Chiefs' Harman, Matthews headed for state

Moses Lake throwers qualify for 4A meet in Pasco

SPOKANE — Two Moses Lake athletes managed to finish high enough at regionals to sew up spots at this weekend's 4A State Track and Field Championships.

Moses Lake junior Tad Harman is headed for state in two events, qualifying in the boys' discus and shot put. Moses Lake senior Billy Matthews joins Harman, having qualified in the discus as well.

During regional competition over the weekend at Spokane Falls Community College, the two Chiefs dominated the discus. Matthews was first at 156 feet, 2 inches and scored 10 team points, while Harman was second at 149-04 and notched eight team points. Moses Lake's boys tied for eighth with Davis among 4A schools, both scoring 35 points.

In the shot put, Harman was just off the pace set by Lewis and Clark junior Alex Shaw, who won the event at 52-03. Harman's best toss was 52-01 3/4, good for second place and safely among the state qualifiers. Matthews didn't miss a state spot by much, taking seventh in the shot put at 48-09.

In the boys' javelin toss, Moses Lake junior Grant Fish was seventh (165-01), 2 inches behind Mead junior Tony Thelen for sixth. Walla Walla senior Aaron Mettler won the javelin at 187-04.

Moses Lake's other regional competitor was Spencer Fackrell. The sophomore was barely squeezed out of state in the triple jump, finishing fourth at 42-09. Richland junior Jonathan Miller edged Fackrell for the third and final state berth at 43-05 1/2. Central Valley swept the top two spots in the triple jump, with William Davis first (43-10) and Evander Cobbs second (43-09).

Moses Lake's girls sent two athletes in four different events to regionals, but none were able to qualify for state.

Sophomore Kayla Chamberlain came the closest, earning a finals spot in the 400-meter dash. Chamberlain squeaked into the finals with the seventh-fastest time in the preliminaries (1 minute, 1.05 seconds). In the finals, needing to place among the top four to get to state, she bettered her time by finishing in 1:00.18, but that was only good for seventh. Shadle Park junior Brianne Brown won the 400 in 56.07 seconds.

In the girls' triple jump, Chamberlain was 11th overall at 33-01 1/2 inches. Richland swept the two spots, with sophomore Shaniae Lakes first at 36-04 1/2 and junior Lindsay Roberts second at 36-01 3/4.

Moses Lake junior Ann Noyes was the Lady Chiefs' other regional competitor. She took part in four events but didn't put up a state-worthy mark in any of them.

In the 400 meters, Noyes was seventh in her preliminary heat, 13th overall, at 1:02.12 and didn't make the finals. In the 100 meter high hurdles, Noyes took fifth in her heat, ninth overall, and again didn't make the finals with a time of 16.68 seconds. Richland's Caroline Hedel won the event in 15.44.

Noyes also competed in two field events, doing the long jump and triple jump. She was eighth in the long jump at 15-11, 18 inches back of champion Brittany Kennedy of Lewis and Clark. In the triple jump, Noyes was seventh at 34-09.

Moses Lake's girls were 13th in the 4A team standings with 5 points.

Harman and Matthews begin state competition this weekend at Pasco's Edgar Brown Stadium. The boys discus event begins at noon on Friday, with the shot put starting at the same time on Saturday.

In the discus, Matthews comes in with the state's fourth-best qualifying mark. He's nearly 18 feet behind state leader Garrett Comfort of Skyview, so he'll likely need a big improvement to contend for the championship. Harman has the 11th-best mark among state qualifiers, but if regional marks remain fairly stable, Harman is less than three feet from medal contention. Along with Comfort and Matthews, other championship contenders figure to be South Kitsap senior Renard Williams and Bethel junior Oliver Henry.

Harman turned in the ninth-best regional mark among state competitors in the shot put. The top three are Lincoln senior Sam Washington (61-05 1/2), Wilson senior Richard Anderson (55-11) and Oak Harbor senior William Hunter (54-04 1/2).