A8 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAy, MAy 22, 2019
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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.