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SPOKANE -- Steven Piippo leaned against the fence surrounding the Spokane Falls CC track, barely able to stand.
The Richland senior had just finished off a gutty performance at Saturday's 4A/3A Eastern Regionals, running a 49.5-second split to anchor the Bombers' 1,600-meter relay team to a third-place finish and wrapping up a fourth state berth for himself.
"Are you kidding? I died at about 390 meters," he said. "I haven't puked yet, but I'm going to."
Not long after, in fact.
"You earned a good puke," Bombers coach, Jim Qualheim, told him.
That example of "leaving it all on the track" in the 80-degree sunshine capped a strong day for area sprinters on the second day of the meet.
Pasco junior Marques Avery won the 100 and 200 titles as the CBBN re-established its dominance over the short races, taking eight of nine available state berths -- including two for Piippo in the 100 and 200.
And Hanford senior Josh Bland grabbed the league's only 3A berth in the sprints with a second-place finish in the 400 -- one of three berths he earned on the day, including the CBBN's only 3A regional title by clearing 6 feet, 4 inches in the high jump.
In all, Mid-Columbians grabbed 15 berths in 4A at next week's Star Track XXVII state meet at Mount Tahoma High in Tacoma and six in 3A.
Still, the Spokane schools dominated the boys meets again. The GSL took 28 of 51 state berths in 4A and 28 of 34 in 3A, as well as four of the five extra qualifiers on the state standard. Mead won the 4A team title and North Central the 3A.
4A
Avery a year ago was just happy to make the regional finals in his two events.
Saturday, he was happy to take home titles in the 100 and 200, although his winning times -- 11.02 and 22.57 -- were off his career-best times from Friday's prelims.
In the 200, Avery and Piippo ran side-by-side in adjoining lanes down the straightaway, with Avery winning by just two-hundredths of a second.
"It's just been a long weekend, and I'm ready to go home," Avery said. "But this feels great, because I won two events at regionals and I broke into the 10s in the 100 (he ran 10.93 on Friday)."
Piippo took third in the 100 (11.18) and in the high jump, clearing only 6-2 and qualifying on fewer misses. But he wasn't going to quibble with how he punched his state tickets.
"I'm exhausted," the Boise State signee said. "I made it, and I get to live another day."
Walla Walla junior Garrett Gerling finished second in both hurdles races, going 15.42 in the 110s and 39.53 in the 300s, and senior Jordan Ness finished third in the 400 in 49.51 to cap a CBBN sweep of the event. Moses Lake senior Spencer Fackrell qualified in the triple jump, placing third in 43-21/2.
State qualifiers and area placers
Team scores--Mead 140, Ferris 80, Lewis & Clark 48, Richland 46, Wenatchee 43, Walla Walla 43, Central Valley 43, Southridge 42, Kamiakin 36, Pasco 36, Davis 35, Moses Lake 21, Eisenhower 15, Eastmont 9, University 8, Kennewick 7, Gonzaga Prep 6.
100--Marques Avery (Pas) 11.02, Zach Robinson (LC) 11.16, Steven Piippo (Ric) 11.18. Also: 4, Andrew Bloom (WW) 11.24; 6, Jordan Ness (WW) 11.40; 7, Cori Nickerson (Kmk) 11.51.
200--Avery (Pas) 22.57, Piippo (Ric) 22.59, Dimitri Mandapat (Dav) 22.70. Also: 5, Tim White (Kmk) 23.09; 6, Jerrod Johnston (Kmk) 23.33; 7, Austin Schilling (WW) 23.46; 8, DeVonte Rhea (Ric) 23.62.
400--Jacob Sealby (Wen) 49.10, Mandapat (Dav) 49.42, Jordan Ness (WW) 49.51. Also: 5, Nickerson (Kmk) 50.49; 7, Tyler Bowers (Ric) 51.11.
800--Justin Zimmerman (Fer) 1:52.60, Jordan Curnutt (Md) 1:52.67, Brad Whitley (CV) 1:52.95. Also: 4, Aaron Smith (Sou) 1:57.93; 5, Peter Gilbert (Pas) 1:58.09; 6, Kyle Sturdefant (Sou) 1:59.69; 7, Nathan Schweiger (Ric) 2:00.78; 8, Casey Casillas (Ric) 2:01.60.
1600--Emmanuel Contreras (Dav) 4:13.46, Steven Kutsch (Md) 4:14.58, Adam Thorne (Fer) 4:17.78. Also: 4, Quinton Olivas (Sou) 4:19.02; 5, Andrew Gonzales (Sou) 4:21.23.
110H--Casey Monahan (Md) 14.99, Garrett Gerling (WW) 15.42, Nick Hunt (Wen) 15.47. Also: 4, Ben Ward (Sou) 15.61.
300H--Wes Bailey (Md) 39.46, Gerling (WW) 39.53, Hunt (Wen) 40.10. Also: 4, Jason Yale (Sou) 40.41; 6, Rainer Luhrs (Pas) 41.82; 7, Jordan LeMieux (Pas) 41.88.
