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A8 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM WEDNESDAy, MAy 22, 2019 HeraldSports Follow sports on Twitter @HHeraldSports Hermiston earns tickets to state By ANNIE FOWLER STAFF WRITER J azlyn Romero left no doubt as to who was in control of the 3A girls javelin event on Friday afternoon. The Hermiston junior threw 143 feet on her first attempt in the pre- lims and easily won the District 8 title at Fran Rish Stadium in Rich- land, earning a trip to the 3A state track meet. “Having that throw early helped me relax and have fun with it,” she said. Kennewick’s Madeline Gebers was second with a toss of 123-3. “It’s a lot of fun when the com- petition is a lot closer — it’s nice to have the back and forth going.” The 3A state meet will be held May 23-25 at Mt. Tahoma High School in Tacoma. It will be the second consecu- tive trip to state for Romero, who placed third at the Oregon 5A championships last year. Romero has the top 3A throw in the state this spring at 151-9. The Hermiston school record is 155-11, set by Michelle Coombs in 2008. “I am excited,” she said. “I don’t want to jinx anything. Anything can happen at state. I just have to keep doing what I do.” Romero will not be making the trip to Tacoma alone. Sophomore Paige Palzinski won the shot put with a mark of 40-7, while Kaylee Young was second in the long jump with a PR of 17-5, and the boys 4x100 relay team fin- ished second behind Kamiakin. Palzinski threw her winning throw on her final attempt in the prelims. “I was really happy,” she said of her winning mark. “I walked in here a little scared, but I had to trust my training and my coaches. It’s been great to have Kendall (Dowdy) in practice pushing me. This wouldn’t be possible without her. I’m excited I have another week to throw and have the opportunity to go to state.” Young, who had a busy day with the long jump, 100, 4x100 relay and the 200, managed to save enough energy to set a PR in the long jump. “I jumped a 16-6, then ran the 100 (prelims),” Young said. “Then I jumped 17-5 on my last jump. It’s kind of cool to go to state. I went last year on the relay, but now I get to go in an individual event. I am so excited.” Young’s leap of 17-5 ties Ebony Wilson (2017) for second on the school leaderboard. The Hermiston record is 17-10½, set by Mariah Delepierre in 2011. The Dawgs 4x100 relay team of Broc Remmer, Thomas Reagan, DJ Wilson and Garrett Walchli fin- Staff photo by Annie Fowler Hermiston’s Jazlyn Romero won the 3A District 8 javelin title Friday with a throw of 143 feet at Fran Rish Stadium in Richland. ished second to earn a trip to state. They trailed Kamiakin and South- ridge most of the race, but Walchli, who ran the anchor leg, had a blaz- ing final 100 meters. “We were behind the whole way until I gave it (the baton) to Gar- rett,” Wilson said. “When I got it, I knew I had to go. I had to turn on the jets,” Wal- chli said. Hermiston knew Kamiakin and Southridge were fast, and Wilson said he thinks they surprised some people. “This is a huge blessing,” Wil- son said. “All of our handoffs were perfect. We were the underdog the entire year. Today, we proved who we are.” The Hermiston girls 4x100 team finished fourth, while Chase Brad- shaw was sixth in the discus with a throw of 134 feet. Walchli qualified for state in the 200 meters by the smallest of mar- gins Saturday afternoon. The Hermiston junior turned in a time of 23.05 seconds to place second, beating Syl Hunt of Kami- akin, who ran 23.07. Kennewick’s Arnaldo Cabrera won at 22.78. “Those kids are good,” Walchli said. “You have to give them that. Arnaldo was flying.” Walchli was the No. 4 seed heading into finals. “I just had to trust my training,” he said. “I knew what I had to do. You have to put in the work. Off- season training matters.” Walchli also placed fifth in the 100 meters (11.65), and ran a leg on the 4x400 relay team that finished sixth (3:35.94). Walchli’s efforts helped the Hermiston boys to a sixth-place finish in the team standings with 46 points. “Garrett had an impressive weekend,” Hermiston coach Emilee Strot said. “He had two phenomenal races (200 and 4x100 relay). In both he was behind and never gave up. He stayed relaxed and strong.” Reagan was seventh in the 100 (11.82). Freddy Mendoza was fifth in the 800 (2:00.07). The Hermiston girls finished fifth in the team standings with 86 points. The Bulldogs had a trio of throwers place in the top six of the discus Saturday, with Romero leading the way