14
Wednesday, April 28, 2021
Columbia Gorge News
www.columbiagorgenews.com
SPORTS
Bruin girls sweep relays, win sub-district meet
Petshow
■ Joe
Columbia Gorge News
season-best time of 52.44
seconds. She also finished
second in the 100 and 200
behind LaCenter freshman
Columbia High track and
Shaela Bradley. (Bradley was
field Coach Jim Anderson
the meet’s top point scorer
made two major decisions
with 30 points, having also
before and during Friday’s
won the long jump.) Fies won
2021 Trico League Sub-
District Championship meet. the 400 and PR’d in the 200,
where she was fourth, and
The second one was easy
— he simply kept his mouth anchored the Bruin 4 x 200
relay.
shut. The first decision
As often is the case, it was
arguably took more forti-
the performances of some
tude — he had to defer to
the collective wisdom of four of Columbia’s lesser-known
teenage boys. The result was athletes that clinched the
team title for the Bruins. All
golden in both cases.
told, the Bruin girls produced
Both decisions involved
eight season bests at the
relay teams, which were key
meet.
to the Bruins’ success at the
The top four finishers in
meet. Especially on the girls
side, where three season-best sub district advanced to
Friday’s District IV cham-
wins, including the 4 x
400-meter race in the meet’s pionship (also at Seton).
final event — and lifetime
Anderson said there always is
bests from some unsung
some disappointment when
heroes — propelled CHS to
an athlete just misses out on
the championship. In one of advancing. “That’s what they
the more competitive team
all strive for,” he said. That
finishes in recent years, five
said, the Bruin coaching staff
of the six Trico teams were
underscores the importance
within 18 points of first place of team points – first through
in the meet at Vancouver’s
eighth. “(For example) had
Seton Catholic. The margin
Taylor Hanson and Esther
among the top three teams
Kline not stepped up with
was even closer.
their points we wouldn’t
Columbia’s long relay team have won,” Anderson said.
of Ella Zimmerman, Hannah “They had a pretty good-
Polkinghorn, Chanele Reyes sized hand in winning the
and Makayla Fies clinched
championship.”
the title for the Bruins,
As did Chloe Clifford and
finishing in a season-best 4
Piper Hicks, who also ran
minutes, 20.02 seconds. The legs on the short relay and 4
10 first-place relay points
X 200. Hicks was seventh in
gave Columbia 109 for the
the 100 for two team points.
meet, four more than Seton
Frosh Jessica Polkinghorn
Catholic and six ahead of
won the shot put and was
LaCenter. Seton easily won
third in the javelin for 16
the boys meet with 133.5
points. Frosh Hanson was
points; White Salmon was
fifth in the 400 and seventh
fourth with 85.
in the 800 (in lifetime bests)
“We knew we had a really
for six more points; classmate
good chance to win the
Madeline Allen was sixth in
girls meet this year,” Coach
the shot put (three points).
Anderson said.
Kline’s distance double —
The 4 x 400 relay mem-
1600 and 3200 — produced
seven points and included a
bers each had busy days
PR in the longer race, her first
for Columbia. Reyes won
attempt at that distance.
her specialties, the 100 and
Anderson said leading up
300 hurdles, and ran a leg
to the meet, knowing the
on the Bruin 4 x 100 relay.
Zimmerman was third in the Bruins could score points in
the distance races because
low hurdles and sixth in the
1600. Polkinghorn anchored of a low number of overall
entries, he approached
the Bruin short relay to a
1600-runner Kline with the
idea of a double. “I asked
Esther, ‘You want to run the
3200?’ and she was like I’ll do
whatever you want me to do.”
“Almost everyone had
an event which they scored
points,” Anderson said. “It
is something that I do talk
about at practice and after
meets. There are two sides to
track and field. The individ-
ual side and then there is a
team side of it.”
The girls meet came
down to the final event, the
4 X 400 relay. “I was keeping
an eye on the team scoring as
the meet was winding down,”
Anderson said. With the relay
remaining, Columbia and
host Seton were tied with 99
points apiece and LaCenter
had 95.
“I shared that with our
sprint coach (Heidi Schultz),
but I didn’t let the girls
know,” Anderson said. “I
didn’t want to put any added
pressure on them. They ran
their best 4-by-4 of the year.”
Zimmerman opened with
a 65-second split and handed
off to Polkinghorn, who
maintained the Bruins’ spot
in second place. Polkinghorn
passed the baton to Reyes
who took the lead after
100 meters of her lap and
stretched the advantage to
about 10 meters before pass-
ing to Fies for the anchor leg.
“Once (Reyes) took over
I pretty much knew at that
point we had it,” Anderson
said. Most 1A schools
are fortunate to have one
runner with 65-second,
open 400-meter speed,
but Columbia has two. The
Reyes-Fies finish brought
home the baton in first place
and the Bruins had their
team championship.
“Our girls work really hard
in practice on exchanges and
that’s what it all comes down
to for them,” Anderson said.
“They just want to make sure
that the baton doesn’t slow
down. They want to domi-
nate those relays.
“I can’t recall having relay
teams in all three events as
strong as they are.”
HRV, TD boys battle on the links;
Eagles win five-team invitational
Weber
■ By For Mike
Columbia Gorge News
future.
“Coach Telles, understand-
ing this condition, made this
For a second straight week, a preferred lie tournament
for all the players.”
