Cheney freshman wins title at state cross country

Cheney High athlete Isaiah Rigo now has a unique opportunity — thanks to what he did last Saturday at the state cross country championships in Pasco.

Rigo blitzed a pair of opponents to capture a state championship in the wheelchair division, completing the 2-mile course at Sun Willows Golf Course in a time of 7 minutes, 52.9 seconds, almost 25 seconds ahead of 3A Mount Spokane’s Michael Hoyt. As a freshman, Rigo’s win gives him the opportunity to potentially become a rarity in Washington sports — a four-time champion, should he successfully win the title three times over the next three years.

“They went at it tooth and nail,” Blackhawks head coach Jay Martin said. “It was fun to watch.”

The same can be said for the other Cheney athletes last Saturday as a young Blackhawks girls team finished ninth overall while both individual boys runners finished in the top-40, with senior Steaven Zachman placing 10th in a time of 15:55.60. Zachman’s time was a season personal record at 5,000 meters, as was fellow senior Kameron Galm’s time of 16:37.15, putting him 35th out of 141 runners overall in the 2A boys race.

“It’s hard as individuals, you don’t have that team excitement, so I’m super excited for them,” Martin said.

As for the girls, all seven runners turned in new season PR’s for the 5,000-meter distance, led by Hannah Spakousky, finishing 24th overall in 19:43.47. Senior Mattie McNair was 56th in 20:28.01, and was followed by Jolene Whiteley in 74th (20:48.88), Alecia Brooks in 96th (21:10.40), Shannen Gladden in 112th (21:46.65), Jessica Vietzke in 113th (21:46.86) and Lexi Brooks in 117th (21:52.80).

Perennial state champion Sehome added to their hardware, winning the 2A team title with 50 points and an individual title as senior Emily Pitts finished her career with a first-place finish in 18:18.20. Cheney’s fellow Great Northern League opponent Pullman also made the trophy stand, finishing fourth.

“We were hoping to be in the top half of the pack,” Martin said. “We were ninth, so we’ll take it.”

Saturday’s results bodes well for the future of Blackhawks cross country, especially the girls team, something Martin said he realized more fully on the bus ride home. Besides McNair, Cheney is losing just one other senior, Lindsay Schweitzer, and has no returning juniors in 2015.

“I was looking at a bus load of freshmen and sophomores,” Martin said.

The boys will be losing a good group of seniors who have provided leadership and racing experience, especially Zachman and Galm, whom Martin said did a great job this year and represented Cheney well. Like the girls, the Blackhawks’ boys will also be young next season, but with not as much varsity experience coming back.

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].