The 3A/4A East Region Championships concluded Saturday at Zaepfel Stadium in Yakima. The weather was much warmer than yesterday but it was still windy, which swirled and resulted in some wind aided times.
100 and 200: Roger’s Corde Bailey won the 100 meters in 11.15 into a slight head wind. He had a bit a challenge from Mt. Spokane Taylor Klundy and Hanford’s Travis Stewart. In the 200, Bailey caught a bit of a tailwind and won in 21.66. Mt. Spo’s Chase Naccarato finished second for the GSL 1-2 sweep.
Alex Avila feels he is now returning to full strength at the perfect time. After running 4:17 in the Pasco invite Avila was excited to attempt the 1600 – 800 double in the post season. However, after Pasco he struggled with illness and injury. Going into today’s 800 final he was concerned about how fast the race would be and would he be ready for it. His teammate and classmate JT Mellgren took the lead right from start and pushed the pace. Avila hung in third until the final 50 meters then he powered past Mellgren to win in 1:54.81. Mellgren finished second in 1:55.88.
NC’s Ben Johnston jumped out to a quick start in the 1600 with the hopes of pulling along his rivals that ran in the 3200 and testing their legs. Teammate Casey Adams, who had run the prelims of the 800 the day before, waited close to the front and made his move into second place during the third lap. He then chased down Johnston in the final lap falling just short but securing a trip to State and the 1-2 sweep for NC.
With the aid of the win, Hanford’s Joe Clements won the 110 hurdles with a 14.97 over CBBN rival Kennedy Sarmiento.
Tyler Wilson from Shadle Park had a six inch PR in his victory today in the pole vault at 14 feet. That vaults ranks him third in the state 3A.
Luke Evan set the NC school record in the javelin last year with a throw of 196-0 and after a slow start this year was progressively getting closer to his PR. At Pasco he threw 186-5 and then at Shoreline a 190-6. Saturday he got the PR and school record with a 197-10.
Last week at Districts North Central nipped Mt. Spokane in the final meters of the 4x400 and gave NC the half-point victory over their league rival in the team competition. This week...deja vu…the team competition came down to the 4x400. The two teams were tired going into the final event, the 4x400 but this week neither school knew the team scores. Like last week their relay teams were well matched trading leads as different runners took the batons. NC’s 800 champion Alex Avila took the stick just ahead of the 400 runner-up Jack Cerenzia from Mt. Spo in the final leg. On the back stretch Cerenzia went by Avila but didn’t extend the lead. Coming down the final stretch Avila inched closer to the leader, which whipped the crowd into frenzy. In the final meters the distance runner had just enough to slip past Cerenzia for the win in 3:27.22 (Mt. Spo – 3:27.49) and secured the team victory for North Central.
On to State!