Alsatta Bakana gets a high-five from head coach Tom Stralser after setting a Cheney school record in the high jump at regional competition last Friday. The junior not only won that event, but went on win both the 200 and 400 yard dashes, setting another school record in the 200.
Cheney's Carson Brown keeps pace with Pullman's Trey Lopes and Ephrata's Anthony Evans as they head down the final stretch in the 400 meter dash. Brown finished third, with Lopes second and Evans hitting the tape in first.
In case you missed it, last Friday was the debut of the "Alsatta Bakana Show."
The Blackhawks junior captured regional titles in all three of her individual events, led three teammates to first in another, and set several personal and school records during the Great Northern League and competition with teams from the Central Washington Athletic Conference at Cheney High School.
Bakana set new personal records in the 200 and 400 meter dashes, winning the former with a time of 24.85 seconds - a new Cheney school record - and the latter in 57.21. The times are the fastest for any female athlete in the state 2A classification this season, while her 400 time is sixth fastest and the 200 is seventh fastest among all athletes.
Bakana started her afternoon by capturing the high jump with a new PR and school record of 5 feet, 7 inches - a mark that is No. 1 in the state among all female athletes. She finished her day anchoring Cheney's first-place 4x400 relay team, along with Gabrielle Nguyen, Jocelyn Cone and Jolene Whiteley, that finished with a time of 4:05.03.
Bakana wasn't the only Blackhawk girl to make the top of the podium last Friday. Classmate Whiteley found another gear to set a new PR for first in the 800 in 2:22.28, and Zoe Lamb turned in a vault of 10-feet even to capture the pole vault.
The top four placers in each event advanced to state competition this weekend at Mt. Tahoma High School in Tacoma, and Cheney had several of those. Senior Rylie Pease set a new school record and PR of 139-01 for second in the javelin, while freshman Sophia Van Wormer had a PR of 9-09 for second in the pole vault.
Cheney's 4x100 team of Maddie Warren, Alexis Miller, Stephanie Assonken and Van Horne were third while the 4x200 team of Miller, Nguyen, Warren and Van Horne finished fourth.
The Blackhawk boys will be sending a similar-sized contingent as the girls to Tacoma, led by Isaiah Rigo. The junior captured first in the wheelchair 100 (18.47), 400 (1:04.50) and 800 (2:11.58).
Charles Johnson set a new school record and PR of 10.73 for second in the 100, and was also second in the 200 in 21.77 - 7/100ths of a second from his PR and school record time set at the District 7 meet May 12. Johnson's time in the 200 is third fastest in the state overall, while the 100 mark is fifth fastest.
Carson Brown set a PR and school record in the 400, finishing third in 50.53, sixth fastest in 2A. Fellow senior Drake Johnson was third in the 800 with a season-best 2:00.10 and fourth in the 1,600 in 4:40.67.
Both boys relay teams advanced, with the 4x400 squad of Brown, Kevin Houndonougbo, Peyton Putney and Charles Johnson taking first in 3:23.33 - tops in 2A. The 4x100 team of Zach Jongeward, Putney, Brown and Charles Johnson were second in 43.27.
In the field, sophomore Jacob McGourin set a new PR of 142-01 for second in the discus, while Brock Winegar's throw of 165-03 was good for third in the javelin.
State competition runs today (Thursday) through Saturday.
John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].
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