Chiefs boys and girls track shines at invite

YAKIMA - Eighteen high school track teams took part in the 87th annual Davis Invitational at Eisenhower High School in Yakima Saturday. Although the team scores are yet to be posted, Moses Lake came away with some impressive results, including several personal records set on the boys team.

"The boys had a great afternoon by having  set 13 PR's," coach Kevin Whittall said. "We had a good mix of older and younger boys who stepped up and held their own against some of the best in the state."

Setting the pace for the Chiefs were Lowell Kirkwood who placed first in the 800 meters with a time of 2:03.17, and Cameron Law who placed first in the pole vault, clearing 13-6.

Turning in a strong performance as well at the meet was Cameron Ballard who competed in three events on the day. He placed third in the triple jump with a leap of 39-7, fourth in the high jump (5-6), and tenth in the long jump at 18-6.

Alex Schweisow took third in the 1600 meters crossing the finish line at 4:35.71, and sixth in the 800 with a time of 2:07.81. In the 100 it was Sam Welch placing third at 11.50 and Brady Anderson (11.97), ninth.

Jamie Carpenter gritted out a fourth place finish in the 200 crossing the line at 25.63. Dylan Darlington had a strong outing with a sixth-place finish (10:21) in the 3200. A put of 40-10 in the shot landed Cory Oldridge in sixth place, and a throw of 130-9 by Josh Boyer in the javelin event was good enough for a seventh place finish.

And in the Freshman/Sophomore Division it was N'Koshi Lattimore taking second in the shot put with a toss of 37-7, and Matt Cooper placing fourth in the high jump clearing 5-4.

Girls

The Moses Lake girls continue to shine in individual and team track and field events in the 2013 season as the Chiefs turned in 21 top eight performances on the day.

Getting the girls off on the right foot Saturday were Diamond Ransom (13.07) and Caylah Lunning (13.1) who placed third and fourth in the 100 meters. The two also ran well in the 200 with Ransom (26.68) placing third, and Lunning (26.97), fifth.

In the 400 it was Stephanie Overland taking second with a time of 1:03.61. Casci Carpenter finished sixth in the 800 at 2:32.67, and Megan Roughan eighth, at 2:35.21. Hayden Kersey placed seventh in the 3200 with a time of 14:01.92.

Moses Lake dominated the hurdle events with Taylor Yamane's second place finish in the 100 (17.26) and Alysha Overland's first place finish (47.52) in the 300. Yamane was fourth at 50.87.

And what is becoming the norm at the meets this year was a couple more first's in the relay events.

The team of Kayla Grigg, Alysha Overland, Lunning and Ransom took top honors in the 400 crossing the finish line at 50.37, and Rougan, Carpenter, Stephanie and Alysha Overland racing past the competition in the sprint medley with a time of 6:17.10.

Sadie Nielsen had another fine outing in the shot event finishing fourth with a put of 35-5, and a second place finish in the discus with a throw of 131-11. Selina Koon is really starting to come into her own with another first place finish (5-2) in the high jump and a third place finish (15-8) in the long jump. Lunning took first in the event with a leap of 16-9. Stephanie Overland was fifth at 14-10.5.

And in the triple jump competition it was Carpenter taking third (32-7.5), Koon fifth (31-4), and Grigg, seventh at 30-2.5.

"The girls again had some great performances," coach Nicki Weiland said. "Our next big outing is Saturday at the Pasco Invite, which is one of the biggest high school meets in the Northwest."

The competition gets underway at 9:30 a.m.