Spring sports recap: Walla Walla girls roll to 3A girls state track and field team title

Spring sports are coming to a close, here is one of a few recaps this week of what happened with the state high school finals, as well as the NWAC championships.

3A girls track and field

Eric Hisaw’s Walla Walla girls took the team title at the WIAA 3A state track and field championships last Saturday at Mount Tahoma.

The Blue Devils scored 72.50 points to win the title, many of them coming from senior Ashlyn Nielsen.

The Wa-Hi standout earned individual titles by winning the 100 meters (12.27 seconds) and 200 meters (24.92 seconds) events.

But Nielsen also had help from her teammates.

Nielsen, juniors Adyson Andrews and Jailyn Davenport, and senior Cami Martin combined to win the 4x100 meters final in 47.40 seconds.

Nielsen also combined with Davenport, Cami Martin and Carly Martin to win the 4x200 relay final in a time of 1 minute, 41.45 seconds.

Davenport placed second in the high jump at 5-4, and she took fifth in the 200 meters at 26.14.

Cami Martin also placed second in the triple jump with a mark of 37 feet, 11 inches.

Blue Devils junior Lillian White grabbed second-place points in the shot put with a toss of 41 feet, 5.5 inches.

And Wa-Hi junior Kirsten Anderson cleared the bar in the pole vault at 11 feet even, placing sixth.

Southridge senior Chloe Bond placed fifth in the 100 high hurdles in a time of 16.08 seconds; and Kennewick senior Emily Kaylor placed sixth in the high jump with a leap of 5 feet even.

NWAC track and field

Spokane Community College sophomore Mary Nakamura, a Chiawana graduate, ran the 3000 meters steeplechase in 11 minutes, 40.87 seconds to finish first in the event at the NWAC track and field championships recently.

Nakamura also had third-place finishes in the women’s 1500 meters (5:00.86) and 5000 meters (19:03.70).

Other Spokane CC highlights included sophomore Madison Douglas (Othello) running a leg on the second-place women’s 4x400 relay team that clocked in at 4:05.56; freshman Kade Smith (Chiawana) placing fourth in the men’s triple jump with a mark of 44 feet, 8 inches; and freshman Alyssa Stanley (Columbia-Burbank) finishing fourth in the women’s javelin throw at 119 feet, 6 inches.

NWAC softball

Columbia Basin College went 1-2 at the NWAC softball championships in Portland earlier this month.

The Hawks (21-27) won their opener 8-7 over Treasure Valley, as freshman Lauryn Krick (Puyallup) hit a two-run homer in the top of the seventh inning to give CBC the lead for good.

Krick also pitched the final 2.2 inning to get the win.

The Hawks later lost 4-0 to eventual champion Mt. Hood, and they were eliminated last Friday with a 5-3 loss to Edmonds.

Mt. Hood beat North Idaho 8-5 in the championship game on Sunday.

Freshman outfielder Macy Tovar (Hermiston) is a member of the Mt. Hood softball team.

Lower Columbia placed third. The Red Devils have three Mid-Columbia players on their roster: freshman outfielder Joelie Eder (Kamiakin), sophomore catcher/infielder Sawyer Stenson (Chiawana), and sophomore outfielder Maliyah Twitty (Chiawana).

Stenson and Wenatchee Valley catcher Kaya Enriquez (Warden) were both named to the all-tournament team.

Walla Walla went 2-2 in the tournament.

2B boys track and field

River View senior Cody Brown had two podium finishes at the WIAA 2B state track and field championships in Yakima.

Brown grabbed second-place finishes in both the discus and shot put. He tossed the discus 172 feet, 8 inches; and his shot put reached 51 feet, 2 inches.

Brown’s Panthers teammate, sophomore Miguel Cruz, placed third in the shot put with a mark of 50-0.25.

Another River View sophomore, Wyatt Tedder, placed sixth in the 100 meters with a time of 11.42 seconds.

River View placed 10th as a team with 25 points. St. George’s from Spokane took the team title with 75 points.

NWAC women’s golf

Columbia Basin College sophomore Makena Nyby, a Chiawana graduate, finished tied for eighth at the women’s golf championship that ended May 20 at Apple Tree Golf Course in Yakima.

Nyby fired rounds of 86 and 87 for a 173 total.

Centralia’s Jaydon Thomas and Olympic’s Nyah Dayton were co-medalists, each finishing with a 162 score.

There were 31 competitors in the championship tournament.

1B baseball

Liberty Christian came up short in its run for the state title. But at least the championship trophy stayed in the neighborhood.

The Patriots placed third in 1B, after they lost in the semifinals to Southeast 1B rival DeSales 3-0 in the semifinals.

LC then edged Naselle 8-7 in the third-place game last Saturday.

Meanwhile, DeSales defeated Almira-Coulee-Hartline 6-0 in the other semifinal game.

1B softball

Liberty Christian’s bid to win a third straight state title ended last Saturday at the hands of a long-time neighborhood opponent: DeSales.

The Irish brought their bats to Yakima, beating Inchelium 18-3 in the semifinals.

Meanwhile the Patriots stopped Colton cold in the other semifinal, winning 10-0.

In the championship, the Irish bats continued to stay hot, as they beat LC 9-3.

In the last three years, Patriots softball teams have finished first, first and second.

Jeff Morrow is former sports editor for the Herald.