Cardinal track continues to perform

MEDICAL LAKE – Cardinal athletes showed great success in their first home meet on April 13, with both the boys and girls teams outscoring Riverside and Deer Park. Coach Gene Blankenship said the wins put both teams at 2-0 in league play and unofficially in first place.

The boys beat Riverside 73.33 to 44.66 and also topped Deer Park 88 to 43. The girls team dominated Riverside 119 to 30, and thrashed Deer Park 111 to 33. Blankenship said there were several athletes with notable performances, with 26 boys and 22 girls putting up personal records.

"Two of our outstanding performances were Chiche Okemgbo winning three events-javelin, shot, and triple jump," Blankenship said. "Connor also won three events-the 800 meter, 1600 meter, and anchored the 4×400 relay team. We had two people move up onto the Medical Lake High School Top Ten List, Chiche in the Javelin and Amblessed in the 100 Meter Hurdles."

Medical Lake also participated in a couple of different meets on April 16. Blankenship said that his team did well under the nasty weather conditions and despite the extreme cold and wind, never quit.

"Competitors of the Meet for the Van Kuren Invite in Cheney went to Kylie Roberts and Amblessed Okemgbo," Blankenship said. "Kylie was first place in the 100 Meter Para event and Amblessed placed 7th in the 100-meter hurdles, 2nd in the discus, and competed in the high jump."

According to the coach, another Medical Lake school record was broken as well. The girls 4×800 consisting of Jasmine Cruz, Grace Grubaugh , Kylie Roberts and Katie Hiatt set a new school record of 11:23.

"They ran really well that day," said the coach.

Competitor of the Meet recognition for the Pasco Invite went to Allison Payne. According to the coach the athletes were fighting through heavy wind and non-stop rain to compete.

Payne improved her personal best in the 3200 by 40 seconds. Reid Headrick, running a competitive race, finished 8th overall in the 1600 meters, which placed him on the award stand. This was also his second fastest time for that event.

"All of our athletes should be commended for their commitment to the team. We're all hoping for better weather in the future," Blankenship said. "We travel to Newport on Wednesday to compete against Newport and Colville. We will need to be ready for this meet."