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Every morning before Katharine Lotze gathers up her books and heads to Columbia Basin College for her Running Start classes, the Kiona-Benton senior heads to the computer.
There, she types "www.athletic.net" into her Internet browser and discovers how her competition did the night before.
"I'm almost as bad as Mr. Perry," Lotze joked, referring to Bears head coach Jim Perry.
Lotze keeps tabs on the likes of SCAC rivals Trishi Williams of Mabton and Brianna Casper of Connell in the 100-meter hurdles, and Chewelah's Liz Cobb, MacKenzie Altig of Bellevue Christian and Naches Valley's Claire Boutillier in the triple jump.
But as of yet, no one has passed Lotze atop the state's 1A leaderboard. Her marks of 15.61 seconds in the 100 hurdles and 36 feet, 10 inches in the triple jump lead the state going into this weekend's state-qualifying meets.
Lotze also runs a leg on Ki-Be's state-leading 4x100 and 4x200 relay teams.
The SCAC holds its district meet Friday in Goldendale. The top four finishers in each event qualify for state in two weeks at Eastern Washington University.
What Perry remembers most about Lotze was her reluctance as an underclassman to try either the triple jump or the relays.
"She just did not want to run the relays her freshman or sophomore years," Perry said. "Last year, the only reason we did it was because I told them they had a chance to break the school record. And the girls just bonded."
He then cajoled her into triple jumping with a threat.
"I said something like, if you don't do it, I guess you'll be a distance runner," Perry said. "And she just fell in love with it. She's got the perfect jumper's body (Lotze stands 5-111/4) and she's the perfect role model."
The perfect ending to Lotze's career would be to win a state title that has eluded her during a career that started in seventh grade and will continue next year at Central Washington University.
She still remembers last year's 100 hurdles final in Tacoma. She burst out of the blocks with her best start of the year, only to hear the starter's gun fire a second time for a false start in the lane next to her.
That made Lotze gun-shy for the restart, and she ended up third in a close race behind Connell's Jessica Casper.
"I still think I would have won," Lotze said. "And then I took sixth in the triple jump with my worst jump of the entire season. So I'm definitely out for a little redemption at state."
Lotze has added incentive with a little bet she placed with her father, Brian.
"If I get a state championship in any of my events, I get to get a tattoo," she said, smiling.
Lotze already has the tattoo picked out -- a track shoe on her heel. She's still deciding whether to go with Ki-Be's or CWU's school colors. "Maybe I'll put Ki-Be on this one," she said, pointing to her right foot, "and Central on the other one."
-- The 4A/3A Eastern Regional meet is Friday and Saturday at Spokane Falls CC. The top three 4A and two 3A finishers in each event qualify for state at Mount Tahoma HS in Tacoma. ... Richland senior Steven Piippo was named the CBBN boys track athlete of the year, while Kennewick senior Robert Jessop was the field athlete honoree. Richland senior Jessica Christian shared girls field athlete honors with Eastmont's Brooke Randall. Walla Walla's Harvey Wellington, who is retiring at season's end, and Southridge's Sheila Smith were the boys and girls coaches of the year, respectively. ... The CWAC district meet is Friday at Art Fiker Stadium in Prosser. The top three in each event qualify for state at Mount Tahoma. ... The Southeast 2B district meet is today and Friday at Martin Field in Walla Walla. The top two qualify for state at EWU. ... The Oregon 5A state meet is this weekend at Hayward Field in Eugene. Hermiston has six boys and 11 girls entries in the field.
