Columbia Girls Edge Hockinson’s for Bruin Invite Victory

The CHS girls broke a tie with Hockinson’s for first with a second-place, 8-point effort in the last event of the meet: the 4x400 relay. The final tallies were Columbia 119, Hockinson 117.

On the boy's side, Micah Kinnunen of Hockinson received the boy's athlete of the meet award. He won the 100 and 200 dashes, and second in the long jump. His 200 time and long jump mark represented personal records.

The senior’s overall performance helped the Hockinson team win the boys meet with 135 points. Columbia finished second with 114, and Stevenson was third with 113.

CHS senior Alex Medina and Stevenson junior Isaac Hoidal also won two events.

Medina placed first in the shot put and the discus, while Hoidal prevailed in both the high and long jumps.

Columbia junior Chandlor Bucklin won the boys 400 in a PR time of 52.70 seconds and placed second in the 100 and 200 dashes. His 100 time (11.60) was a PR.

All told, Columbia athletes established personal records in 12 events. They included sophomores Lillian Nelson in the long jump (15 feet even) and Mae Robison in the high jump (4-2).

Bruins Coach Jim Anderson’s highlights for the CHS boys included a victory in the 4x400 relay, junior Ethan Andrews’ PR and “strong” second-place finish in the 800, and the 1-2 finish by Medina and junior Oscar Kirkwood in the shot put. (Kirkwood posted a PR of 43 feet, 7 inches.)

“The 4x400 did extremely well with a mix of new runners,” Anderson said, referring to Stryder Kane, Inti McDonald, Jann Priesemuth, and Bucklin. The quartet finished in a time of 3:39.66, for a .19-second victory over Hockinson’s foursome.

Columbia’s girls won the 4x100 and 4x200 relays with different lineups. They won the 4x100 by .05 seconds, the 4x200 by nearly 3 seconds.

“We ran the 4x100 and 4x200 relays with a mix for the first time,” Anderson noted. “I’m very pleased with the results.”

Anderson, moreover, singled out sophomore Makayla Fies, who won the girls open 400 and ran lead-off on both winning relays and anchored the runner-up 4x400.

“Overall I was encouraged with the continued improvement the athletes are showing. They are really showing the competitive drive, which will carry them into the postseason,” Anderson summarized.

The Bruins are entering the home stretch of the 2018 regular season. They have only two meets left (April 28 at Trout Lake, May 3 at Seton Prep) before the Trico League/-Sub-district championships on May 10 in Stevenson. The Southwest District 1A meet for state qualifying takes place a week later.

“If we can continue to improve and avoid injuries, we will enter the post-season very solid,” Anderson said.

Top performers from Glenwood were sophomore Brooklyn Emerson (first in girls long jump) and junior Kinley Troh (first in the girl's discus, third in the shot put), and sophomore Kevan Bren (fourth in the boys long jump).

For Trout Lake, eighth-grader Mason Stock won the boys 3200 in a PR time of 10:56.54. (He was seventh in 1600 with a PR of 5:07.31.) Sophomore Hannah Funk-houser logged a PR of her own (5:20.30) in winning the girls 1600. Freshman Micah Colburn had PRs in the 100 and 300 hurdles.