Blackhawk girls down East Valley, boys edged

Cheney High boys track coach Derek Slaughter felt at the beginning of the season that East Valley was the program most everybody would be chasing for a league or district title this season, with the Knights being particularly strong in the sprinting and throwing events.

If that's the case, the Blackhawks 73-72 loss last Wednesday at home in Great Northern League action to the athletes from East Wellesley in Spokane Valley was as close to an upset as one could get. On the girls side, Cheney enacted a bit of revenge for last year's runner-up finish by downing the reigning District 7 champions 81-69.

Boys

The Blackhawks captured nine first-place finishes against the Knights, including a 1-2-3 finish in the high jump.

On the track, Charles Johnson turned in a blistering new personal record of 10.93 seconds to capture first in the 100-meter dash. Johnson's mark is the third fastest in the state among all classifications this season.

The junior finished second in the 200, with a time of 21.81, second fastest in the state. The only person ahead of Johnson in the 200 edged him at the tape last Wednesday - East Valley's Rodrick Fisher at 21.75.

Carson Brown took first in the 400 in 52.15 while Isaiah Dunn captured the 110 hurdles in 16.67. Isaiah Rigo was first in both the 800 (2:06.59) and the 1,600 (4:35.09) wheelchair events. Cheney boys' 4x100 relay team was also first in 44.23.

In the field, the Blackhawks went 1-2-3 in the high jump, with Dawson West first with a jump of 5 feet, 8 inches, followed by Preston Horton and Cameron Hardt. Chase Reed won the discus with a new PR throw of 147-03, Brock Winegar took first in the javelin at 159-05, also a PR, while Will Rushing PRd for first in the pole vault at 12 feet even.

Girls

The Blackhawk girls captured first in 11 of the 18 events last Wednesday, and like their male counterparts, placed at least two athletes in the top three in most events. Alsatta Bakana led on the track, finishing first in the 200 in 25.81 and the 400 in 59.53, the latter a new PR and sixth fastest in the state overall. Her 200 mark is fourth fastest among all classifications

Alexis Miller was first in the 100 in 13.31, with Jolene Miller first in the 800 in 2:33.37. Cheney swept the distance races, with Brette Draper first in the 1,600 in 6:00.27 and Hannah Spakousky first in the 3,200 in 13:32.38, with seniors Alecia and Alexis Brooks second and third. The Blackhawks 4x200 relay team was first in 1:52.80.

In the field, Rylie Pease was first in the javelin in 138-00, while Bakana took first in the high jump at 5-00. Zoe Lamb was first in the pole vault at 9-00, with Makayla Miller second, while KD Skillingstad took first in the triple jump at 33-07. Skillingstad and Stephanie Assonken tied for second in the long jump, both at 15-4.50.

Ray Cross Invitational

Cheney traveled to Ephrata Saturday to face a mixed bag of teams from all classifications in the Ray Cross Invitational. The Blackhawk boys finished fourth overall behind 4A schools Central Valley, Ferris and Richland while the girls finished third behind 2B St. George's and meet champion Central Valley.

Johnson and Bakana both captured first place in their events, with Johnson winning the 100 and Bakana the 200. Both 4x100 relay teams finished first, the boys consisting of Zach Jongeward, Peyton Putney, Chris Diaz and Johnson and the girls Maddie Warren, Alexis Miller, Stephanie Assonken and Bakana.

In the field, Reed won the discus. Second-place finishes went to Johnson (200), Brown (400), Pease (javelin) along with Rushing and Lamb (pole vault). Pease's mark of 138-06 was a season-best and puts her third overall in the state.

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].