Hanford’s Gauthier earns 3 gold medals at 4A district meet

Hanford’s Joe Gauthier took care of business in the sprints, and Nyenuchi Okemgbo and Lele Williams dominated the hurdles for the Falcons on the girls side at the Mid-Columbia Conference 4A district track and field meet at Chiawana High School.

Gauthier, who owns the top 100 meter time in the state, left the rest of the field in the dust, turning in a time of 10.85 seconds to win his third district title in the event.

He also picked up the 200-meter title, and held off Chiawana’s Germain Barnes down the stretch in the 4x100 relay. Barnes also finished second in the 100.

“I have not been beaten this year, and I don’t plan on it happening,” Gauthier said of the 100. “No one expects me to come out and run as fast as I do. It’s fun to prove them wrong. I think the hurdles dried (Barnes) out a bit, but he is good. He pushes me.”

The top eight finishers in each event, along with the top four relay teams, advance to the 4A regional meet next week at Fran Rish Stadium in Richland.

Final results and team standings were not available Friday night.

Chiawana, which has the top time in the state in the 4x100 relay, had a poor final hand-off from Theodore Hunter III to Barnes, which allowed Hanford to get an extra step and hold on for the win.

Barnes dominated the 110 and 300 hurdles. He got a healthy dose of competition from Hanford’s Beau Franklin in the 110 hurdles.

“Beau came out of nowhere,” Barnes said. “He didn’t do hurdles last year. He just keeps getting faster. It’s fun to run against him. It’s good competition.”

The boys javelin came down to the final two throws of the event, with Richland’s Jax Lee unleashing a personal best throw of 173-9 on his final throw to beat Hanford’s Vincent Walsh by 13 inches.

Walsh had thrown 172 feet, 8 inches in the prelims to take the lead, and had the last throw of the competition, but couldn’t surpass Lee, who won his first district title.

“It was a good day of competition,” Lee said. “Everyone threw well.”

Richland distance runner Katie Andrus won her first district title in the 1,600 meters.

“It was a difficult race,” Andrus said of the windy conditions. “I’m glad it wasn’t raining, that would have made it harder.”

Riley Moore made it a clean sweep for the Bombers in the 1,600, winning in a time of 4:23.30.

Tyler Kurtz, who has been missing in action for a couple of weeks with a hamstring injury, came back strong with a victory in the 400.

“The first 300 was pretty close, then I picked it up,” Kurtz said. “I really start to kick it in the last 120 meters.”

Okemgbo was a hurdle ahead of the competition in the 100 hurdles, finishing in a time of 14.65. She also was second in the 300’s behind Williams.

It was the first district title for both hurdlers, who both lost their races to Kamiakin’s Heather Donais last spring.

“So far this season, the only girl to beat me is the one from Mead,” Okemgbo said of Zella Conley. “I don’t know what my key to success is. I just try to run a clean race.”

Williams, who also was second in the 100 to Pasco’s Jaidyn Alexander (12.87), said she enjoys the healthy competition she and Okemgbo have.

“She pushes me to do my best,” Williams said. “I love competing against her. I wanted another year against Heather just to get the hang of it.”

Kara Shibley added to the Falcons’ pile of points, winning the discus with a mark of 118-5, and the shot put at 39-6 3/4.

“It’s nice to go into the postseason with a solid mark I can feel good about,” Shibley said of the discus.

Walla Walla picked up a win in the boys high jump, where Mitchell Jacobson entered the competition at 6-6, jump once, and went home with the gold medal.

This story was originally published May 12, 2017 at 10:11 PM with the headline "Hanford’s Gauthier earns 3 gold medals at 4A district meet."