Rookie Tri-Cities hydroplane owner stacking up victories
Darrell Strong couldn’t have a better finish in his first unlimited hydroplane race as an owner.
Strong, the Tri-Citian who bought not one, but two unlimited teams in the off-season, had a 1-2 finish Sunday in the Southern Cup in Guntersville, Ala.
J. Michael Kelly, driving for Strong’s U-8 Miss Tri-Cities, finished first in the final. Corey Peabody, Kelly’s teammate, finished right behind in second in the U-9 Pinnacle Peak Consultants.
Not a bad debut for Strong Racing, which now heads to Madison, Ind., this week for the APBA Gold Cup race.
Strong’s team, and the rest of the fleet, will be in the Tri-Cities for the HAPO Columbia Cup on July 23-25.
Olympics
Marisa Howard finished fifth in the women’s 3000 meters steeplechase June 24 at the Team USA Track and Field Olympic Trials in Eugene.
Howard, a Pasco High graduate whose maiden name is VanderMalle, finished the event in a personal best time of 9 minutes, 24.74 seconds.
That easily exceeds the Olympic qualifying time of 9:30.0. Unfortunately, Howard needed to be in the top three to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.
As someone said on social media the other day, it’s tougher to get out of the USA Trials than it is to compete at a World Championship.
Howard’s time is better than most Olympic qualifiers from other countries.
Unfortunately, that wont get her to Tokyo.
She can take solace in knowing she ran a personal best in Eugene.
▪ Connell High grad Ashton Riner placed 20th out of 24 competitors in the June 25 women’s javelin throw final in Eugene.
Riner’s best toss was 153 feet, 3 inches — not as good as the 188-0 she threw in Texas back in March.
But what this does for the 21-year-old junior from BYU is give her the experience she needs for the next Trials, which are for Paris in 2024.
Getting to the Trials was a big dream for Riner — who had dreamed of this event since she was a third-grader.
Now she knows what to expect, and can get ready for the next Trials.
SWX Classic
The annual Media Classic, which began with a joint effort between the Tri-City Herald and the Yakima Herald Republic in 1991 and has been held nearly every year, is back this week after missing 2020 because of the pandemic.
Forty players — 20 boys and girls from Yakima, and another 20 boys and girls from the Tri-Cities — will compete against each other on July 1 at Kamiakin High School.
Cost is $5 to get in the door, and proceeds go to the YMCA of the Greater Tri-Cities.
Tip-off for the girls game is 5 p.m., while the boys game starts at 7:30 p.m. Both games will also be televised on SWX.
This year, the organizers did something different. Because of the lateness of the event and the quick turnaround, rosters are just 10 players rather than the usual 15 per team.
Some players couldn’t participate. Some because it’s July and after the strange school year they had, decided to go on family vacations. Other already had to report to college.
But these rosters still are very strong, and will be evident when the games are played.
The coaching staff from Columbia Basin College and Yakima Valley Community College will once again coach the all-star teams.
Here are the rosters:
Yakima boys — Jackson Cluff, West Valley; Claysen Delp, Zillah; Jason Grant, Toppenish; Nicky Gutierrez, Grandview; Mylo Jones, Yakama Tribal; Logan Kinloch, West Valley; Kory McClure, Prosser; Isaac McDonald, Eisenhower; Daniel Singleterry, Sunnyside; Teal Soaring Eagle, White Swan.
Tri-City boys — Trey Arland, Kamiakin; Tyson Caufield, Hanford; Jacob Coram, Walla Walla; Michael Cornia, Walla Walla; Daniel Dickinson, Kennewick; Twazae Gladney, Richland; Peja Kinsey, Columbia Burbank; Jayden Martinez, Chiawana; Grant McClure, Liberty Christian; Josh Woodard, Richland.
Yakima girls — Nyah Alvarado, Wapato; Esmerelda Galindo, Davis; Karina Hibbitt, East Valley; Analyssa Maldonado, Eisenhower; Naveah Patterson, Davis; Dylan Philip, Ellensburg; Benemi Sanchez, Sunnyside; Paris Wilson, Sunnyside; Halle Wright, Prosser; Kiana Yesiki, Eisenhower.
Tri-City girls — Nadine French, Southridge; Madeline Gebers, Kennewick; Mya Groce, Pasco; Maylee Hayes, River View; Jenn Jacobo, Columbia Burbank; Taija Mackey, Pasco; Iliana Moran, Hanford; Delaney Pink, Chiawana; Jayden Ray, Hermiston; Nikole Thomas, Kamiakin.
More notes
▪ Freshman midfielder Ruth Edrington (Chiawana) was the second leading scorer for the Lee University women’s soccer team this spring.
Edrington started all games for Lee, which finished 8-1-2, and scored four games and had an assist.
She also led the team with 26 shots.
▪ Prosser junior Halle Wright was named the MVP of the CWAC girls basketball team, as voted on by the conference coaches recently.
Ellensburg’s Jeff Whitney was named Coach of the Year.
Grandview sophomore Natalie Trevino was named to the first team.
▪ With its season at one point in doubt because it didn’t have enough bodies, the Columbia Basin College women’s basketball team wound up getting enough players to turn out, and the Hawks finished the spring with a 5-9 record.
Sophomores Sami Sanders (Southridge) and Aaliyah Anderson (River View) led the team. Sanders led the team in scoring with 11.1 points a game, and added 4.8 rebounds.
Anderson scored 10.6 points, had 4.5 rebounds, and 1.7 steals per game.
SaLee Westermeyer (Kamiakin) made strong contributions off the bench, leading the team with 4.9 rebounds and 2.6 assists. She also averaged 1.6 steals.
Aislin Fiander (Kennewick) averaged 8.1 points and 1.9 steals; while Alyssa Agundis (Chiawana) averaged 2.1 assists and 1.9 steals.