Free Press / Andrew Ottoson
On her second attempt of the day, Bulldogs senior Megan DeFord unwound the girls discus 137 feet, 3 inches May 14, in Kamiah.
Andrew Ottoson - sports/outdoors reporter
May 17, 2011
KAMIAH - Grangeville's Megan DeFord added more than six feet to her best discus throw of the year and now appears to lead this event by almost 25 feet. On her second attempt Saturday, May 14, at the 2A District I-II track meet, DeFord dispatched a 137-foot, 3-inch bomb. She took the shot put title Friday with a distance of 41-1 - a mark that also puts her well ahead of the field looming in Boise.
Megan Sullivan finished first in the 100, 200 and 400, posting elite times in all three events.
Sheyanne Stewart took titles in the 100 hurdles and 300 hurdles.
Saturday was also a banner day for the Bulldogs program as a whole, as the GHS girls won their tenth straight district team title. Kamiah finished second in the girls team scoring.
The Grangeville boys placed first in team scoring behind individual titles by Juston Lindsley in the 200, Joe Anderson in the 400 and Stuart Rau in the 1600.
Kamiah's boys placed third with Jack Nygaard winning both the 110 and 300 hurdles, Eric Hill winning the 800 and Justin Lloyd winning the pole vault. Lloyd cleared 13-2 in one fewer attempt than Tucker Medel, and the duo will be seeded 1-2 in Boise. Kamiah also dominated the boys relays, with top finishes in the medley, half-mile and mile.
"Our relays are our main focus and have been all year," Kubs coach Jim Engledow said. "They're ahead of what we expected coming into the season, about a half-second off our school record in the mile relay. And it's the coach's record, so it's a little more special."
Engledow, Anthony Park, Roger Stulce and Asa Nims set the mark in 1989. Kamiah's track tradition runs deep, but Engledow is focused on the present.
"As a team collectively, our boys fare well on paper," he said. "That doesn't necessarily mean much, but we do have six number one seeds going in with high hopes. And it's a hard-working group."
The girls team is young, with Megan Phillips the only senior. A four-year state qualifier, Engledow said she is "ready to shine."
Phillips will compete in the 100, 200 and triple jump.
Heath paces Prairie
HARRISON - Prairie's Brock Heath qualified for the fourth straight year at the 1A District I-II track meet May 13-14 at Kootenai High School. He took first in the 1600 and 3200 and anchored the medley relay.
"He's got a chance to be top-3 in both the 16 and the 32," coach Ryan Hasselstrom said.
He also said that the relay, with Heath, Josh Roeper, Dakota Wilson and Justin Schmidt, has been "seeded high all year, and is really looking good."
The Prairie boys placed sixth among 15 teams and the girls placed fourth among 16.
Makayla Schaeffer led the girls squad with first place distances in both the long jump and triple jump and, along with Kely Schmidt, Claire Whitley and Shelby Von Bargen, took second in the 4x200 and 4x400 relays.
The Clearwater Valley girls placed eighth and the boys tied for 10th. Senior Felicia Kolb will be seeded first in the pole vault and sixth in the high jump. Fellow seniors Tisha Reuben (shot put, discus) and Eugene Heavy Runner (triple jump, long jump, 800) qualified to compete in Boise, as did sophomore Teresa Johnson (400).
Coming - The 4A/5A games begin Thursday, May 19, at Boise State University, but the first day for all the local schools is Friday, with the 1A/2A/3A finals set to conclude at about 5:30 p.m. Saturday, May 21.
