Peabody wins Gold Cup race driving Tri-City owned unlimited hydroplane

After a weekend that saw Jimmy Shane in the U-1 Miss HomeStreet Bank and Dave Villwock in the U-40 Miss Beacon Plumbing doing most of the winning, it ended up being Corey Peabody in a Tri-Cities boat winning the 2022 APBA Gold Cup in Guntersville, Ala., on Sunday.

Peabody — whose only H1 Unlimited victory before Sunday was last year’s HAPO Columbia Cup in the Tri-Cities — drove the U-9 Lynx Healthcare to victory in the Gold Cup final.

Shane and Villwock had been busy both Saturday and Sunday winning preliminary heat races.

In fact, Shane drove the defending champion boat to a perfect 4-for-4 in preliminary heat victories.

But in Sunday’s final, Shane was disqualified for going under 80 mph during the pre-race milling period, which disqualified him.

Villwock, meanwhile, went outside the race course in that same pre-race milling period, which earned him a DQ.

That opened the door for Peabody, who was credited with the victory.

That gives Tri-Citians Darrell and Vanessa Strong, owners of the U-9 boat, the Gold Cup victory.

The U-91 Goodman Real Estate and driver Jeff Bernard placed second, while the U-11 Unlimited Racing Group and driver Jamie Nilsen earned third place.

The Strong’s other boat, the U-8 Miss Tri-Cities (driven by J. Michael Kelly), did not finish the final.

The fleet now heads to Madison, Ind., for the Madison Regatta, which is scheduled for July 1-3.

The HAPO Columbia Cup is set for July 29-31 in the Tri-Cities.

USA Track and Field

Connell High School graduate Ashton Riner just missed qualifying for the World Track and Field Championships this past weekend.

Riner, who recently won the women’s NCAA javelin title representing Brigham Young University, finished fourth in the USA Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Ore.

The top three placers qualified for the United States team.

Riner’s top throw was 185 feet, 5 inches.

She opened her flight with a toss of 163-7, then followed with a scratch, and finished with the 185-5.

In the finals, Riner wasn’t able to record a distance, as she scratched in all three attempts.

Kara Winger won the event with a throw of 210-10.

▪ College Place grad Kenneth Rooks placed 10th in the men’s 3,000 meter steeplechase run.

Rooks, who also competes for BYU, finished the event in 8 minutes, 37.17 seconds.

▪ Grady Lemma (Walla Walla) was named the Northwest Conference Men’s Track and Field Freshman of the Year this spring.

Lemma, competing for Pacific Lutheran University, finished first in the men’s 400 meters hurdles, placed third in the men’s 110 high hurdles, and finished third in the men’s decathlon.

Lemma’s teammate, Peyton Santos (Southridge), finished third in the women’s discus event in the NWC Championships.

Golf

The Washington State Men’s Amateur golf tournament begins its three-day run at Meadow Springs Country Club in Richland, starting Tuesday at 7 a.m.

All 120 competitors qualified for the state tournament by either shooting well enough in a qualifying tournament a few weeks ago, or making the exempt list for past performance.

The Mid-Columbia will be represented by 12 competitors: Kennewick’s Ryan Anderson, Pasco’s Brian Barton, Richland’s Zach Bixler, Richland’s Ben Cartmell, Walla Walla’s Matt Corley, Richland’s Tom Deforest, Kennewick’s Ariel Garza, Warden’s Conner Haynes, Richland’s Evan Johnson, Pasco’s Samson Martinez, Kennewick’s Sota Nozaka, and Royal City’s Elijah Perkins.

The tournament runs through Thursday.

Wrestling

Sione Halo, who wrestled at both Kamiakin and Pasco in his prep career, finished second at 197 pounds at the NCWA national championships in March.

Halo was wrestling for Grays Harbor Community College.

Signings

Othello’s Madisen Douglas signed a letter of intent on March 30 to compete for the Spokane Community College women’s track and field team.

▪ Warden product Kaya Enriquez will continue her softball playing career after signing with Wenatchee Valley Community College on April 12.

▪ Southridge grad Nadine French signed with the Blue Mountain Community College women’s basketball team on April 1.

▪ Kamiakin product Maddie Kutschkau will be playing women’s soccer for North Idaho College this fall after signing with the Cardinals on April 4.

▪ Kennewick grad Chance Oldham, part of that Class 3A state runnerup Lions baseball team, signed a letter of intent to play for Blue Mountain Community College.

▪ Pasco’s Jonas Olvera will be playing this fall for the Columbia Basin College men’s soccer team after signing a letter of intent on April 1.

▪ Sunnyside grad Benemi Sanchez signed on April 4 to play women’s basketball for Whatcom Community College.