Cardinal girls break school record

WENATCHEE – Four runners from Medical Lake broke a Cardinal school record at the Ray Cochran Relays on Saturday, March 26. Head Coach Gene Blankenship said the meet doesn't fit the standard format of a lot of track and field events.

"The format of this meet is that all events are scored as relays," Blankenship said. "Some are traditional relays using a baton which is passed from competitor to competitor and some were combined times or marks."

According to Blankenship, the Distance Medley Relay is an event that isn't run very often, but the achieved great results.

"Jenna Castro ran the 1200, Katie Hiatt ran the 400, Allison Payne ran the 800, and we were anchored by Kayla Ramsey on the 1600-meter race, said Blankenship. "This group broke the school record by a full minute, running 14:02, and finishing in third place overall."

Blankenship said the sprinting team has also been working hard to improve, and did well in their race.

"Another one of our premiere events was the boys sprint medley relay consisting of Julian Mitchell running 100 meters, Oran Rhimer also at 100 meters, Eli Trout who ran the 200 meter stretch," Blankenship said. "The team was anchored by Connor Palmen running 400 meters in a time of 1:42.73, finishing third overall, but finishing with the fastest time recorded at Medical Lake High School."

The coach also spoke about many Cardinal athletes becoming more involved with different aspects of the program, and trying new sports.

"Our track program hasn't recently had a large number of throwers, but this year, many of our athletes are stepping up," Blankenship said. "Tyson Cooper, Ethan and Elijah Outhenthapanya and Liam Earl for example are all trying discus, shot, and javelin."

Blankenship pointed out the girls have been working to improve in throwing events as well.

"Kara Nelson, Chiche Okemgbo, and Michaela Eberhardt have continued to do well in the Shot, Discus, and Javelin," he said.

Next up is the first league dual meet with Riverside and Deer Park at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday April 13 at Medical Lake.