4x400--Mead 3:20.94, Wenatchee 3:20.94, Richland (Tyler Bowers, Casey Casillas, Nathan Schweiger, Steven Piippo) 3:22.44. Also: 4, Kamiakin 3:24.64; 8, Walla Walla 3:28.09.
HJ--AJ Maricich (Md) 7-0, Ryan LaForte (Md) 6-6, Piippo (Ric) 6-2. Also: 7, Jason Hanson (Kwk) 6-0; 8, Travis Kafentzis (Ric) 6-0.
TJ--Levi Taylor (LC) 46-41/4, Evander Cobbs (CV) 44-61/4, Spencer Fackrell (ML) 43-21/2. Also: 4, Justin Piek (WW) 42-9; 5, Mitchell Hill (ML) 42-83/4.
Shot--Kjelby Oiland (Fer) 57-11/4, Michael Banta (Md) 52-11, Billy Rowell (CV) 52-10. Also: 6, Brandon Porter (WW) 50-3; 7, Travis Sharp (Kwk) 46-33/4; 8, Peter Girgis (Ric) 46-11/4.
Jav--Justin Graff (Md) 203-1, Taylor (LC) 194-10, Joe Zimmerman (LC) 192-4. Also: 4, Ethan Morgan (Kmk) 185-4; 7, Jacob Price (Pas) 171-1; 8, Alex Dissing (Kmk) 169-3.
3A
Bland started his day on a high note, jumping a career-best 6-4 to best Shadle Park's Matthew Barnes on fewer misses and deny the GSL a sweep of all regional titles.
He expected to get through in his other two events and did with second-place finishes in the 400 (50.03) and triple jump, in which he went a career-best 44-11/2.
"I knew I had to go out and do my best today," Bland said. "Now I've got to get ready for next week. I'm just thankful the season isn't over yet."
The same could be said by Falcons junior Joe Clements, who led the 110 hurdles at the midway point before tumbling over a hurdle and finishing last.
He nearly met the same fate in the 300s, hitting the next-to-last hurdle and stumbling for a second before regaining his balance to hold off Barnes and take second in 40.93.
"I was like, 'Oh no, not again,' " Clements said. "But I wasn't ready to be done with my season. I went to state last year, and I didn't not want to go this year."
Sunnyside junior Kennedy Sarmiento was the beneficiary of Clements' fall in the 110s, moving up to finish second in 15.40.
Hanford senior Kyle Wagar clinched a state berth by meeting the javelin standard on his second throw of the day, and his 186-foot effort stood up to finish second as four throwers qualified.
"I just calmed down after my first throw and went out and did it," said Wagar, who bettered his career-high by 21 inches.
State qualifiers and area placers
Team scores--North Central 1701/2, Mount Spokane 123, Hanford 981/2, Shadle Park 89, East Valley 87, Rogers 40, West Valley 25, Sunnyside 23.
100--Corde Bailey (Rog) 11.20, Chase Naccarato (MtS) 11.30. Also: 6, Travis Stewart (Han) 11.60; 8, Damian Ramos (Sun) 11.77.
200--Bailey (Rog) 22.34, Spencer Wordell (NC) 22.71. Also: 8, Jose Madrigal (Sun) 23.71.
400--Jason Nokes (MtS) 49.67, Josh Bland (Han) 50.03. Also: 8, Elias Medrano (Sun) 54.49.
800--Leon Dean (NC) 1:54.37, Alex Avila (NC) 1:55.13, Kyle Mellander (WV) 1:55.61. Also: Zac Martin (Han) 1:59.99; 8, Albert Rodriguez (Han) 2:05.85.
1600--Andrew Kimpel (NC) 4:14.20, Dean (NC) 4:14.67, Ben Johnston (NC) 4:16.05.
110H--Desean Svastisalee (NC) 15.37, Kennedy Sarmiento (Sun) 15.40. Also: 5, Joseph Collett (Han) 16.38; 8, Joe Clements (Han) 23.23.
300H--S.Wordell (NC) 39.09, Clements (Han) 40.93. Also: 6, Sarmiento (Sun) 43.32.
4x400--Mount Spokane 3:23.58, North Central 3:24.52. Also: 6, Hanford 3:37.84.
HJ--Bland (Han) 6-4, Matthew Barnes (SPk) 6-4. Also: 4, Shawn Vandermark (Han) 6-0.
TJ--Bo Schuetzle (SPk) 44-4, Bland (Han) 44-11/2. Also: 4, Fransisco Navarro-Rodriguea (Sun) 41-83/4; 5, Harshel Matta (Han) 41-51/4; 8, Vandermark (Han) 39-11/2.
Shot--James Dorr (EV) 50-03/4, Cameron Gump (NC) 49-0. Also: 6, RJ Harris (Han) 46-0.
Jav--Zach Ames (EV) 191-3, Kyle Wagar (Han) 186-0, Luke Evans (NC) 185-11, Ryan Lemery (SPk) 184-10. Also: 5, Cameron Wagar (Han) 179-0; 7, Jordan Friesz (Han) 165-5.
