s Tyson Degenhart — and elevate him into second in the state overall in the event.

Rieckmann also won the 200-meter dash with a time of 23.01 seconds, was a member of Cheney’s winning 4x100 relay team and placed fifth in the discus.

“They all competed today but he (Rieckmann) is by far the best in our league which means they won’t pass him,” head coach Derek Slaughter said. “He is going to get over 200 and earn a scholarship. That is his goal and now it is realistic.”

Senior Becket Schoenleber wasn’t far back of Rieckmann in performance Saturday, winning the 800 in 2:01.47 and the 1,600 in 4:30.37 — both PRs. Braxton Hinton set a new PR to win the 100 in 11.55, with Ian Schwendiman and Garrett Roettger second in the 200 and 400 and Dylan Thornburg and Finnegan Syrie third in the 800 and 3,200.

In the field, senior Charles Johnson set a season record of 39-07 to win the shot put and had a PR throw of 100-06 for second in the discus. Schwendiman also had a lunch-pail performance for Cheney, winning both the long and triple jumps to go with his 200 result – leaping 18.00.50 in the former and setting a PR of 35-7.75 in the latter.

“Had we had our top high jumper and made a change on the 4 by 400, that could have been the difference,” Slaughter said of the team scoring. “I am so proud of our seniors that are buying in one last time. Charles in the throws, Beckett in distance, Ian in the jumps and Ryan being an “animal” all over.”

While the score may not indicated it, Slaughter said the meet for the girls showed continued improvement in skills and performances. Hannah Ayers led the team on the track, winning the 300 hurdles with a PR of 51.84 and placing second in the 100 hurdles in 17.76 — another PR.

Jaela Thornburg and Jenna Mansfield went 2-3 in the 400, with Mayah Spakousky and Karlee Pope doing the same in the 800, all four setting either season or personal bests. Samantha Habegger and Anna Richardson placed third in the 1,600 and 3,200 respectively, Thornburg was third in the 200 and the 4x200 and 4x400 relay teams each took second.

Malea Farrell won the shot put with a toss of 31-08.50, and finished second in the discus at 75-03. Rebekah Blom led an all-Cheney finish in the javelin, taking first with a PR throw of 68-09. Marie Mayfield capped Cheney’s first-place finishes by winning the triple jump with a PR of 31-03.25.

Ava Roettger, Mariah Hill and Tess King were second in the triple jump, high jump and javelin respectively. Blom, Meaghan Estock and Hailey Busby were third in the shot put, discus and pole vault while Karlen Teresi was third in the javelin and long jump.

“The girls are progressing as we thought,” Slaughter said. “They are getting more and more pieces each week. They have the winning attitude and work ethic.”

Cheney hosts University High this Saturday in a battle of 3A GSL schools. First event kicks off at 10:30 a.m.

John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.