Columbia Gorge News
www.columbiagorgenews.com
Wednesday,January13,2021
13
SPORTS
Girls team competition comes down to final,
pressure-packed race – the 4x400-meter relay
Petshow
■ By For Joe
the Columbia Gorge News
(EDITOR’S NOTE:Thisisthefifthin
aseriesofstoriesaboutGorgeall-time
trackandfieldbests.Trackandfield,
becauseofitsrelativelystandard
distances,allowsforsomewhatofa
levelplayingfieldwhencomparing
athletesfromdifferenteras-giving
risetothepossibilityofavirtualmeet.
Eachschoolwasallowedthreeentrants
inindividualeventsandonerelay.The
serieshasbeenpublishedcontinuously
sinceDec.15,2020.)
P
ERHAPS IT WAS FITTING
that the girls 2020 Gorge
Virtual Track & Field meet
came to an end under soon-to-be
burning stadium lights, every-
thing on the line with one event
remaining.
To recap, the once-in-a-lifetime
meet featured an eclectic bit of
everything – national-caliber per-
formances, bellbottom jeans and a
visit from law enforcement - before
it was mysteriously cancelled. As it
turns out, a simple misunderstand-
ing led coaches to call off the com-
petition after 11 of 17 events. The
meet resumed, almost as abruptly.
The athletes, who had talked
their bus drivers into stopping for
food before heading back to their
respective schools, were not too
far away. Fueled on Pietro’s pizza
– as well as other local fare – the
athletes returned to the Hood
River Valley High School track
after a 90-minute break to finish
the competition under the glow
of the Henderson Stadium lights.
Honorary starter Jim Puckett was
heading east on Interstate 84 when
he was intercepted by state trooper
Swede Pearson, who told the “Cove
Comet” the meet was back on.
Pearson later stopped by HRVHS to
volunteer with the field events.
(Before the meet resumed,
the small cadre of sportswriters
covering the event was report-
edly briefed by Oregon School
Activities Association officials, who
apparently ascended on the track
from various points, including
Wilsonville and Dufur. According
to news accounts, there was con-
cern that the meet was being held
out of season - a violation of WIAA
and OSAA rules. Once the situation
was cleared up - and after local
school officials successfully argued
the meet did not qualify as a
foundation event - the OSAA brass
signed off on the matter. What’s
more, two OSAA representatives
graciously stuck around to serve as
turn judges.)
Athletes were allowed extra time
to warm up (and in some cases,
digest their food) and the meet’s
interruption did not diminish
performances. Distance runner
Lauren Lloyd, the 2010 Class 6A
800-meter state champion, set
the tone for the evening with a
dominating performance in her
specialty. Lloyd (2:10.95 best in
2010) won by six seconds over
Mandi Fitz-Gustafson, whose
decision to run the race instead of
the 3000 helped The Dalles keep
close to Hood River in the team
competition. The Eagles made it
two straight wins, when Jestena
Mattson won her third event, the
200, a short time later. The half-lap
race featured seven sprinters under
26 seconds and enabled HRV to
extend its lead by eight more points
over The Dalles with four events
remaining, 177-159.5.
The Riverhawks responded like
champions, winning the next two
events: the discus and 300-meter
low hurdles. Neticia Enesi threw
147-6 to win the discus by eight
inches over Bickelton’s future colle-
giate national champion, Annie
Hess. Carrie North won an amaz-
ing, photo-finish hurdles race in
which the top three finishers were
separated by less than a tenth of a
second. North won at 44.82, Cameo
The Dalles Senior Maria North leans across the finish line to three-peat in the 400-meter relay Saturday at the OSAA Class
3A state track and field championships in 2004.
The Dalles Chronicle/Jodi Nofziger photo/file
Davis of HRV and Amanda Stump
of Stevenson tied for second at
44.9. (Meet officials were relieved
that the electronic timing system
didn’t malfunction, as the woman
who took the Polaroid print to con-
firm the winner of the boys high
hurdles, didn’t get the message
the meet had resumed and was
nowhere to be found.)
Twenty-two points - scored by
Enesi, whose competitive track and
field career ended after high school
when she decided to pursue vol-
leyball at the University of Oregon,
North and Chris Viltz (seventh,
discus) - pulled the Riverhawks
within 189-181.5 of Hood River
with the triple jump and long relay
remaining.
A mini controversy (which
should not come as too much of
a surprise) delayed the certifi-
cation of the triple jump results.
It centered around multi-event
phenom Jill Pimley, the five-time
state champion, who once again
competed for both Klickitat (eighth
grade, freshman, sophomore)
and Goldendale (junior, senior).
Her performance(s) potentially
had a huge bearing on the out-
come of the team competition.
It was asserted that Pimley had
an unfair advantage because she
was able to have twice as many
attempts as her fellow competitors.
