State athletes gather Saturday at Edgar Brown Stadium for Pasco Invite

The biggest regular-season track meet of the season is this coming Saturday at Edgar Brown Stadium, where the 58th annual Pasco Invite will be held.

It’s not clear if it still holds the title of being the nation’s largest one-day high school track meet, but if it’s not then it’s close, with over 1,000 athletes competing.

All nine Mid-Columbia Conference schools will be competing.

Last year’s Athletes of the Meet are returning: Kennewick’s Johan Correa for the boys and Tahoma’s Aliya Wilson for the girls, who was also female Athlete of the Meet in 2017.

The meet begins at 9:20 a.m. with the national anthem, and field events and some preliminary races start at 9:30 a.m. Running finals begin at 12:50 p.m.

• Kamiakin senior Ryan Child and Walla Walla sophomore Ella Nelson performed well in the 3200 meters last weekend at the prestigious Arcadia Invitational in California. Neither placed high in their event, but Nelson’s 10 minute, 42.97 second time gives her the third-best time in the state of Washington among all classifications of girls. Child’s 9:15.48 time gives him the fourth-best mark among all boys in Washington.

• Meanwhile, at last Saturday’s Davis Invite, the area had a few athletes win titles. Hanford’s Amanda Fraga won the girls 400 meters with a time of 1:00.78, while teammate Nyenuchi Okemgbo won the girls 100 hurdles in 15.16 seconds. Richland’s Riley Moore came away with the boys 3200 meters win with a time of 9:34.75. Other Richland teammates who took home titles are Maelyn George (girls javelin, 121-9), Logan Hendel (boys pole vault, 14-0 feet), Madeline Mauia (girls shot put, 39 feet, 9 inches), and Jack Schuster (boys javelin, 165-0 feet). Pasco’s Lyqualah Kinsey won the girls long jump title with a leap of 16 feet, 1 inch; while Hanford’s Konnor Oberman won the boys discus competition with a toss of 136 feet.

• Current top marks in the state include the Chiawana boys 4x400 relay team, which has the fastest time at 3:25.15; and the River View boys 4x100 team, with a 41.53 second time. Chiawana’s Dion Lee has the second-best triple jump mark in the state at 46-5.25, while Walla Walla’s Jared McAlvey is No. 2 in the state in both hurdles – he’s 14.65 seconds in the 110 highs, and 38.75 seconds in the 300. The Kamiakin boys 4x100 and 4x400 relays teams are ranked No. 3 in both events, as is Wa-Hi’s Patrick Utschinski in the boys shot put, Kamiakin’s Brayden Freitag in the boys pole vault, Walla Walla’s Ella Nelson in the girls 3200 meters, and the Hermiston girls 4x100 relay team.

• The MCC has had one round of conference meets, held on March 28. In both boys and girls, the teams from Hanford, Kamiakin and Walla Walla are all 2-0.

Pro baseball update

Long-season minor league baseball has begun play, and the Mid-Columbia has a few players who’ve started their seasons.

Othello’s David Garza has been busy over the past year. Last spring, Garza finished his collegiate career at Tennessee Tech, helping lead the team to the NCAA Super Regionals. He then was drafted by and signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Garza excelled for most of the summer with the D-Backs’ Arizona Rookie League team before being promoted for the final few games with the Hillsboro Hops of the Northwest League.

Garza starts this season with Arizona’s Class A Midwest League franchise, the Kane County Cougars. In the first four games, he’s batting .250 (3 for 12).

Southridge grad Mason Martin begins this season with the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Class A South Atlantic League team in Greensboro, N.C. He is 2 for 13 with a double in the team’s first four games, while playing first base.

Southridge grad Conner O’Neil is now with the St. Lucie, Fla., Mets in the Class A Florida State League. A relief pitcher, O’Neil tossed 1.1 innings of shutout relief, striking out three batters en route to a 3-0 victory over the Bradenton Marauders (Pirates) on Sunday. O’Neil earned the victory in the game.

Arturo Reyes, who pitched for Warden High School as well as CBC before going to Gonzaga, signed in the offseason with the Tampa Bay Rays. He’s a reliever for the Montgomery (Ala.) Biscuits, the Rays’ Double-A Southern League affiliate. Reyes is 1-0 in one relief appearance.

Richland High grad Eric Yardley is starting the season with the San Diego Padres’ Triple-A Pacific Coast League affiliate, the El Paso Chihuahuas. He’s thrown three innings of relief, fanning four.

NWAC sports

Host CBC swept Blue Mountain 7-6 and 11-10 in softball on Saturday, giving the Hawks two big NWAC East wins. In the opener, Samantha Cissne (Chiawana grad) had a double, two RBIs and scored three times for CBC, while teammate Miranda Camacho (Richland) had two hits (including a double) and drove in two runs.

In the nightcap, CBC’s Sydney Stoner (Southridge) was 3-for-3 with a double, drove in three runs and scored three runs. The Hawks’ Sofia Sallas (West Seattle) was 2-for-3 with a double and three RBIs.

Here are the NWAC East standing as of April 9: Big Bend 10-2, North Idaho 11-3, Wenatchee Valley 7-2, Spokane and Walla Walla each at 7-7, Treasure Valley at 5-5, CBC at 5-8, Blue Mountain at 2-10, and Yakima Valley at 0-10.

• Here’s a list of some of the area’s athletes who have signed letters of intent for Northwest community colleges: Makenzie Frost, Walla Walla High, to play volleyball at Walla Walla CC; Pasco’s Alejandro Vega-Aguilar, to play men’s soccer at CBC; Wa-Hi’s Meghan Yenney, to play softball at WWCC; Pasco’s Marcus Hernandez, to run men’s cross country for Clark CC in Vancouver; Chiawana’s Sydnee Suarez, to play women’s soccer at Spokane Community College; Hanford’s Payton Thompson, to play women’s soccer at WWCC. Potpourri

• The Tri-Cities Fire lost on the road Sunday to the Idaho Horsemen by a 67-37 score. The Loss drops the Fire to 0-3 in the American West Football Conference indoor football league. Idaho is 3-0, Wenatchee Valley is 2-1, and Reno is 1-2. The Fire plays host to the Horsemen again this Saturday, April 13, at 7 p.m., in the Toyota Center.

• The Tri-City Americans’ right winger Kyle Olson has signed an amateur tryout contract with the San Diego Gulls of the American Hockey League. Olson was drafted by the Anaheim Ducks in the 2017 NHL Draft. San Diego is Anaheim’s affiliate.

• The Northwest Shootout basketball games, pitting Washington’s top seniors against Oregon’s top seniors, will be this Saturday at Liberty High School in Issaquah. Girls game is at 4 p.m.; boys play at 6 p.m. Kamiakin’s Oumou Toure, headed to Butler University, and Sunnyside’s Ashlee Maldonado, playing next season at Santa Clara University, will play for the Washington team. Kittitas’ Brock Ravet, who will be at Gonzaga next year, is playing for the Washington boys.