Blackhawks varsity boys capture Highlander title

Before the season began, Cheney High cross country co-coach Derek Slaughter said he had one simple message for the Blackhawks boys varsity seniors.

"I told the seniors this year before to not leave any unfinished business this year," Slaughter said.

So far, so good. Led by senior Drake Johnson's eighth-place finish and a tight packing of scoring runners, the Blackhawks varsity boys powered their way to a team title at the annual Highlander Invitational last Saturday at Shadle Park in Spokane.

Johnson posted a time of 13 minutes, 18.2 seconds, edging Central Valley's Ryan Hunter at the tape. Johnson was followed by Matt Christianson in 11th, Kaleb Lerch in 15th and Jack Peabody in 18th, posting a 1 – 4 gap of 56.2 seconds. Unlike other meets where the top-five runners score for the team, only the top-four scored in the Highlander boys events.

Cheney captured the top spot with 38 points, followed by Chelan with 47 and Central Valley with 53. Cheney's fellow Great Northern League rival Pullman was fourth with 62 points.

The Blackhawks good results didn't stop there. In a sign of things to come, the freshmen boys just missed a meet title in the invitational's opening race, finishing second to Pullman by two points, 51-53.

Bas Holland turned in the highest place of any Blackhawk Saturday, placing fourth out of 132 runners in 14:04.7. He was followed by JT Gasper in 16th and Andres Margraf in 17th, with Charles Cindric completing the freshmen scoring in 22nd.

In other boys action, Tucker Cunningham led the sophomores to a ninth-place team finish, coming in 22nd in 14:36.4, while Patrick Purviance was 49th to lead the junior boys, who finished 14th. Two-time defending 2A state champion Isaiah Rigo won the wheelchair event with a time of 9:18.1

On the girls side, Hannah Spakousky led the varsity to a seventh-place team finish with a time of 16:37.6, finishing 28th overall. She was followed by fellow junior Brette Draper in 35th, seniors Alexis and Alecia Brooks in 47th and 57th respectively and junior Jolene Whiteley in 66th.

Slaughter said the "standout performance" for the girls came from newcomer Megan Habegger. The freshmen led her team to a sixth-place finish by coming in 12th overall with a time of 17:46, a mark Slaughter said would have been in the middle of Cheney's scoring pack if she had competed with the varsity.

Also competing as freshmen were Alexia Batchelor (37th), Maisie Short (44th), Ryleigh Bowes (47th), Tristan Mayfield (62nd) and Tess Vasecka (63rd). Competing in the junior varsity race were Megan Christianson (68th), Shannen Gladden (85th) and Barbara Martinez (193).

"We had 51 athletes competing for the pride of CHS," Slaughter said. "Of the returners running the (2.5-mile) course, 95 percent of them PR'd from last year."

Slaughter singled out Whiteley and sophomore James McGill (33rd) as examples of improvement. Both bettered their marks from 2015 by 3 seconds and 2.2 seconds respectively.

Slaughter praised all of the runners efforts last Saturday, noting that the girls varsity all set new PRs, a testament to the hard work they put in over the summer.

"Their goal is to be competitive against Pullman," he said. "They are really pushing hard for regionals and state, and know that Pullman will be a good marker of a state-level team."

Cheney takes a break from competition this week, returning to the course on Wednesday, Sept. 21, for their GNL opener at Clarkston before traveling Saturday, Sept. 24, to Missoula, Mont. for the Mountain West Classic at the University of Montana.

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].