Love, Tigers have a day to shine in Pasco

PASCO – Hilary Love enjoyed the view from the penthouse.

In three previous trips to the Pasco Invitational, she watched others win races and collect medals, but the 44th running of the meet Saturday erased all the frustrations for the Lewis and Clark senior.

With Love running the anchor leg, the Tigers blazed to a win in the 800-meter relay, one of the highlights for local athletes in a day of many top-notch performances.

“We got the school record,” Love said of the 1-minute, 44.94-second run. “We wanted to PR; we weren’t going to worry about the competition. Everything came together. … It was a beautiful day.”

Of course that came before a 30-minute rain delay that came at 2:30 p.m. and drenched the large crowd, but even after the awards were presented under overcast skies, Love’s smile lit up Edgar Brown Stadium.

“Last year we were in the slowest heats,” she said. “When you’re young, you look at the big teams here and don’t think you can be like that. I’m so blessed to be on one of those teams now. When I crossed the finish line and saw 1:44 it was just beautiful. I can’t believe it.”

The Tigers were part of a big day that started with Bellmarine Prep shattering the state record by 25 seconds in the distance medley relay (11:54.37) and Moreno Zapata of Curtis jumping past West Valley standout Rashad Toussaint in the triple jump.

Zapata broke the meet record with a jump of 50-feet, 3 1/4 -inches and followed that up by going 50-11 1/2 , which was wind-aided. Toussaint responded with a wind-aided 50-9 on his final jump, a quarter-inch better than his nation-leading legal jump.

Becca Noble of Rogers earned her second-straight Athlete of the Meet Award for the girls by winning the 200 and 400 meters easily, lowering her meet record in the quarter to 54.40 seconds.

Tom Ballinger of Wenatchee was the outstanding male, winning the 300 hurdles, placing second in the 110s, getting third in the 400 and seventh in the 200.

The only male who was close was Shadle Park’s Bryan Braman, who won the high jump, was second in the javelin and third in the long jump.

Team championships were won by the Bothell boys with 40 points and the Benson Tech of Portland girls with 50. The Shadle Park boys tied for sixth with 24 points, the Bonners Ferry and Rogers girls tied for eighth with 20 points.

Girls

The LC relay win was surprising since the Tigers quartet had only been together a week.

Sophomore Ula Tuala moved into the lead leg, joining freshman second leg Brittany Kennedy and junior third leg Ren Mallory. They ran 1:46.6 in their debut Thursday.

“It’s just because we have team unity,” Love said. “We just connected. The 4x2 is more difficult than the 4x1 because you really have to judge how (each leg) is coming in (to the exchange zone). The marks aren’t too distinct. You just have to trust.”

Another happy winner was Mead pole vaulter Dana Giffen, who cleared 11-feet, 3-inches, a three-inch PR from last year but a 15-inch gain for the season.

“I only went 10 feet the first four meets this year; it was sad,” she said. “I’m really excited. I’m starting to pick it up and do what I need to do.”

What she has to do is get to 12 feet.

“That’s my goal, so I can walk on at UW,” said Giffen, who has been accepted into the University of Washington honors college.

For Noble it was a routine day.

“The 200 (a state-best 24.62 in the prelims) was a little challenging, but I was up for a challenge,” she said. “In the 400 I had a good start and finished strong. There was a little headwind, but it was a strong race. I have very good memories of Pasco. It’s where I’ve done everything. It’s where I won state (in the 400) for the first time (and second time).”

Despite the big day, the Oregon-bound senior said the best part of the week was reaching 170-pounds in the bench press.

“Things are going very well this year,” she said.

Katie Poston, a Bonners Ferry sophomore, was a big winner, too, easily capturing the shot put and discus.

“I’m excited, real excited,” she said. “It was scary. I was really nervous. It’s hard not having your team here to cheer you on. … I just wanted to come and place, and at least throw like I usually do.”

Poston went 144-2 in the discus, winning by five feet, and followed that by putting the shot 42-6, winning by more than 2 1/2 feet.

Kirsten Fix of St. George’s finished fourth in the 400.

Boys

It just wasn’t Toussaint’s day, starting when his alarm clock didn’t go off and he missed the team bus. The frustration increased when he had just four of 12 jumps combined in the long and triple jump that weren’t scratches.

“I feel way faster than I usually feel,” he said. “I kept moving back. It was frustrating trying to get on the board. I felt good.”

Toussaint went 22-9 3/4 in the long jump, but lost when Kyle Williams of Bellarmine went 23-2. Then he had to watch as Zapata improved on almost every triple jump after coming in with a best of 48-8.

“It’s going to come to me,” Toussaint said. “My goal is 53; I’ve got time. I had more confidence than I’ve had in any big meet. I’m just going to have to start over (figuring out the approach).”

Braman would have had a banner day had the Highlanders not dropped the baton in the 400 relay.

“It would have been great if we could have done better in the 4x1,” he said. “I’m really excited about the high jump because I won. In the javelin, I don’t think I could have done better. I PR’d, so I’m excited. In the long jump, I matched my PR and took third. That’s exciting.”

The long jump of 22-5 came first, then the relay problem when he didn’t get the baton on the first exchange.

“It makes me determined; it fires me up inside,” he said.

It showed when he went to the javelin and opened with 196-3. His shortest throw was 182-5 and he had four in the 190s, capped by his final throw of 198-4. The only problem was Hanford’s Tyler Cathey popped a 206-6.

“The 198 didn’t look that good, but it’s definitely a confidence boost,” he said.

Finally he won the high jump, though the 6-6 was two inches short of his best.

“I think I’ll be fighting with 7 foot this year,” he said. “In the javelin I want to get the school record, 201, and my goal is 210.”

Another notable effort was by Northport senior Chad Butorac, who was fifth in the 100, sixth in the 200 and fourth in the 400. Wilbur-Creston’s Braidy Haden was fifth in the 400.