Tommy Knox ran a leg of the boys’ 4x100M relay at the WindBreaker Invitational last week. The Mountain Lions finished 8th in the event.
Early-season indicators — a large turnout, consistent results from veterans and promising performances by some newcomers — are encouraging signs for Liberty Bell High School track coach Rocky Kulsrud and assistant coach Erik Brooks.
The team has only had two meets — the Bridgeport Jamboree on March 13 and the WindBreaker Invitational at Wahluke High School in Mattawa on March 16 — and the athletes haven’t had much time to work on field events and relays. And, some of the team’s best long-distance runners in recent years — Novie McCabe, Gretta Scholz and Eli Nielsen among them — are still skiing or wrapping up their Nordic seasons.
“I would say that with so many new to track — either with the large contingent of ninth-graders or the influx of other giving this a try for the first time — we are off to an admirable start,” Brooks said. “We still have tons of work to do with events that will improve and quickly progress once we can practice on the track, but there is good enthusiasm and so far an appropriate amount of patience being shown by the kids.”
“For not having the opportunity to be on a track I have been very excited about our kids and the start to the season,” Kulsrud said. He noted that many early-season performances are landing athletes on Liberty Bell’s all-time performance lists, by class year or overall.
New to the team this year are several athletes who moved over from softball for this spring, including Lauren Ochoa, Tommie Ochoa and Ali Palm. Ochoa is already finding her way into the record books in the field events.
Liberty Bell will be using its new track, and new field event areas, for the first time in competition this season. Two home meets are scheduled at the Mountain Lion facility, on April 24 and May 4. Next up is the Ray Cross Invitational at Ephrata on Saturday (March 24), then a meet at Cashmere on March 29.
Last year, the Lady Lions took first place at the league championship and subdistrict meet and the boys took sixth place. At the district meet, the girls took first place and the boys were seventh. Scoring points at the state meet were Seth Stevie, Brayden White, Gretta Scholz, Sally Thornton-White, Athena Milani, Lucy Cole, Maya Sheeley and Icel Sukovaty. All are back this year.
Below are some top-performance highlights from the first two meets.
Bridgeport Jamboree,
March 13,
10 schools
Boys
100M: Brayden White, 10th, 12.55
200M: Brayden White, 1st, 24.96
400M: Carson Gunnip-Hunter, 8th, 60.37
800M: Emerson Worrell, 2nd, 2:17.31; Bodie Paul, 3rd, 2:21.01
1600M: Emerson Worrell, 2nd, 4:58.12
Javelin: Seth Stevie, 4th, 120-06; Tanner White 6th, 108-06
Girls
100M: Sammy Curtis, 10th 14.21; Ali Palm, 14th, 14.38
200M: Maya Sheeley, 3rd, 28.33; Sammy Curtis, 6th, 29.57
400M: Maya Sheeley, 2nd, 65.23
800M: Keeley Brooks, 1st, 2:47.36; Ava Mott, 3rd, 2:49.96; Lena Nelson, 4th, 2:57.24
1600M: Liv Aspholm, 1st, 5:46.86; Icel Sukovaty, 2nd, 5:54.39
Shot put: Lauren Ochoa, 7th, 26-04
WindBreaker Invitational, March 16, 18 schools
Boys
100M: Seth Stevie, 10th, 12.05
200M: Brayden White, 10th, 25.57
800M: Emerson Worrell, 4th, 2:16.34
300M hurdles: Seth Stevie, 6th, 45.49
Girls
100M: Maya Sheeley, 2nd, 13.81; Sammy Curtis, 4th, 13.92
400M: Lena Nelson, 10th, 76.08
800M: Ava Mott, 7th, 2:44.73; Lena Nelson, 10th, 2:54.37
1600M: Keeley Brooks, 8th, 6:10.80
3200M: Icel Sukovaty, 1st, 12:36.63; Lindsay Worrell, 6th, 14:15.64
300M hurdles: Maya Sheeley, 2nd, 52.16
4x400M relay: 4th place, Keeley Brooks, Josephine Cole, Lucy Cole, Athena Milani
Shot put: Lauren Ochoa, 7th, 25-11
Discus: Lauren Ochoa, 9th, 70-01
Javelin: Lauren Ochoa, 6th, 83-03.5
