Local T&F teams compete at Pasco Invite

PASCO — Track and field squads from across the Pacific Northwest gathered at Edgar Brown Stadium in Pasco for the Pasco Invite on Saturday, including local teams from Ephrata, Moses Lake, Othello and Royal.

“I thought the kids did really well,” Moses Lake track and field head coach Nicki Weiland said. “We had kids that placed, which is hard to do at a meet of that size. The kids were excited and overwhelmed because that’s a big meet — a lot of them had never been to a meet that big.”

The Moses Lake boys scored 15 points and tied for 15th out of 55 teams at the meet, while the Maverick girls scored seven points and tied for 26th out of 49 teams. The Ephrata boys were the only other local team to score at the meet.

Winning the boys meet was Rocky Mountain — who has won 11 of the past 12 5A state titles in Idaho — with 89.5 points. Walla Walla won the girls meet with 80.5 points.

“It’s good competition for them,” Weiland said of the out-of-state teams in attendance. 

The highest finish among local athletes was Moses Lake senior Ty Rimple, who placed second in the boys 400-meter run with a time of 49.74 seconds.

Rimple’s 400-meter time is the fastest in the Big 9 this season, according to Athletic.net.

“Ty, he’s always been a really good 400-meter runner,” Weiland said. “He’s at a season PR, but not his (career) PR yet.”

Other Maverick placings include freshman Lindsey Davis, who ran the girls 100 meter run in 12.71 seconds to take eighth; junior Kaiya Char, placing seventh in the girl 300-meter hurdles with a time of 47.83 seconds; the girls 4x100-meter relay team of Char, Davis, sophomores Addy Burns and Reese Prescott, placing sixth with a time of 50.08 seconds; the boys 4x400-meter relay team of Rimple, senior Kyson Thomas, junior Niko Rimple and sophomore Parks Whitaker, running a time of 3:29.12 minutes for sixth place; junior Hunter Blackman, who took seventh in both the boys discus (159 feet, one inch) and javelin (165 feet, seven inches); Burns, taking eighth in the girls high jump (five feet); 

“All of them are trying to better their PRs,” Weiland said. “PR their team time, and their individual time … it engages them to where they need to be and where they want to be before district seeding and districts takes place.”

Ephrata senior Hayden Roberts placed in the boys 1,600-meter run, taking seventh with a time of 4:15.07 minutes.

Royal’s highest finisher was freshman Maggie Frank in the girls 300-meter hurdles, taking 19th with a time of 50.51 seconds. 

Othello sophomore Abigail Douglas narrowly missed the finals in the 100-meter dash, taking 13th in the preliminary round.

With the postseason quickly approaching, Weiland said many athletes on the team are keeping an eye on where they stand both in the Columbia Basin Big 9, as well as on the team. The top five athletes compete at league meets.

“They’re always checking to see if they’ve improved, or how they can bump somebody off,” Weiland said. “It’s that motivation itself right there to better themselves and work harder and refine their skills.”

Ian Bivona may be reached at ibivona@columbiabasinherald.com.

    Ephrata senior Hayden Roberts took seventh in the boys 1,600-meter run at Saturday’s Pasco Invite, finishing with a time of 4:15.07 minutes.