Got an e-mail today touting the Southridge 4x200 relay team and how its time of 1 minutes, 42 seconds at the 3A state meet in late May was the 10th-fastest in the country.
One problem. That ranking was on athletic.net -- a good website to be sure, but its rankings pale in comparison to those on dyestat.com, one of the giants among track and field aficionados.
Look up the top 4x200 marks in the country there, and Southridge’s mark isn’t quite so impressive -- it’s tied for 196th nationally.
One difference -- a lot of Texas marks aren't on the athletic.net list.
Made me wonder how many of the Mid-Columbia’s best marks of the 2008 track season ranked on the national list (which is at least 200 deep on dyestat.com).
Boys
100 Cade Wandling (Prosser) 10.86 (not ranked).
200 Cade Wandling (Prosser) 22.05 (not ranked).
400 Cade Wandling (Prosser) 48.38 (not ranked).
800 Peter Gilbert (Pasco) 1:54.27 (not ranked).
1600 Andrew Gonzales (Southridge) 4:20.48 (not ranked). However, Gonzales’ 3:58.97 in the 1,500 at the Hermiston Invite is ranked 23rd.
3200 Andrew Gonzales (Southridge) 9:20.26 (not ranked).
110H Kyle Eaton (Walla Walla) 15.32 (not ranked).
300H Morgan Baker (Waitsburg-Prescott) 39.56 (not ranked).
4x100 Prosser (Galvan, Bruns, Washington, Wandling) 42.85 (not ranked).
4x400 Richland (Bowers, Schweiger, Piippo, Casillas) 3:25.20 (not ranked).
High jump Jason Feser (Kamiakin) 6-8 (tied for 144th).
Pole vault Cameron Fancher (Southridge) 13-9 1/2 (not ranked).
Long jump Stephen Swanson (Southridge) 22-2 1/2 (not ranked).
Triple jump Joseph Babcock (Grandview) 44-2 1/4 (not ranked).
Shot put Tad Harman (Moses Lake) 53-7 1/2 (not ranked).
Discus Tad Harman (Moses Lake) 160-3 (not ranked).
Javelin Spencer Hadley (Connell) 189-4 (not ranked).
Girls
100 Whitney Leavitt (Kiona-Benton) 12.13 (not ranked).
200 Whitney Leavitt (Kiona-Benton) 24.78 (not ranked).
400 Angelica Rodriguez (Hermiston) 58.16 (not ranked).
800 Maggie Jones (Richland) 2:16.99 (not ranked).
1600 Marisa Vander Malle (Pasco) 5:07.12 (not ranked).
3200 Marisa Vander Malle (Pasco) 11.13.69 (unranked).
100H Courtney Kirkwood (Othello) 14.79 (not ranked).
300H Olivia Johnston (Kamiakin) 44.19 (216th).
4x100 Richland (Deitz, Lakes, Jackson, Sanford) 48.21 (tied for 394th).
4x200 Southridge (Bourque, Smith, Upton, McNeill) 1:42.00 (tied for 196th). Also, Richland’s 1:42.63 was 255th.
4x400 Hermiston (Coombs, Jones, Rodriguez, Rademacher) 4:07.27 (not ranked).
High jump Jessica Clements (Richland) 5-7 (tied for 84th).
Pole vault Jessica Christian (Richland) 12-1 (tied for 67th). Also, Shanie Bushman (Walla Walla) went 12-0, tying for 75th.
Long jump Allyssa Thompson (Kamiakin) 17-7 1/2 (not ranked).
Triple jump Shaniae Lakes (Richland) 37-6 (not ranked).
Shot put Michelle Coombs (Hermiston) 39-5 (not ranked).
Discus Ana Zapien (Prosser) 134-1 (not ranked).
Javelin Michelle Coombs (Hermiston) 155-11 (13th). Also, Courtney Kirkwood (Othello) went 151-0, which ranked 18th.
As you can see, being one of the nation’s best isn’t easy to do.
Til next time ...