In blistering heat with little breeze, 20 Hyak tracksters competed in the State Championships over the weekend at Eastern Washington University in Cheney. The end result: 18 medals and three trips to the top of the podium.
For the Lady Hyaks, junior Tawni Blankenship started things off by winning the pole vault at 11 feet, becoming the first Lady Hyak to win a championship in nearly a decade. This was no surprise as she was favored to win the event by nearly a foot.
“Tawni’s ascension to the top of the pole vault podium has been astounding,” Coach Peter Fry said. “Fifteen months ago, she had never turned out for track, let alone even touched a vault pole. Now her aerial acrobatics have secured her a county and district record, along with a state title. She’s a tenacious competitor in all of her events, and we are very proud of her.”
A few hours later, Blankenship was joined by senior Reilly Moore and freshmen Lorin Cox and Brooklyn Neal in the 400 meter relay prelims where they shattered the school record by 1 ½ seconds with a blistering 51.34 seconds. The next day in the finals, they couldn’t match that time but still finished strong with a third place.
Cox may have established a landmark – winning four medals and breaking three school records in a single state meet. Besides the short relay, Cox placed 5th in the 100-meter dash with a school record of 12.74 and 6th in the 200-meter dash where she missed a fourth school record by 0.07 seconds. Fry is fairly sure no other Lady Hyak has accomplished the feat of four medals at one state track meet.
“Lorin had a spectacular first trip to State.” Fry exclaimed. “She went toe-to-toe with the best and she performed at a high level when it mattered the most. There is no doubt she has God-given talent, but she couples that with a great attitude and a willingness to train each day. The possibilities are endless for Lorin Cox: The Ferrari!”
Her fourth medal was part of another relay, and another record, which included Moore, freshman Kaytlynn Corey and junior Mariah Vogler in the mile relay. In the prelims on Friday, Moore, running the anchor leg, held off the competition to secure the last spot for the finals and break the school record. “She’s a racer and she’s the senior, that’s why she’s the anchor. What guts to get into the finals,” Fry said. The girls finished with an 8th place on Saturday in the finals.
The final three place-winners for the Lady Hyaks were by Vogler placing 6th in the triple jump with a season record of 33’6.25”, Blankenship placing 8th in long jump and Natasha Fruh who placed 5th in the shot put. “She was rattled but pulled together on her last put,” Coach Todd Bridge said. “She improved her mark on the day by over two feet and leap-frogged a handful of other girls to nab 5th. She was astonished that she could do it and I’m very proud of her.”
For the Hyak Boys, it was all about the throwing events. In the shot put, Ben Poplin, Ryan Louderback and Seth Bridge all came out in force with personal records. Poplin finished 6th with a put of 47’11.5”, Louderback finished 5th with a put of 49’3” and Bridge continued Hyak tradition by not only winning the event, but shattering the state meet record by nearly a foot and a half. His put of 56’5.25” broke a 12-year mark. It also surpasses his brother, Caleb Bridge, for the school record.
For the throwers, this is the third consecutive year in a row in which a Hyak boys shot putter has won the state title — Jonnie Law in 2015, Tim Poplin in 2016 and now Seth Bridge. In the past four years, the Hyaks have collected 11 medals in this event. “We’ve had four guys go over 50 feet in the past three seasons. That’s crazy. That’s weight room,” coach Bridge said.
On Saturday, Seth Bridge defended his 2016 state title in the discus with a throw of 173’ 3” — making him the first male to win both events from any school in a very long time. Winning the “double” is an elusive task requiring focus and calm nerves on the day of competition.
“Caleb holds the state discus record and Seth now has the state shot put record.” said their coach and dad, Todd Bridge. “We’ve won the shot put three years in a row with three different boys and now we’ve won the discus four years in a row with just those two (Caleb and Seth). It’s a storybook finish. Not sure if Seth could have pulled it off in the shot if it wasn’t for Caleb’s presence and tips over the last few weeks (referring to Caleb just coming home from college and finishing his track season). And next year looks pretty darn good as Ben (Poplin) will be the top-ranked guy going into next season.”
“We brought a contingent of 20 Hyaks to state, one of the largest in recent memory.” Coach Fry remarked.
“Three state titles and 18 medals total as a final result is awesome. It is also more than noteworthy that of the 18 different events contested in track and field, we had a male or female (or both!) in 14 of them; our team is developing firepower in all events. Coach Bridge and I put in long hours alongside the kids, as they lay it on the line each day; we are happy to see the athletes’ successes as a result. Hyak track and field is alive and well.”
