Pasco Invite boys: Kamiakin’s Fishburn takes 3,200 title

Before the records started falling at the 55th annual Pasco Invite, meet director John Crawford announced Saturday that this was indeed his final Invite.

“I haven’t told anyone, not even the family,” Crawford told the crowd at Edgar Brown Stadium. “But this is my last Pasco Invite. For health reasons, I cannot keep doing what I’m doing.”

Crawford, who has directed the Invite since 1974, also will be inducted into the WIAA Hall of Fame in May as a contributor.

But as everyone knows, what Crawford does is for the kids. So let’s get to it.

Mead won the boys team title for the 13th time in school history with 45 points, while Bishop Blanchet was second and Kamiakin fifth.

Zach Shugart of Bishop Blanchet was named the Outstanding Male Athlete of the Meet, setting a meet record of 16 feet, 3 inches in the pole vault. The previous record was 16-1, set in 2002 by McKane Lee of Arlington and Tyson Byers of University.

Kamiakin’s Phillip Fishburn was the lone Mid-Columbia champion Saturday under the sunny skies. He turned in a time of 9 minutes, 29.71 minutes in the 3,200 meters, beating Bellingham’s Cade Brown by a couple of steps.

“I didn’t like my spot,” Fishburn said of the start, which included all 40 runners. “But I got out OK. It’s cool that the Pasco Invite is right in our backyard.”

Fishburn, who was fifth in the event last year, is headed in the fall to Gonzaga, where he will run cross country and track.

Chiawana’s Roman Ruiz finished second in the pole vault with a personal-best mark of 15 feet, 9 inches. He was sixth in the shot put with another personal best of 51-7.

“This is always a good meet for me,” said Ruiz, who will serve an LDS mission in Italy after he graduates in June. “I had a PR in the pole vault last year at 15 feet.

“I had been waiting to go that high (15-9). I knew I had it in me. The adrenaline is there with the competition.”

Ruiz also was entered in the hurdle events, but he strained a hamstring Monday. When he came out of the blocks Saturday in the 110 high hurdles, he knew it wasn’t meant to be.

“The hurdles is one of my main events,” he said. “I love to have the kind of competition that this meet brings.”

Umatilla’s Fabian Cardenas ran to a third-place finish in the elite mile with a time of 4:14.87, getting past North Central’s Justin Janke right before the finish line.

Cardenas, who won the past two Oregon 3A/2A/1A cross country titles, was sitting in sixth with one lap to go. He started picking guys off with 300 meters remaining to finish third in his first Invite.

“I looked at this meet last year, and it was pretty fast,” Cardenas said. “I talked with my coach, and we thought it would be a good race. On the last lap, I was confident I would move up. I’ve been working on my closing speed. Coming here brought out the best in me.”

Michael Slagowksi of Rocky Mountain won the elite mile in a meet-record time of 4:05.71.

“I was here last year and ran a 4:12,” said Slagowski, who now has won the event twice. “Getting that record was a goal of mine. My plan was to get out to a good start. I knew Justin Janke would push me, but so did other guys.”

Slagowski, who has won Idaho 5A titles in cross country and the 800, 1,600 and 3,200, will run at Penn State in the fall.

Hanford’s Joseph Gauthier finished third in the 100 (10.81) and sixth in the 200 (22.39), and ran a leg on the 4x400 relay team that finished out of the top eight. His times in the 100 and 200 were personal bests.

“I was proud of that,” Gauthier said of his 100 time. “The guys here make you run faster. You are running against some of the best in the nation.”

Chiawana’s Joshua Wilson was seventh in the 100 (11.14) and ninth in the 200 (22.82).

Kamiakin’s Wyatt Musser met with some stiff competition in the shot put and discus.

Musser had a personal best of 50-10 in the shot put to finish seventh. Chelan’s Jose Padilla unleashed a monster throw of 61-4 1/4 to win by almost 7 feet.

In the discus, Musser had the third-best throw in the prelims at 164-8, but he scratched all three throws in the finals and finished fourth.

“I wasn’t expecting to place in the shot put, so that was a good day,” Musser said. “I love this (discus) ring, but I had a bad day. I had competition, and that may have gotten to me, and it usually doesn’t. I love the competition I get, and they are all good people.”

Walla Walla’s Alex Iben was second in the 800 with a time of 1:55.99, while Kamiakin’s Braxton Gutierrez was fifth in a time of 1:56.30.

Sunnyside’s Nathon Maltos finished fifth in the 400 (49.87), Walla Walla’s Logan Mullen was seventh in the javelin (166-8), and Kamiakin’s Garrett Paxton was eighth in the high jump with a personal best of 6-2.

In the long jump, Walla Walla’s Mitchell Jacobson was sixth (21-2 1/4), and Chiawana’s Dominic Lee was eighth (21-1).

The triple jump saw Royal’s Joe Lang finish third (44-10), Walla Walla’s Sam Hoe take fifth (43-1 1/4) and Prosser’s Michael Kernan eighth (41-10).

This story was originally published April 16, 2016 at 10:59 PM with the headline "Pasco Invite boys: Kamiakin’s Fishburn takes 3,200 title."