Pimley, who walked on to play
Division I basketball at University
of Washington for four years, was
oblivious to the spat. Instead, she
was winning an impromptu three-
point shooting competition on the
rim outside HRV’s gymnasium.
Once summoned back to the event,
she quickly took things into her
own hands to settle the some-
times-heated dispute. Pimley went
1-2 with just two jumps; her first
attempt for Klickitat was 37-8.75
and her second for Goldendale
measured 38-6.25.
More important, as far as the
team competition was concerned,
Sharon Engles (class of 1998) and
Caitlin Anghilante (2000) finished
fourth and eighth in the triple jump
giving The Dalles six more team
points. That pulled the Riverhawks
within 189-187.5 as runners started
to warm up for the 4x400 relay.
With so much at stake in the
relay, a groundswell began among
coaches, who argued they should
be able to hand pick team mem-
bers from their all-time 400 lists.
This bickering went on for a few
minutes – enabling public address
announcer Keith Bassham to
Neticia Enesi prepares to compete at the OSAA Class 3A state track and field
championships in 2004.
The Dalles Chronicle photo/file
declare snack shack items “half
priced”. Eventually, calmer – and
younger - heads prevailed. Athletes
from both HRV and The Dalles
suggested that if the coaches didn’t
stop arguing, they would have to
compete in the relay themselves.
The matter was quickly dropped
and coaches, clipboards in hand,
sauntered off – much relieved - to
hand out batons for the winner-
take-all relay.
The 4x400 was as spectacular as
advertised. The Dalles, Hood River
and Stevenson separated them-
selves early from the rest of the
field, as runners from each team
held the lead at least once during
the four-lap sprint. The Dalles,
whose team included Laura North,
Carrie North, Fitz-Gustafson and
Maria North, would not be denied.
The same team that in 2004 had
won the final race at the Class 3A
state meet at historic Hayward
Field to win the state champion-
ship, clinched the virtual meet by a
half point – 197.5-197 - with a time
of 3:59.48.
Almost simultaneously, as the
last relay runner – in Lane 8 from
Horizon Christian - crossed the
finish line, the beautiful Gorge
weather finally broke. A strong east
wind gust snapped a fir branch
which sailed as far as a Sebastian
Barajas discus, clipping the light
pole by the javelin runway. The
collision shorted out the lights,
causing sparks to shoot out in all
directions, and knocked sports-
caster Mark Bailey’s live radio
broadcast off the air. Nobody was
injured, and Bassham, right on cue,
played the theme song from “The
Natural” over the PA system.
Some athletes – Mattson, Pimley,
MaryAnn Graves, Heidi Shultz
among them – were already gath-
ering near the Eagle by the main
entrance to the track to secretly
plan a heptathlon next month in
Maupin.
(Next issue: Day three of the
2020 boys virtual meet. Thanks
again to the many Gorge track and
field coaches who helped compile
entrants. Apologies in advance to
any athlete who was overlooked.
Readers are invited (and encour-
aged) to send in corrections, all-
time best additions, and comments
to joepshow@aol.com .)
TRACK & FIELD
FOCUS
Way (two)
good for just
one sport
Most high school athletes will
never play college sports, but a few -
very select - athletes have to decide
which sport they want to play.
Jill Pimley rewrote Washington
track and field record books during
her prep track and field career at
Klickitat and Goldendale. She won
five state triple jump titles and
three more in the long jump. That
attracted the attention of University
of Washington, which offered her a
track and field scholarship. Pimley
attended the Seattle school, but de-
cided to pursue basketball instead
as a Husky.
Pimley, a 5-foot-6 guard, who
scored 1,950 points in high school
from 1994 to 1997, walked on to the
UW team and eventually worked
her way to captain her junior and
senior years. Pimley was a four-year
letterwinner from 1998 to 2001.
Her work ethic earned her most
improved honors, team defensive
player of the year honors, and the
Husky Coaches’ Award (twice). She
also was a two-time Pac-10 All-
Academic selection.
Neticia Enesi
(now Fanene) of The
Dalles was a part of
a couple of histor-
ic track and field
teams at her school.
She was the state 6A
discus champion
and third in the shot Neticia (Enesi)
put her senior year
Fanene
in 2006, when The
Dalles finished third in the team
race. As a junior she was second in
the discus and sixth in the shot at
state. She finished sixth at state in
the discus as a sophomore, part of a
Riverhawk team that won its second
successive state championship.
The 6-foot-1 middle blocker
excelled on the volleyball court, as
well, enough so that the University
of Oregon signed her to play for the
Ducks. She started 27 matches as a
freshman and was named an hon-
orable mention on the Pac-10 All-
Freshman team. Enesi, a one-time
outstanding age-group swimmer,
kept getting better; she was selected
to two All-American teams and set
school records for hitting percent-
age and block assists. The two-time
All-Pac-10 first team member is
among the top-10 all-time for
Oregon in numerous categories, in-
cluding first in single season hitting
percentage and second in blocks.
