Cheney qualifies multiple athletes for state track

Cheney efforts at last weekend’s District 8 3A track and field championships brought both notable accomplishments and near misses in the Tri-Cities heat.

“Joy (Assonken) and Shauna (Elliott) winning,” were some pleasant surprises head coach Derek Slaughter noted in an email. “We knew they were going to do well but winning took a lot of guts.”

Assonken claimed the meet’s 3A javelin title with a personal record throw of 119 feet, 5 inches. Elliott, meanwhile, was the high jump winner with a best of 5-feet at Richland’s Fran Rish Stadium.

Five jumpers matched that height — including Cheney’s Tess King — with the tie broken by misses over 5-feet according to Slaughter.

Additionally, the 4X100 hit the auto state mark for the boys and Calvin Hilton hit his in the 3200 with a 9 minute, 22.46 second fifth place to move to state.

Braxton Hinton had to run the 200 meters twice to hit the auto mark in the event and was fourth with a school record 22.46 seconds. “The first time the camera did not get a time,” Slaughter explained. The rerun came after the 4X400 so it was an impressive effort back-to-back.

Cheney’s 4X100 group of Kordell Laher, Hinton, Teagan O’Callaghan and Tucker VanWormer clocked a 43.10 and a fifth place, matching the state mark to qualify.

Caitlin Shaffer had a significant meet in wheelchair competition, securing four slots at state. She qualified in the 100 and 800 as well as discus (17-07PR) and javelin (10-08PR).

“Catlin had some pressure to hit her state minimum marks in events she wasn’t strong in and she beat the heat to qualify in all four events,” Slaughter said.

Near misses included Hinton who came in the 100, the 4X400 group of Cameron Johnson, O’Callaghan, Laher and Hinton came within a second (3:26.90) of the auto mark that would have qualified them.

“A lot of kids were just trying to survive the heat to be honest,” Slaughter said.

What really hurt Cheney — and the rest of the Greater Spokane League — this year was losing that third allocation to the west side, Slaughter said. That returned in 2024.

“It is a timeless story that spans decades of the west side getting more bids for less competitive leagues,” Slaughter said.

Depending on where you live in the state it is easier or harder to qualify, according to Slaughter.

“We just ended up in the hardest region in the hardest district to qualify in,” he said. The upside? “It will make us better next year,” Slaughter added.

Now it’s on to Tacoma and Mount Tahoma Stadium May 25-27 with those Blackhawks making that trek having earned some real hard-fought berths on multiple levels at state.

Paul Delaney is a retired Free Press Publishing reporter and can be reached at [email protected].