Senior Kayla Lemelin placed fourth in the high jump at the Ezra Gordon Memorial last Saturday in Colville. Cheney rolled to big wins in both boy's and girl's competition.
In a couple years, Cheney High girls track and field head coach Tom Stralser thinks the group of young Blackhawks he has now will be very similar to the team he had two years ago - one that entertains thoughts of bringing home state hardware rather than just beng satisfied with scoring a few points.
The 2015 Blackhawks are a young team, but have the good fortune in Stralser's mind to be blessed with a needed growth component - senior leadership.
"They (seniors) compete and their leadership skills are really nice," Stralser said.
That group is Kayla Lemelin, Jamie Bradley, Breann Passey, Breeann Johnson and Hailey Ottosen. Lemelin is the "workhorse" of the group, competing in jumps and sprints where needed and emerging this spring as a "natural" hurdler.
Bradley should easily top 11 feet in the pole vault, Stralser said, while Ottosen should be well over the 100-foot mark needed to place high in the discus by season's end.
Right now, it's the underclassmen making the most noise. Sophomore Riley Pease has thrown over 118 feet in the javelin, giving her the third best mark in the state in 2A, and Stralser believes she's easily got 123 in her.
Freshman Hannah Spakousky will bring her cross country skills to the 1,600 and 3,200 along with fall teammates Alecia and Alexis Brooks. Junior Abby Hammermeister owns the 10th fastest 800 time in 2A right now, just needing more speed work, Stralser said, to go faster.
Sophomore KD Skillingstad will challenge in the hurdles and sprints, and should go beyond 36 feet in the triple jump once she gets her reps in. Ally Jones will compete in the long jump and sprints, with Savannah Hyde and Kristie McGourin improving daily in the 400.
Stralser sees good things to come from freshmen Jolene Whiteley and Alsatta Bakana. Whiteley has a very "competitive nature" in the sprints while Bakana is showing early promise in the hurdles and the 200, an event she ran for the first time Saturday at the Ezra Gordon Invitational in Colville.
Ariana Rich and Hannah Brown each should be a "force" in the throws once they figure them out, Stralser said. And when it comes to the relays, all of the athletes above can be factored into a successful mix.
"We could be taking a group of girls to state this year who can score," Stralser said.
Cheney notched its first win of the season last Saturday at the Ezra Gordon, scoring 102.5 points to capture the 24-team meet title.
Second place finishes on the track came from Skillingstad in the 300 hurdles (48.70) and Hammermeister in the 800 (2:31.61). In her first time running the 200, Stralser said Bakana essentially "jogged" the first 100 meters, and then figured it out to finish third in 28.05.
Alexis Brooks (3,200) and Skillingstad (100 hurdles) both took fourth while McGourin was fifth in the 300 hurdles. The team of Bakana, Stephanie Assonken, Jones and Skillingstad took first in the 4x100 relay with a time of 51.50 while the 4x400 team of McGourin, Shelby Elliott, Hammermeister and Hyde was third.
In the field, Bakana tied Colville's Tora Luu for first in the high jump (5-00), Bradley was second in the pole vault (10-00), Jones second in the long jump (15-06) and Skillingstad third in the triple jump (33-09.50).
Cheney hosts Pullman Thursday, April 2, in the Great Northern League opener before taking two weeks off for spring break. They return to action April 16, traveling to Clarkston to face the Bantams in their second GNL meet.
John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].
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