About the time Ensei was finish-
ing her college career, Andrea Bailey
was beginning hers — as a member
of the St. Mary’s basketball team in
Moraga, CA. The 6-foot guard has
the second-best time in the 200 me-
ters in Gorge history (25.2 seconds
in 2006), but it was on the basketball
court where she really hit her stride.
She played four years for the Gaels,
before an injury cut short her senior
season.
Earlier in the 2020 school year,
Hood River senior Henry Buckles
signed to play football at Oregon
State University.
Buckles, along with
other Gorge shot
put and discus state
champions before
him, will continue
his athletic career
on the football field.
That club includes
Henry Buckles
James Atoe from
The Dalles, who
played four years
at University of
Washington and
played profession-
ally most recently
for the Washington
Valor of the Arena
James Atoe
Football League.
VIRTUAL MEET 2000 GIRLS FINAL DAY RESULTS
Virtual Meet Rules: Individuals
can complete in four events
including relays; two of three dis-
tance events; one relay per school;
three entrants per school in each
event.
Final Girls Team Scores (10-8-
6-5-4-3-2-1 scoring): The Dalles
197.5, Hood River 197, Columbia
76.6, Goldendale 56.5, Stevenson
53.4, Klickitat 20.5, Corbett 20,
Lyle 13, Trout Lake 12, Bickelton 8,
Dufur 5, Glenwood 2.5, Horizon 0,
Wahtonka 0.
Discus
Neticia Enesi TD 2006 147-6
Annie Hess Bick. 2005 146-10
Diane Bedell Stev. 1982 139-4
Taylor Darden Dufur 2015 130-0
Candy Newman Col. 1987 129-8
Tiana Watson Gold. 2019 128-7
Chris Viltz TD 1981 128-6
Stacia Bell Col. 2016 127-8
Crystal Franklin TD 1993 127-2
Triple Jump
Jill Pimley Gold. 1996 38-6.25
Jill Pimley Klick. 1994 37-8.75
Kristin Janney Col. 2002 37-0.75
Sharon Engles TD 1998 36-3.75
Stacey Brewer Klick. 1998 36-3
Madison McCrum Stev. 2015 36-0
Kaitlyn Richards Stev. 2006 35-8
Caitlin Anghilante TD 2000 35-6.25
Katie Conklin TD 2015 35-5.25
200 Meters
Jestena Mattson HRV 2015 24.51
Heidi Shultz Col. 1993 25.2
Andrea Bailey TD 2006 25.24c
Maria North TD 2003 25.28
Amanda Stump Stev. 2008 25.3
Elaine Hess HRV 1993 25.51
Ocean Kuykendall HRV 1994 25.74c
Elisabeth Krieger Corb. 2015 26.12
Hannah Polkinghorn Col. 2019 26.43
300 Meter Hurdles
Carrie North TD 2005 44.82
Cameo Davis HRV 1997 44.90
Amanda Stump Stev. 2008 44.9
Emily Thompson HRV 2012 45.14
Jill Pimley Klick. 1995 45.3
Kali AnDyke, Corb. 2015 45.81
Allison Gilliam Gold. 2018 45.94
Janet Steindorf Gold. 1994 46.77
Andrea North TD 2011 46.83
800 Meters
Lauren Lloyd HRV 2010 2:10.95
Mandi Fitz-Gustafson TD 2001 2:16.95
Ellie Rising Gold. 2019 2:18.38
Neola Putnam TLake 2006 2:18.45
Alison Flaming HRV 2010 2:19.79
Emma Mullins TD 2019 2:19.85
Emily Viuhkola HRV 2015 2:20.01
Heather Fitz-Gustafson TD 2001 2:20.05
Holly Nielsen TLake 1989 2:20.7
4x400 Meter Relay
The Dalles 2004 (Laura North, Carrie North, Heather Fitz-
Gustafson, Maria North) 3:59.48
Hood River Valley (Rita Cousins, Dresden Merz, Cameo
Davis, Jennifer Hedges) 1998 4:03.87
Stevenson (Amanda Stump, Kaitlyn Richards, Kate Jaco, Rylee
Walker) 2006 4:04.98
Corbett (Jenna Kerslake, Kali AnDyke, Sascha Fruehauf,
Elisabeth Krieger) 2015 4:07.93
Columbia (Abigail Zuck, Kristen Janney, Alexa Williams, Jeni
Stembridge) 2003 4:09.8
Trout Lake (Neola Putnam, Anna Schmid, Emily Paxson, Liz
Vogt) 2009 4:12.01
Goldendale (Lene Riggers, Abby Hedges, Ellie Rising, Allison
Gilliam) 2018 4:18.22
Lyle (Jesika Cochenour, Brittany Price, Lisa Donath, Taeera
Churchwell) 2009 4:29.6h
Horizon Christian (Kaitlin Wenz, Augustina Decker, Grace
Schreiber, Valerie Bruggeman) 2019 4:31.12