How do you know you’re having a good track and field season?
Breaking a 31-year-old school record previously set by a National Football League No. 1 pick might be an indication.
Cheney High School’s Jacob McGourin accomplished such a feat last Wednesday at home in a Great Northern League dual meet with Clarkston. The senior’s first-place discus throw of 188 feet, 11 inches not only garnered him a new personal record but also broke the school mark set in 1988 by former Blackhawk Steve Emtman.
In fact, McGourin’s toss shattered the former Washington Husky and No. 1 pick overall in the 1992 NFL draft’s throw of 184-08.
“(It’s) Not everyday you beat the number 1 draft pick’s PR,” Blackhawks head coach Derek Slaughter said.
McGourin led Cheney in a convincing win for the boys over the Bantams, 115.5 – 26.5, while Sophia Van Wormer’s new school record in the pole vault catapulted the girls over Clarkston 89-57.
Besides the discus, McGourin won the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.67 seconds, with Jaheem Peele just 2/100ths of a second behind in second. Peele went on to win the 200 in 23.70, with Julian Torres second with a PR of 24.25. Torres, following McGourin and Peele’s examples, won the 400 with a PR of 54.37.
Cheney swept the distance races as Clarkston provided no entries in either events. Zander Zoilkowski was first in the 1,600 in 5:22.01 while JT Gasper set a new PR of 10:20.03 for first in the 3,200. Jordan Agee was second in the 800 with a season-best mark of 2:19.52.
Sean Allen and Hayden Hawks went 1-2 in the 110 hurdles while Tucker Cunningham, Hawks and Isaac Beltran went 1-2-3 in the 300 hurdles. The only event not featuring a Cheney entry was the 4x100 relay; however, the 4x400 race was only Cheney, with the team of Gasper, Beckett Schoenleber, Andres Margraf and Aiden McCrum first in 3:51.74.
On the field, Mekhai Goodloe led a slew of Blackhawks with a 45-10 heave for first in the shot put, with Hyrum McCombie, Mathew Osborne and Charles L. Johnson all setting PRs for 2-3-4. Andrew Rushing was second in the discus while Ryan Riekmann and Vincent Terrile went 1-2 in the javelin and Skyler Hanson and Cameron Villalobos went 1-2 in the pole vault.
Parker Rogers was second in the high jump and long jump. Jacob McIlquham was first in the triple jump with Kolton Shaw’s PR of 38-03 giving him second.
Sydney Reagan’s PR of 13.47 for first in the 100 got things going for the Cheney girls. Maddie Warren was first in the 200 while Alexia Batchelor captured the 800, Marion Mager-Reeser set a season-best of 6:05.67 for first in the 1,600 and Kaitren Fisher swept to first in the 100 and 300 hurdles.
Second-place finishes and new PRs went to Jaela Thornburg in the 200, Isabell Williams in the 400, Ryliegh Bowes in the 800 and Anna Richardson in the 1,600. Cheney swept all three relay races.
Van Wormer’s first-place vault of 12-06 broke a previous school record she set earlier this season of 12-03. Eva Millan and Malea Farrell went 1-2 in the shot put with PR tosses of 36-05 and 35-06 respectively.
Abigail Scott was third in the discus, setting a new PR of 91-08, and was second in the javelin. Emma Dennstaedt was second in the high jump, with Emma Pepperd third in the long jump and Alexxis Bowes third in the triple jump.
“Our freshman sprinter, Sydney Reagan, is really progressing well and continues to frequently PR in her open events as well as her relay splits,” girls head coach Emily Stralser said in an email. “Abbie Scott is another freshman that is an asset to our team. She has PR’ed at our last two meets, and at Shoreline she had a monster javelin PR of 119’ 1”, which puts her at No. 5 in state in 2A.”
Last weekend, the Blackhawks headed over the Cascade Mountains to take part in the Shoreline Invitational north of Seattle. The boys finished in a five-way tie for 12th with 19 points while the girls were 17th overall with 15 points.
McGourin led the boys, winning the discus with a toss of 174-10, while Riekmann was fourth in the javelin and the team of Peele, McGourin, Bryden Esquibel and Camden VerStrate was fifth in the 4x100. Scott led the girls with second in the javelin, with Van Wormer fourth in the pole vault, Hunter Holsten eighth in the shot put and Warren eighth in the 200 with a PR of 26.32
The wins over Clarkston keep both Cheney teams’ GNL records perfect at 2-0, setting up a showdown with unbeaten West Valley and Pullman this Wednesday (May 1) in Pullman for the league title.
“The team is looking to defend league championships on both the guys and girls side and will need a full, healthy roster to do that,” Slaughter said. “We have progressed well, and look deep in some areas; just need to fill a few holes and we will be ready to roll into the post season.”
John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].
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