Dayton, WP Make Strides At M-F Meet

MILTON-FREEWATER - WP and Dayton tracksters made gains and showed some great potential in the 1B/2B track meet at Shockman Field in Milton-Freewater, Ore., last Wednesday.

It was Dayton's first meet of the season and the boys team placed sixth and the girls team placed eighth for the day. Dayton competed against track athletes from WP, McLoughlin, Asotin, DeSales, Pomeroy, TOR, WWVA, St. John Endicott and Garfield.

The Bulldogs' coach Shawn McGee was right when at the beginning of the season he said his athletes will compete across events. Many runners also compete as throwers.

Bulldog Adam Strohbehn had a great day for the Bulldogs. He placed ninth in the 100-meter race, third in the high jump and a great first place in the long jump.

Kroft Sunderland also had some solid performances last Wednesday. He placed 16th in the shot put and 15th in the discus.

Dayton's Matthew Warren came in 11th in the 800-meter race and 26th in the long jump.

Thrower Chase Sapp came in 35th in the shot put and 22nd in the discus. Brandon Clark placed second in the high jump and tenth in the long jump.

Justin Clark placed sixth in the high jump.

For the girls, Courtney Fuller had a great day and really showed her potential for the season. Fuller placed third in the 100-meter race, fourth in the 200-meter race and sixth in the discus. Chelsey Martin placed 19th in the 100-meter race, and 25th in the shot put.

Bulldog Kaitlin Andrews took eighth in the 100-meter race and 13th in the shot put.

Samura Miller and Elise Button gave solid performances in the 800-meter race, placing sixth and seventh, respectively. In the 1600-meter race, Miller placed fifth and Button placed seventh.

WP, with one track meet under its belt, had an outstanding showing. The WP men's team placed first overall and the women's team placed third.

Sprint star James Thompkins for WP again had a great day. Thompkins placed first in the 100-meter race, first in the 200-meter race and helped his 4x400 relay team take third place.

Standout distance runner Seth Deal placed second in the 1600-meter race and second in the 3200-meter race.

Billy Brown rocked the 110-meter hurdles and took first place. He took second in the 300-meter hurdles. In the WP 4x100 relay team, Brown, Logan Dozier, Julian Torez and Jose Esparza took second place.

For the throwers, Eshom Estes had another great day. He placed first in the shot put, second in discus and second in javelin.

For the girls, Kristin Potter and Ronnie Hulce lived up to the expectations of their coaches early in the season.

Potter placed first in the 100-meter race, second in the 200-meter race, first in the 400-meter race and fifth in the long jump.

Hulce took second in the 100-meter hurdles, second in the high jump and second in the triple jump.

Emily Skay really performed in the 400-meter race placing third and 16th in the 200-meter race.

Distance and jump coach Joanna Lanning said the same WP athletes are rising to the top each meet because the newer or younger athletes are getting in shape.

"Toward the end of the season, a lot of kids will come up and get in shape," she said.

With so few meets under their belts, there's plenty of room for improvement. Lanning said she really doesn't want to predict who will rise to the top later in the season.

"I'm hopeful that the best is yet to come," Lanning said.