State 4A/3A/2A track: West Valley’s Gavin Hoskinson wins State 2A pole vault championship

TACOMA – The West Valley boys have always had a longstanding tradition of talented jumpers, particularly in pole vault.

From former athletes like Luke Collins, the school record holder at 16 feet, to Ben Clifford and Josh Miller, who each have cleared 15 feet, the Eagles produced the best talent in the Spokane area each year.

There was one thing missing from that group, however – a state individual title.

That came to an end on Friday afternoon at the State 4A/3A/2A meet as senior Gavin Hoskinson became the first WV pole vaulter to earn the state title, taking the 2A boys title in 13 feet, 6 inches.

“It feels awesome putting in all this effort and all this work in to see something actually happen,” Hoskinson said.

Matching his personal-best height from two weekends ago at the District 8 2A meet, Hoskinson’s topped Burlington-Edison’s Talmage Palmer’s mark of 13-3 battling through the wind and rain on another soggy day at Mt. Tahoma High School.

Just a year after placing third in pole vault at 12-0 at the Greater Spokane League 2A Culminating Championships in the shortened 2021 season as a junior, Hoskinson felt he had to relearn everything about pole vaulting despite having done the event since his freshman year.

“Coming back this year, it was a whole new experience for me,” Hoskinson said. “Going up into the pit, it was very scary. At the beginning of the season, I no-heighted in my first two meets and I was just in the gutter. In the third meet, though, I jumped a good (1-) foot PR of 13 feet and that kind of kick-started my season. Now I am here today as a state champion.”

West Valley had two more placers as senior Madison Carr was fourth in the girls discus with a throw of 112-4 and sophomore Grady Walker placed fifth in boys triple at 40-9 1/4.

Central Valley’s AJ McGloflin showed the state why he was the best high jumper all season as he claimed the 4A boys title at 6-10, matching his personal best.

The CV senior cleared his first three heights on his first attempts, cleared 6-6 on his second attempt, and cleared his next two heights on his first attempt before raising the bar to 7-0.

Going after former CV great Brent Harkin’s state-meet record of 7-1, McGloflin clicked the bar twice with his heels on first two attempts. His body went right into the bar on the final attempt to end his day of jumping.

“I feel great,” McGloflin said. “I just wanted to the break the state-meet record today, so that’s what I was disappointed about, but it was good to get the win.”

McGloflin’s teammate, sophomore Brandon Gutzwiler, placed fifth at 6-2.

CV junior Brandon Thomas set a meet record in the boys ambulatory shot put with a throw of 42-4 1/2, winning by almost 10 feet. He also finished second in the ambulatory 100 meters at 13.91 seconds.

CV senior Rodney Minette completed his lone event in the 4A boys shot put, placing third at 52-4. CV senior Cassidy Haddad took seventh in the 4A girls 100 hurdles, running a time of 16.28.

Mead senior thrower Emily Hutchinson placed fourth in the 3A girls shot put at 37-4 3/4. Hutchinson also took second place in the discus Thursday.

“It’s definitely sad that it’s over, but I’m definitely ready for the next few years,” Hutchinson said. “I didn’t get first place like I wanted to, but I still competed. To get two medals is very good for me and I scored points for my team.”

The Hutchinsons, a family of five sisters, completed three decades of outstanding competition.

“I feel very proud to be a part of it,” Hutchinson said. “I know my sisters are proud of me even though I didn’t do as well as I wanted. To be the last one is insane.”

Three GSL boys athletes placed in the 3A high jump, led by Cheney senior Kai York-Akiu’s second-place, personal-best jump of 6-4. Mt. Spokane junior Zachary Travis finished fourth, jumping 6-2, and University senior Isaiah Shaw placed fifth at 6-2.

Cheney’s Konner Dobosh placed sixth in the 3A boys javelin at 173-6.

Pullman senior Nicole Avery placed twice during the day: taking fifth in the 2A girls long jump at 16-4 3/4, followed by a fourth-place run in the 100 hurdles at 16.17.

Lewis and Clark’s Keeley Johnson jumped a personal-best 17-2 3/4 to place fourth in the 4A girls long jump. LC senior Luke MacIver placed seventh in the 4A boys shot put with a personal-best 49-7 1/4.

East Valley senior Cody Lewis added to his medal count, picking up his second of the weekend by placing third in the 2A boys discus at 149-8. EV’s Ryan Conrath picked up sixth place in the 2A boys triple jump, going 40-5 1/2.

Shadle Park senior Emma Glanzer took fourth in the 2A girls long jump at 16-7 1/4.