with a third-place finish with a mark of 109 feet, 8 inches. Palzinski was fourth (107- 8) and freshman Eseta Sepeni was sixth (104-6). Palzinski also placed seventh in the triple jump with a mark of 31-8¾. On the track, Hermiston’s 4x400 relay team of Jayden Ray, Amanda Nygard, Jennifer Fuentes and Abi- gail Sharon just missed out on a trip to state, finishing third in a time of 4:11.43. “They ran really well,” Strot said. “I think they ran a season-best time.” Ray also was fifth in the 400 (1:02.11), while Sharon was eighth (1:05.38). Young finished sixth in the 100 (13.14) and eighth in the 200 (28.45). In the 100 hurdles, Thannia Sol- orzana turned in a PR of 17.58 to finish sixth. Fuentes was seventh in the 100 hurdles (18.31) and eighth in the 300 hurdles (50.57). “We brought 28 girls and 40 ath- letes total,” Strot said of the meet. “For the girls to put that many points on the board was awesome. The kids going to state, their hard work is paying off.” SOFTBALL Bulldogs earn trip to state tournament By BRETT KANE STAFF WRTIER Kalei Smith’s two-run homer was significant for multiple reasons. Not only was it her first of the season, but it would be the hit that broke open Hermiston’s home game against the Kennewick Lions on the way to a 7-1 victory. The win earned the Bull- dogs second place in the WIAA’s District 8, as well as a ticket to the state tour- nament in Lacey, Wash. Hermiston will play Bonney Lake at noon Friday in the first round. “I’m so proud of this group of kids,” said Hermis- ton coach Kate Greenough. “They’ve worked so hard over the past few weeks to become the players they are now. If there were any big firsts to have in the WIAA, I’m glad this was it.” Despite the blowout, the game took 1½ innings to get going. Lions pitcher Claire Jenne’s change-up gave Hermiston batters trouble at the plate, keeping them scoreless for the first inning. The game was Kenne- “I’m so proud of this group of kids. They’ve worked so hard over the past few weeks to become the players they are now.” Kate Greenough, Hermiston coach wick’s second of the day. They were fresh off a 4-3 win against Shadle Park. Hermiston’s Bailee Noland was sharp in the top of the second to hold Ken- newick off the scoreboard, as well. “I was reading every batter,” said Noland, who benched seven Lions by the game’s end. “I would pitch to certain spots to get those strikeouts. I came out know- ing that this could possibly be our last game of the sea- son. I wasn’t going to let that happen. I was doing this for my team.” With two outs on the board, Hermiston’s Grace Staff photo by E.J. Harris Hermiston’s Sydney Stefani attempts to tag Kennewick’s Claire Jenne in the Bulldogs’ 7-1 win against the Lions on Friday in Hermiston. Studer doubled in the bot- tom of the second, and Smith’s homer came on a full count and soared over the left field fence to put her team on the board. “I wasn’t expecting that to happen,” said Smith, a junior. “It was good to be the one to break the ice.” Jenne’s pitches hit both Sydney Stefani and Saman- tha Atilano during the next two at-bats, and Ashley Cameron’s single drove in Stefani for a 3-0 Bulldog advantage. Noland was also hit by a pitch to load the bases, but Daisy Maddox popped out at center field to strand all three runners. “Home runs are lucky,” Greenough said. “We’ll take what we can get. (Smith’s) homer took it from a 1-0 game and made it so every- one could drop their shoul- ders a little bit.” Halle Pennington slugged Hermiston’s second home run in the following inning. The Lions finally got a run in the top of the fourth when Alexis Ames’ sacri- fice bunt drove in Abriel Johnson-Cuello. Bailey Warren would attempt another run for the Lions in the top of the sixth, but Studer fired the ball to Atilano, who tagged Warren out at home. Stefani drew a walk in the bottom of the sixth and bolted all the way to third after Atilano’s bunt in the ensuing at-bat. Cameron’s single would drive Stefani home, and Noland scored on an error to put the game away. “We gave it our all during our last game (a 4-2 loss to Southridge), and we carried over that motivation today,” Noland said. “This is the first time this team has been to state. The girls really brought the fight today.” Cameron was perfect at the plate, batting 3-for-3 with a run and two RBIs. Studer hit 2-for-3 with a run scored. Hermiston (16-8, 10-6 MCC) will contend for their first state title in the Mid-Columbia Conference on Friday. Their opponent for the Lacey-hosted game has yet to be determined.
