Eastern WA Olympian wins 3rd straight steeplechase national title

College Place High School grad Kenneth Rooks finished first in the men’s 3000 meters steeplechase this past weekend at the USA Track and Field National Championships in Eugene, Ore.

Rooks, who placed second in the Olympics last year in Paris, ran the event in 8 minutes and 26.58 seconds.

Rooks will advance to the World Championships, set for Sept. 13-21 in Tokyo.

Meanwhile, Dash Sirmon, a Walla Walla High School graduate and currently competing collegiately at the University of Nebraska, placed second this weekend in the men’s javelin throw.

Sirmon got a mark of 253 feet, 6 inches.

The event winner was Curtis Thompson, who won with a throw of 275 feet, 2 inches.

Hydroplanes

Andrew Tate was a perfect 4 for 4 this past weekend at the Seafair Apollo Mechanical Cup in Seattle.

Tate, driving the U-91 Miss Goodman Real Estate, won all three of his preliminary heat races. In Sunday’s final, he hit the starting line perfectly — while two others on the front line jumped the gun — en route to the easy victory.

Corey Peabody in the U-9 Miss Beacon Plumbing finished second, while Dave Villwock in the U-27 Miss Apollo placed third.

It was Tate’s second H1 Unlimited victory of the season, as he won at Madison, Ind., in early July.

It is also team owner Bruce Ratchford’s third consecutive victory in as many races in this, his rookie season as an owner of BWR Racing.

Last weekend in the Tri-Cities, Ratchford’s other driver and team — Villwock and the U-27 — won the Apollo APBA Gold Cup on the Columbia River.

Tate, who had a rough weekend at the Gold Cup and started as the trailer boat, entered Seattle in third place in the national high points championship race.

But he and the U-91 are back in the lead with just one race, Bayfair in San Diego on Sept. 12-14, remaining.

Here are the standings after Seafair: 1, U-91 and Tate, 4,075 points; 2, U-8 Miss Beacon Electric and J. Michael Kelly, 3,651; 3, U-9 and Peabody, 3,639; 4, U-27 and Villwock, 3,354; 5, U-11 Miss FLAV-R-PAK, Jamie Nilsen, 3,277; 6, U-21 Spirit of America and Gunnar O’Farrell, 1,738; 7, U-12 Graham, Trucking and Jeff Bernard, 1,590.

Pro baseball

Kamiakin grad Trystan Vrieling was part of a two-team Major League Baseball trade on July 31.

Vrieling, a right-handed pitcher, was sent from the New York Yankees to the San Francisco Giants in a deadline deal.

Vrieling and two other Yankees minor leaguers were moved, while New York picked up the Giants’ closer, Camilo Doval.

Vrieling has spent most of the past two seasons with the Yankees’ Double-A Eastern League team, the Somerset Patriots. He picked up a victory on July 6, giving him a record 14th career victory with the Patriots franchise (he was 13-7 last year).

Currently, Vrieling has a 1-2 record, with a 4.36 earned run average. He has fanned 54 batters in 53.2 innings of work.

The Giants assigned him to their Eastern League Double-A team, the Richmond Flying Squirrels.

Vrieling wasn’t the only player with Tri-City ties who was moved.

A few former Tri-City Dust Devils were also dealt.

Reliever David Bednar (2016 with Tri-City) was traded from the Pittsburgh Pirates to the New York Yankees; first baseman Ty France (2015) was moved from the Minnesota Twins to the Toronto Blue Jays; and reliever Phil Maton (2015) left the St. Louis Cardinals in a deal to the Texas Rangers.

In addition, reliever Emmanuel Clase (2017) was put on administrative leave by the Cleveland Indians while he’s being investigated for possible gambling violations.

• Logan Mercado saw his college career end in the spring of 2024 at the University of Oregon.

But the 23-year-old who graduated from Tri-Cities Prep is still playing, just now on a professional level.

Mercado, a right-handed pitcher, started this season with the Idaho Falls Chukars, an independent team in the Pioneer League.

But on May 28, the Arizona Diamondbacks signed Mercado to a free agent contract, and he was assigned to the Diamondbacks’ Arizona Complex League.

He did well enough there that he was promoted to the California League’s Visalia Rawhide on June 21, and he’s been there since.

Mercado has pitched in 11 games this season between the two D-Backs clubs, with five of those appearances starts.

In 34.2 innings of work, he has struck out 33 batters. He has a 4.15 earned run average, and opposing batters are hitting just .236 against him.

College baseball

Chiawana graduate Connor Mendez has found a home.

After having an outstanding spring for Linn-Benton Community College, the right-handed pitcher has signed and committed to Oregon State University.

Mendez was named NWAC South Region Pitcher of the Year and a first-team pitcher. Then he was named the NWAC Championship tournament MVP after he helped lead the Roadrunners to the title.

Now he has two years of eligibility remaining with the Beavers beginning this fall.

Legion baseball

Congratulations to the Hanford Flames AA American Legion Baseball team, which went 6-0 to win the Washington State AA tournament in Spokane.

The Flames defeated the region rival Yakima Valley Peppers 10-2 in the championship on July 31.

Hanford finished the season with a 37-16 record.

Meanwhile, the Tri-City Titans went 0-2 at the AAA state tournament last week in Selah.

Signing

Chiawana’s Mia Tijerina just graduated from high school, but the guard will continue to play basketball beyond high school.

Tijerina will play this coming season for Wenatchee Valley Community College.

Jeff Morrow is former sports editor for the Herald.