Tigers get Cross, finish 1st, 2nd at invite

EPHRATA - Ephrata's boys and girls track teams played host to the annual Ray Cross Invitational on Saturday as hundreds of athletes descended upon the facilities in hopes of performing well individually and with their teams.

When it was all over, the host Tigers teams proved that they may not be rebuilding so much after all.

The boys team won the event with 101 points, outdistancing the other 25 teams, while the girls ended up second with 91, only behind the winners, Richland.

Five other Columbia Basin teams took part, including Moses Lake, Quincy, Othello, Royal and Soap Lake.

Ephrata's boys won by 10 points over Lakeside (91), while Quincy finished fifth (48), and Royal ended up seventh (32).

Othello (16), Soap Lake (11), and Moses Lake (7) also ended up with some top finishers.

"I never thought we'd win it but it was our fifth or sixth year in a row the boys won," Ephrata head coach Dan Martin said. "The kids competed and we had more so than we anticipated."

Not bad for a team that lost a number of top scorers to graduation after 2010.

" The expectations over the 14 years has been where they don't want to be the team that is remembered for not winning the district title or a meet like this," Martin said. "We just seem to find a way to get it done. Also the assistant coaches do a great job in getting things done. We seem to have a structure that works for us."

Event winners for Ephrata were. Micah Ohl (100-meters, 11.36), Steven Monda (800-meters, 1:58.64), the 4x100-meter relay team (Ohl, Jonathan Green, Jacob Green, and Christian Nuckolls, 44:51), and the 4x400-meter relay team (Ohl, Kyle Charles, Monda, and Jacob Green, 3:33.47).

Second-place finishes were recorded by Ephrata's Ohl (200-meters, 22.99) and Jacob Green (400-meters, 52.27), while third-place results were earned by Kyle Charles (800-meters, 2:01.79) and Tyler Purcell (pole vault, 12'),

Quincy's strong finish was sparked by Luke Grigg.

Grigg took the title in the pole vault, 13' while finishing with two fourth place finishes, (110-meter hurdles, 16:03, 300-meter hurdles, 43:69).

Adrian Diaz took third in the 3,200-meter run (10:29.99) and Ian Huxtable finished in the same position in the long jump (20') for the Jacks.

Finishing fourth in the discus was Quincy's Amando Tafoya (134'3").

The biggest winner from the Columbia Basin was long distance runner, Ethan Tonnemaker from Royal.

Tonnemaker took first in two distance runs, (1,600-meters, 4:40.92, and 3,200 meters, 10:19.44), to pace the Knights, who also got a third-place medal from Laddie Goroski (300-meter hurdles, 43:56).

Soap Lake's David Coreas (400-meters, 51.71) was the Eagles' top finisher, while Antonio Estrada's fourth-place result in the 400-meter run (2:02.73) was the best finish for Othello.

Moses Lake was led by Cameron Ballard's fifth-place finish in the high jump (5'8") .

"I was happy with the way the boys performed at the meet," Moses Lake head coach Kevin Whittall said. "We have some kids that have been sick and a couple ankle injuries that we are trying to get through. The younger kids like Ballard and law have been improving each week in their events and it is exciting to watch."

Ephrata's girls took second while Moses Lake's ladies ended up fourth with 60 points. Quincy took sixth with 33 points and Othello ended up 11th with 21 points.

Leading the way for Ephrata was Abby Smith who won the shot put with a throw of 36'3."

Also recording top scores were, Danielle Friend (second, 3,200-meters, 12:15.93; third, 1,600-meters, 5:38.56), Kendahl Hintz (third, pole vault, 10'), Nikki Pope (third, long jump, 15'2.5"). Erin Monda (third, 300-meter hurdles, 51.11), Taylor Barnes (fourth, 400-meters, 1:02.45), Hannah Gunderson (fifth, 800-meters, 2:36.20) and Morgan Sisson (fifth, 3,200-meters, 12:55.33).

The 4x200-meter relay team of Barnes, Jordan Larkin, Erin Monda, and Lauren Yount, finished third with a 1:55.53 and Barnes Yount, Monda, and Gunderson teamed up for a second-place finish in the 4x400-meter relay finishing with a 4:28.23.

Moses Lake was led by Magie Munoz who took first in the 400-meters (1:01.42) and fourth in the 200-meters (27.56).

Munoz was also part of the winning 4x200-meter relay team (Munoz, Kelley Garcia, Selina Koon, and London Cleverly, 1:51.81).

Chief Sadie Nielsen captured the discus with a throw of 113'10" to outdistance Othello's Christine Kirkwood (111'1"). while other Moses Lake top scores came via, the 4x100-meter relay team (Cayluh Lunning, Cleverly, Garcia, and Munoz, third place, 51.9), Lunning (fifth, 100-meters,  13:54), and Cleverly (fifth, 400-meters, 1:02.59).

Kirkwood ended up first in the javelin with a throw of 158'2" to pace the Othello girls.

Quincy was paced by Jazmine Perez (second, 200-meters, 27.29 and  third, 400-meters, 1:01.60) and Janna Hodges (fifth place, discus, 99'8").

"I was very pleased with the boys and girls efforts getting though a meet like that," Martin said. "We had over 800 athletes signed up and so we had to overcome long lines in some events and competed very well.  Kids also developed other relationships with other athletes when you are at a big meet like this one."