Track and field teams compete to determine best in the Basin

QUINCY - Quincy High School was home to the Best in the Basin track and field meet on March 24.

The event saw five teams from the Columbia Basin, Ephrata High School, Quincy High School, Royal High School, Othello High School and Wahluke High School compete for victory.

The question remains, who is the best in the Basin? According to team scores, it is Ephrata. Ephrata led the team scores at 376.5 points combined for the girls and boys classifications by more than 100 points compared to the runner-up, Quincy with 133.5 points.

At the end of the event, the teams had the following results:

For the girls, Ephrata took first with 187.5 points, then Royal with 76, Quincy had 49, Wahluke 46.5 and Othello 9.

In the boys category, Ephrata led with 189 points, Quincy followed with 84.5, Wahluke took thirds with 42.5, Royal had 33 and Othello 6.

Quincy High School senior Reid Thomsen took first in the boys discus and second in the shot put. He said he got a foot under his personal record for shot put but created a new personal record for discus.

Thomsen also said he prefers discus over shot put. He said starting the season his goal was 130 feet for discus but reached 128 feet, 4 inches Thursday afternoon, so he will probably need to move his next goal to a further length, he said .

Othello High School junior Serenity Pena said this was her first year competing in track and the meet at Quincy was her first meet this season. She took sixth overall in the girls 100 meter dash and fifth in the 200 meters.

“It was really fun. I did well in both (events) so I was really excited about it,” said Pena. “I was trying to keep it positive. But deep down, I was really nervous. And I shouldn't have been, because it actually ended really well.”

Pena said she is definitely participating in track her senior year.

Meet breakdown:

Ephrata took the first four placings in the boys and girls 100 meters.

Ephrata junior Joshua Green took first place in both the 100 and 200 meters and was on the 4 by 100 meter relay team that took first.

Quincy sophomore Ethan Gregg took first in both the triple jump and long jump and was a part of the 4 by 400 meter relay team that took first place.

Quincy senior Aidan Heikes took first in the pole vault by three feet over the second place athlete.

Ephrata girls took first in the 4 by 100, 4 by 200 and 4 by 400 meter relays.

Quincy junior Joceline Schaapman took first in the 300 meter hurdles and triple jump.

Quincy senior Reid Thomsen took first in the discus but second in the shot put while Ephrata junior Weslee Kriete took second in the discus and first in the shot put.

Rebecca Pettingill may be reached at rpettingill@columbiabasinherald.com.