Off To A Running Start

YAKIMA - At the first track meet of the season, athletes are usually a bit rusty and performances are rarely what they were at the end of the previous year's season.

WP competitors are no exception, but much to head coach Jeff Bartlow's delight, this year's Cardinals performed very close to their peak last year and some even exceeded it at the Papa Wells Invitational in Yakima.

" Overall, I'm pretty pleased," he said. "I really felt good about it."

Ronnie Hulce placed first with a high jump of 4' 10," which is only slightly below her performance of 5'1" that put her third in state last year. She came in fourth in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 18.38 seconds.

" Everybody's in the same boat at the start of the season," Bartlow said. "That's why Ronnie's performance was so good. Her hurdle form has room for improvement, but it was the first meet."

Bartlow similarly praised the women's relay team, which placed seventh in the 4 x 100 with a time of 55.31. The team now consists of Kayla Huxoll, Krystal Har- ris, Kristin Potter and Hulce with Yesenia Escalante as alternate.

"We have a decent little ( women's) relay team," Bartlow said.

Maddy Witt, who was slated to be the team's alternate but is also a pole vaulter, quit the track and field team because the Cardinals had to drop their participation in the pole-vaulting event.

Harris and Potter performed well in the long jump too, compared to last year, reaching 13.6 and 13.7 respectively. At her peak, Harris jumped 13.1 during the 2010 season.

Amanda Cook, whom Bartlow picked as athlete of the week, placed 33rd with discus throw of 61-7 and 25th in the shot put (26-0). Huxoll finished 26th in the shot put (25-11).

On the men's side, Bartlow liked the looks of the Cardinals relay team, which includes Justin Armstrong, Jared Morris, Logan Dozier and Jubilee's Antonio Thompkins. They finished with a time of 47.78, leading the head coach to believe that "with a little work, they're going to be tough," particularly if they can bring the time down to around 45 seconds, he said. Billy Brown is also expected to join the relay team this season.

"They will be as good as last year, if not better," Bartlow said, recalling that the 2010 relay team was plagued by injuries. "We have as much depth and speed."

In individual races, Morris and Thompkins impressed Bartlow in particular. Thompkins took 14th in the 100 with a time of 12.03 (just above veteran and senior Armstrong, who placed 15th out of that field of 60 runners for the day), while Morris placed 14th in the 200 with a time of 25.21.

Thompkins was among five athletes from the Jubilee Boys Ranch who showed up for the Papa Wells Invite, and Bartlow was taken with their effort and performance.

"They just stepped up," he said. "They ran hard. I'm proud of them."

The invitational was encouraging for the longdistance crew as well. Nick Carpenter and Matthew Montgomery took 11th (10:52.21) and 18th (11:21.85) respectively in the 3200 with Seth Deal not far behind.

Eshom Estes starred in the throwing competition, taking 12th in the shot put with a distance of 41-4. With 151 and 121, Estes placed 8th in javelin and discus.

"He has huge potential to place at state," Bartlow said. "He went to a throwing camp in Cheney (Eastern Washington University) last summer and put his time in. He is a solid worker and leader for the team. He had a good day."