Tigers teams sweep District track meets

EPHRATA — Consistently solid performances all season translated into boys and girls District 5/6 track titles for the Ephrata Tigers on Friday.

Playing host, both teams qualified 11 athletes to next week’s Class 2A state finals at Mt. Tahoma High School in Tacoma.

For the girls, the title is their fourth straight to complement their sixth straight Central Washington Athletic Conference (CWAC) North title.

“The seniors are pretty excited because they never lost either one while they were in school,” Ephrata coach Don Martin said. “”The girls struggled against Prosser but we had some real surprises in javelin with both girls we didn’t have even penciled in to go to state but they work really hard and its paid off.”

Ephrata’s total of 148.5 points was enough to edge Prosser (144) while Ellensburg finished third with 102 points.

Quincy finished sixth with 58 points and Othello ended up eighth with 42 points.

Damiam Navarro took first in both the 100-meter and 300-meter hurdles with times of 16.14 and 46.49 while Jordyn Murray captured the crown in the shot put with a 40’3.5” throw.

Kendahl Hintz broke the district meet and school record in winning the pole vault competition (11’3”).

The top three spots in each event qualifies for state.

Other Ephrata qualifiers include, Kristen McDonald (second, javelin, 106’8”), Hannah Gunderson (second, 800-meters, 2:26.18), Taylor Barnes (third, 400-meters, 1:01.76), Danielle Friend (third, 1600-meters, 5:27.55), the 4x400-meter relay team of Navarro, Erin Monda, Barnes, and Lauren Yount (third, 4:17.54), and Margaret Eisen (third, javelin, 106’8”).

“The girls face some tough competition at state with Damiam, Jordyn, and the 4x400 relay teams giving us the best opportunity to score,”

Quincy had a half-dozen members of the Lady Jacks advance to state, led by Taylor Kunkel who won the long jump (17’0.75”) and triple jump (36’4.25”).

Also advancing to Tacoma was Jazmine Perez in both the 200-meter run (second, 27.14), and 400-meter run (1:00.44) along with the 4x200-meter relay team of Kacie Reynolds, Elizabeth Blancas, Kala Brindle, and Perez (third, 1:48.82).

Othello’s dynamic duo of Christine Kirkwood and Tiffany Martinez kept their seasons alive as well.

Kirkwood won the javelin event with a throw of 150’8” and ended up second in the discus (113’11”) finishing behind Martinez’s 121’9” throw.

Martinez also advanced in the shot put with a throw of 36’11”, good enough for third place.

The Ephrata boys have now won their third straight district and league titles this season behind their 157.33 point performance.

“We missed out on a couple spots for state in boys events,” Martin said. “Its going to be pretty tough since you have to score 40 points to get even fourth place at a state meet. There’s a lot of what ifs but we’re going with at least an opportunity if everyone approves.”

Quincy finished third with 71 points, behind Ellensburg’s 86. Othello finished fifth with 62.

Travis Mather was a big reason for Ephrata’s dominance. He took first in the 200-meter run (22.61) and second in the 100-meter run (11.19), while leading the 4x100-meter relay team’s win (43.61) along with running mates, Michah Ohl, Travis Flint, and Steven Devine.

Other Tigers’ qualifiers include, Tyrone Prescod (first, long jump, 20’9.5” and second in triple jump, 41’1.5”), Jerome Prescod (first, high jump, 6’4”, first, triple jump, 44’9.75”, and second, long jump, 20’4.75”), Ian Westrope (second, 300-meter hurdles, 42.5), Daniel Chrkavy (second, 110-meter hurdles, 16.71), Casey Gingrich (third, pole vault, 12’),

Steven Monda (third, 800-meters, 1:58.93), and Ohl (third, 200-meters, 23.28).

Quincy’s strong performance was sparked by Luke Grigg who won three events (110-meter hurdles, 15.94, 300-meter hurdles, 41.05, and the pole vault, 14’), while being a part of the Jacks’ third-place (44.73) 4x100-meter relay team including Ian Huxtable, Nathan Mead, and Michael Ren.

Mitchell Karstetter (second, discus, 138’3”), and Huxtable (third, long jump, 20’0.25”) also qualified in their respective events.

Four Othello athletes have also advanced to state.

Alvaro Barajas took first in the discus (150’9”) and second in the shot put (46’5”), while Mark Zuniga captured the javelin title with a throw of 173’8”.

Matt Jensen finished third in the 300-meter hurdles (42.55) and Devin Rodriguez (166’5”) also ended up third in the javelin.