Entiat, Manson, Chelan compete in first big track meet of season

MANSON - It might have been a little breezy, but the sun was shining and it was a good day for a track meet. 

In one of the first big meets of the season, athletes from Cascade, Entiat and Chelan traveled up to Manson to compete in an all around event. 

• Entiat 

“We were really happy with the times and distances the kids put up so early in the season,” Entiat head coach Julie Cannon said after the meet. “We have been doing a lot of conditioning and strength building work which in the shorter haul can result in slower times and shorter distances because the kids are tired and sore. So to see them do so well was exiting.” 

One of the highlights for the Tigers was Ronnie Parks, who had a high jump of 5’10’’. Allison Haynes and Grace Giacomazzi also combined to sweep the girls throwing events and Natalya Paz won both hurdle races. 

“We need to work on our relay exchanges, but we are going to continue to work on building endurance and strength to refine our techniques,” Cannon stated. “We are starting to figure out where everybody fits so we can get more specific work in on the areas the kids will excel.” 

• Chelan 

“We had some good times in our meet, although the wind did help our times and I know that it also affected our jumping abilities,” Chelan head coach Erik Romero said.

The Goats excelled at their running events on Thursday. The top three at each event were:

Dillon Novich, 11.35, 24.10, Donny Watson, 11.89, 24.63 and Caleb Dodge 11.92, 24.82 (guys 100m and 200m). 

Ava Dickes, 13.20, Rebecca Ediger, 13.84 and Fleur Brown, 13.99 rounded out the top three in the girls 100m and Dickes, 27.64 Molly Oswald, 28.48 and Rosa Lopez, 29.03 finished in Chelan’s top three at the girls 200m. 

“With only two full weeks under out belt outside of training, I would say that we are happy with these times,” coach Romero said after the meet. “We had some girls with good times as well and I hope that with a free weekend they will continue to take and have some rest.” 

For distance, Mereck Palazzo ran the 1600m in a time of 4:38.92. Dillon Dawson ran the 800m in 2:04.97 and Christopher Knight ran the 3200m in a time of 11:13.20. On the girls side, Olivia Nygreen took first in the 1600m with a time of 6:28.27 and Allie Barnes finished the 800m with a time of 2:38.12. 

The Goats also had some standouts in the field events as Sterling Gordon through the javelin for a personal best 179 feet. Kevin Cazares hurled the discus 95 feet 6 inches and Gordon set a team high 19 feet four inches in the long jump. 

“We had a good time at the meet in Manson, and I know that we are behind a little when it comes to training outside, but that will not stop our coaching staff from having our kids ready for the end of the year,” coach Romero concluded in his meet report. 

• Manson

After the meet, coach Kurt Toolson broke down the days action in a few highlights: 

“Spencer Ward won the 200m, 4x100 and 4x400 relays and also placed in second in the 100m dash,” Toolson wrote in his meet report. “The significance was that both the 200 and 100 times tied existing school records.” 

Mason Cameron won the shot put, discus and placed second in the javelin. Mason Walters placed second in the high jump and third in the long jump and Maddee Ward won the girls shot put and placed second in the discus. Julia Sanchez got second in javelin and Alyssa LaMar got third. 

“I think every athlete who participated set a personal best in one event or another, so there are a lot of things to feel good about all the way around,” Toolson wrote. “I also want to send out a sincere thank you to all the volunteers who helped out, including the Manson baseball team. There were well over 30 volunteers who spend four to five hours to help us out.” 

All three schools will enjoy a restful spring break before getting back to practice next week. 

Zach Johnson can be reached at lcmeditor@gmail.com or (509) 682-2213