Kamiakin’s Buchanan, Teeples, and MCC girls relay teams dominate at state track and field

Here is the third roundup on state high school spring sports, as well as NWAC baseball:

4A boys track and field

Two Kamiakin athletes, senior Gavyn Buchanan and junior Ezra Teeples, brought home first-place trophies from the WIAA state track and field championships last weekend from Mt. Tahoma.

Buchanan won the long jump with a leap of 22 feet, 6.75 inches.

He also helped the Braves’ 4x100 relay team — along with Devin Crews, Camden Schmidt and JaRae Long — finish fourth in the final with a time of 42.50 seconds.

Teeples, meanwhile, outkicked the field at the end to win the 1600 meters crown with a time of 4:13.96.

In the 3200, Teeples placed fifth with a time of 9:16.12.

Chiawana junior Braxton Feldmann placed second in the javelin, with a toss of 184 feet, 8 inches.

Hanford senior Phillip Wald cleared 15 feet, 6 inches, to finish third in the pole vault, while Richland senior Elijah Lynch finished right behind in fourth with 15 feet even.

Fourth-place finishers included Richland senior Jalen Brightful in the long jump with a leap of 21 feet, 10.75 inches; Chiawana’s 4x100 relay team of Justin Webber, Cooper MacPherson, Angel Colon and Tristan Breier with a time of 42.25 seconds; and Hanford’s 4x400 relay team of Modou Kinteh, Ethan Brogoitti, Easton Woods and Grayson Jones crossing the finish line in 3 minutes, 22.14 seconds.

Kamiakin’s Crews also grabbed two fifth-place finishes in both hurdles. Crews finished in 15.26 seconds in the 110 highs, and in 40.09 seconds in the 300 hurdles.

Chiawana senior Lane Hedrick grabbed a fifth-place finish in the discus, with a toss of 156 feet, 6 inches.

Eastlake won the team title with 46 points, while Kamiakin placed fourth with 35.

4A girls track and field

Richland’s 4x100 relay team and Kamiakin’s 4x200 team each won state titles at Mt. Tahoma.

The Bombers squad of senior Hailey Summers, senior Alyssa Marsh, senior Gracie Moss, and sophomore Naly Khamlue-Pratt blazed to a 4x100 time of 47.86 seconds to win the final. Richland was the top qualifier in the prelims with a time of 48.24 seconds.

Khamlue-Pratt also garnered a second-place finish in the 100 meters final with a time of 12.41 seconds. Her preliminary time of 12.19 seconds was even faster than her finals time.

Richland also grabbed a fourth-place finish in the 4x200 finals, as Emry Law, Marsh, Moss and Khamlue-Pratt clocked a 1:42.42 time.

Meanwhile, the Kamiakin 4x200 quartet of junior Louesa Gledhill, sophomore Emaunii Sims, junior Aubrey Herrin and senior Adelyn Mitchell won the final heat in 1 minute, 40.33 seconds for a state title.

The Braves also added some second-place finishes. Gledhill was second in the 300 hurdles at 44.91 seconds (she also placed fifth at 16.20 seconds in the 100 hurdles final.

Sims placed second in the high jump at 5-5; and Herrin finished second in the triple jump with a mark of 38 feet, 9.25 inches. Herrin also grabbed a fourth-place finish in the high jump with a leap of 5-2.

Kamiakin’s Mitchell also grabbed a fifth-place finish in the 200 meters final, crossing the finish line in 26.09 seconds. Mitchell also had the fastest time in the prelims.

Chiawana’s 4x400 relay team of freshman Macey Smith, senior Presley Smith, junior Emma Gis, and freshman Sawyer Chubb earned a third-place finish with a time of 3:55.65.

Chubb also placed fourth in the 400 meters final with a time of 58.45 seconds.

Riverhawks junior Malia Ruud placed third in the shot put with a mark of 40 feet, 1.5 inches. In the same event, Richland senior Jocelyn Black placed fifth at 39-2.25.

Presley Smith also grabbed a fifth-place finish for Chiawana, leaping 17 feet, 4.25 inches for the Riverhawks.

Richland sophomore Brooklyn Wroble placed third in the javelin with a throw of 131 feet, 9 inches; and Hanford junior Katelyn Wolfert placed fifth in the pole vault at 12 feet even.

Emerald Ridge ran away with the team title, scoring 102 points. Kamiakin was a distant second with 49 points, and Richland finished seventh with 37 points.

3A boys track and field

Kennewick senior Jackson Burns placed second in both hurdles events at the WIAA 3A state track and field championships last weekend at Mount Tahoma.

The helped the Lions placed ninth as a team, in a meet that saw Mead crowned team champion with 62 points.

In the 110 hurdles, Burns crossed the finish line in 14.60 seconds. Walla Walla senior Ian Calhoon placed fifth in the finals in 14.82 seconds.

In the 300 hurdles, Burns placed second in 38.72 seconds.

Other local highlights included Southridge senior Carson Condie, who grabbed a third-place finish in the shot put with a toss of 57 feet even. Condie also placed fifth in the discus with a mark of 160 feet, 2 inches.

Hermiston senior Bradley Hottman placed fourth in the discus with a throw of 161 feet, 4 inches.

Kennewick junior Alex Roberts scored some points for the Lions, placing fifth in the 200 meters in 22.57 seconds, and taking seventh in the 100 meters at 11.42 seconds.

Southridge senior Baswinny Tamil finished sixth in the triple jump with a mark of 43 feet, 2.75 inches.

NWAC baseball

The Columbia Basin College baseball team finished the 2024 season with a 34-19 record, and it made it to the NWAC Super Regionals before being ousted by Lower Columbia Community College.

The Hawks’ 16-12 record in NWAC East Region play gave them the No. 3 seed into the postseason.

Stefan McGovern’s club defeated Skagit Valley 5-1 in a loser-out game at the Super Regional, then it had to take two out of three games at Lower Columbia.

Unfortunately, the host Red Devils beat the Hawks 4-3 and 3-2 to clinch a berth to the final 8.

Linn-Benton ended up winning the NWAC championship, beating Tacoma 7-4 in the final.

But CBC pitcher Simon Lemke (Bend-Mountain View) was named first-team All-NWAC as a relief pitcher. Hawks shortstop Lance Anderson (Boise-Borah) was named to the Gold Glove team for his defensive prowess this season.

Spokane Community College outfielder Joey Weissenfels (Richland) was named second-team All-NWAC after the tournament. Weissenfels also earned a Gold Glove for his play this season.

State tennis

Richland’s Matthew Morrison had the region’s best finish in WIAA state tennis tournaments, placing third and going 3-1 in boys singles play at the 4A state tournament in Kennewick.

Hanford’s Adam Tan also went 3-1 in 4A boys singles, but he finished fifth.

In 1A girls doubles play in Yakima, Royal’s Madi Christensen and Campbell Anderson placed third with a 3-1 record.

Jeff Morrow is former sports editor for the Herald.