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A year ago, Day 1 of the 4A/3A Eastern Regional track and field championships proved the worst day of Allyssa Thompson's career.
The Kamiakin senior missed out on a state berth by just a couple inches in the long jump, and she spent the past year working to ensure that wouldn't happen again.
Her chance to redeem herself came Friday at Fran Rish Stadium, and Thompson came through in a big way. She won the 3A long jump title with a career-best jump of 17 feet, 7 1/2 inches, then came back a couple hours later and added the high jump title, clearing 5-4 and winning on fewer misses.
"This is pretty sweet," Thompson said. "I was really bummed out I didn't make it last year. Today, I didn't care how I placed. I just wanted (the state standard) or to get third. My dream was just to make it to state."
Thompson was far from the only area athlete whose state dreams were fulfilled Friday. In all, 12 boys and 16 girls entries punched their tickets to next weekend's Star Track state meet at Edgar Brown Stadium.
One regional record was set Friday. Ferris senior Kelly McNamee, the defending 4A girls state high jump champion, cleared 5-10 on her third attempt. She also won the long jump with a best of 17-7 1/4.
3A girls
Thompson was one of five high jumpers from the Mid-Columbia to make the state standard of 5-2 1/2, including defending state champion Elise Jepsen of Kamiakin, who needed three attempts to qualify.
Thompson earlier had a state berth clinched in the long jump when she popped her wininng jump on her final attempt, passing Sunnyside's Jordyne Jaquish.
"My coach just said there was no pressure on me, so just pop it out there," Thompson said.
That also was Kamiakin senior Richelle Stewart's attitude in the javelin. After meeting the state standard on her first throw, she relaxed and popped the winning throw of 133-5 on her final attempt in the prelim round.
"It helped being able to relax after the first throw," said Stewart, one of six throwers to make the standard. "Last year, I was just tense the whole day."
Southridge's 400-meter relay team, which almost failed to qualify for regionals last week after a bad handoff, breezed to victory Friday in a season-best 48.64 seconds.
"We had to fix our handoffs," said anchor leg Kasey McNeill. "We wanted to make it clean and make it to state."
Hanford freshman Erin Hegarty won the 3,200 in 11:54.69, breaking away from the lead pack after a slow first mile. "I wasn't worried about time, though," Hegarty said. "I just wanted to make it to state."
4A girls
You might want to avoid Richland senior Lindsay Roberts this next week.
Roberts hasn't washed her lucky socks the past couple of weeks, and after jumping a career-best 17-4 1/2 to take second in the long jump and qualify for state, she's not about to anytime soon.
"They're smelling pretty bad about now," she said, laughing. "But I don't care. I finally got my 17 and I'm on to state."
She'll be joined there by junior teammate Shallyn Jackson, who took third in the long jump and ran a leg on the victorious 4x100 relay that ran 48.21 -- fourth fastest in area history.
Also headed to state is Pasco sophomore Marisa Vander Malle, who broke away from Central Valley's Eden Lake with 250 meters to go and finished third in the 3,200 in 11:13.69 (No. 7 on the all-time area list).
"I hadn't run a good 3,200 all year," said Vander Malle, the first Bulldogs girl to qualify in the 3,200 in almost two decades. "But I had it in me today."
3A boys
There were a pair of Tri-City sweeps of state berths on Day 1, and Southridge senior Stephen Swanson was part of both of them.
Swanson won the long jump with an area-best jump of 22-2 1/2 -- Hanford's Levi Luca and Kamiakin's Jason Feser also qualified -- and also anchored the winning 4x100 relay in 43.90 seconds, followed by Kamiakin and Hanford.
Southridge junior Andrew Gonzales led almost the entire way in the 3,200 but was outkicked by North Central's Andrew Kimpel and finished second in 9:21.06 -- still a season-best by 3 1/2 seconds.
"I wanted to set a hard pace and then take off the last 500 meters," Gonzales said. "I thought I had him, but he just had the better kick today."
4A boys
Moses Lake senior Tad Harman led a Mid-Columbia sweep of state berths in the discus, rebounding from a poor district meet a week ago to win the regional title with a throw of 154-2.
"I've been working hard this last week in the discus to figure out what I was doing wrong," said Harman, who had the three best throws of the day. "I took second in this last year, but now it's my year."
Harman's teammate, Cameron Dewitt, took second with a throw of 140-5 on his final attempt, almost causing Pasco senior Kohl St. Peter to faint. He had to survive four more throws before he knew his state berth was secured. "I shouldn't have to go through stress like that," St. Peter said.