The Dalles and Hood River
Despite the win, Mason,
boys golf teams battled over
ever the perfectionist, was
18 holes, with the Eagles
looking for areas his linksters
coming out on top but with
could improve. “Overall, we
the Riverhawks closing the
played OK; it was a win in
gap on their Gorge rival.
the end but there are many
The most recent compe-
things we can improve on,”
tition was April 19 in a five-
he said. “The main thing is
team tourney at The Dalles
course management and shot
Country Club. Hood River
selection when in trouble
won with a 381, followed by
The Dalles at 392; La Grande on the course. We averaged
was third at 407, followed by over bogey golf in this contest
Seaside (418) and Pendleton and that’s not acceptable as
I know our potential is much
(476).
lower. I take the course con-
“I’m really proud of our
team for getting second
ditions into account, as well.”
place, particularly since
Curtis Kunde of Seaside
they’re such young players
won the match with a 77,
who were competing in just
followed by HRV’s duo of
their second high school
Ren Tappert (81) and Dylan
tournament,” said The Dalles Santee (86). The Dalles took
Coach Dan Telles. “They
the next two spots; Joseph
come out to practice every
Codding shot 87 and Spencer
day so that they can try to get Taylor 90. The 87 was a
better, and they performed as personal best for Codding,
well as I could expect them
who birdied the par-5 second
to. They’re improving every
hole. Taylor’s 90 also was a
week. This is quite a bit dif-
personal record.
Mason said he is pleased
ferent than coming out to a
course and playing with your with his team’s progression.
“Overall, I am happy with our
mom and dad. There’s a lot
more pressure on them to do progress. There are always a
well when they’re playing in a few hiccups along the way,
tournament.”
Course conditions affected
the play. “We did not play to
our potential as a team, but
there are a few things that
KRHP is available
contributed, I think,” HRV
Coach Erin Mason said. “The
FREE over the air
course conditions are a little
in The Dalles
rough right now, due to lack
& Dallesport
of water during prime season
and some construction
around the course to do im-
“Christian TV the
provements. They are doing
way it ought to be”
some great upgrades that will
make the course better in the
and we will power through
it. I was happy to get Charlie
Wilson and Jake Beukelman
out there, as well, today on
the JV side. I think it’s great to
get them some match-style
competition.”
Codding, who has been
playing golf since age 10, said
he wants more this season
than to simply beat his per-
sonal best. “I’ve only had two
tournaments so far, so it’s not
too hard to beat my personal
best score. I’m trying to get
much lower scores though
and I’m hoping to shoot in
the 70s range by the end of
the season. That’s the goal
I’ve set for myself and I’m
hoping to reach that point.
“It’s a joy to be out on the golf
course because there’s lots of
great people out there who
are really fun to be around.”
The Dalles scoring four-
some also included sopho-
mores Kenneth Miller, who
shot 105, and Chase Sam,
who shot 110. The Dalles and
Hood River were scheduled
to play April 26 at Indian
Creek in Hood River (result
was after the printed edition
deadline). Their next event
is May 3 at 10 a.m. at The
Golf Course at Birch Creek in
Pendleton.
Juan Acosta prepares to shot put in practice above. Below, Piper Hicks and Hannah Polkinghorn prac-
tice the 4 X 100 relay.
The Bruin boys team
came one leg injury away
from likely winning both
sub-district relays, as well.
It did win the short relay
and was third in the 4 x 400.
The 4 x 100 victory was in a
season-best time of 46.76,
by Peter Schlegel, Angel
Sanchez, Jace Greenwood,
and Ryan Howard. Howard
and Sanchez also ran legs on
the Bruins’ third place 4 x 400
relay. Howard added a run-
ner-up finish in the 200 and
was third in the 100 — in a
personal best 12.02. Sanchez
was second in the 100 and
long jump (18-9.25).
Anderson said the short
relay’s focus all season has
been the upcoming district
meet. “That is the event that
I’ve personally given the
most time,” he said. “Because
I want those guys to win the
district championship.”
They tuned up for district
with a come-from-behind
victory at sub-district.
Greenwood, the No. 3 leg,
overcame a six-meter deficit
running the curve and hand-
ed off the baton to Howard in
the lead. “Ryan, who is one of
the fastest guys in the league,
I knew that when he got it, it
was over.”
Anderson said in pre-meet
practice he tinkered with the
idea of changing the order of
the runners. He was quickly
vetoed. “They said, ‘We like it
the way it is. If it’s not broke
coach, let’s not fix it.”
Senior thrower Juan Acosta
was a double winner, taking
the shot put at 39-10.5 and
discus in 110-9. His 20 team
points were among the 37
total for the Bruin throwers,
whose collective effort also
included Josiah Nelson, Eli
Nielson, Calvin Andrews and
Beren Anderson. Nelson’s
31-4.5 fourth-place shot put
mark was a personal best.
Senior Dylan Muehlbauer
had Columbia’s other PR – a
54.84-second 400. He also
joined Howard, Andrews,
and Sanchez on the long
relay.
Anderson said he was es-
pecially pleased with Acosta’s
double win in the throws
because the senior is a great
example of a field and track
leader. “That kid is a work-
horse. First one to practice,
last one to leave. He’s one of
our captains,” Anderson said.
“He helps the younger kids
with their technique. Takes
them to the weight room
and helps them with their
workouts - pushes them. He’s
a great kid.”
Anderson said this year’s
team is a special group.
“Every now and then you get
a group of kids that comes
together who just mesh,” he
said. “It’s been fun to watch
and be a part of.”
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