Top Northwest Athletes Get Another Opportunity Indoors At The Podium Before Turning Attention To Spring

By Keenan Gray of DyeStat

Luca Gillis photo

The STCU West Coast Championships is set to bring its best competition of the high school indoor track and field season to Spokane for the two-day meet Saturday and Sunday at The Podium.

The third installment of this high school championship meet will showcase the top talent from up and down the West Coast as they prepare to make the shift to the outdoor scene.

Aster Jones (Roosvelt OR) has another opportunity to complete a sweep of the girls 60 meters and 200 meters invitational races after winning both at the Spokane High School Invitational back on Jan. 26. The junior from Portland, Ore., ran lifetime bests of 7.36 in the 60 and 23.90 in the 200, which rank sixth and 12th in the country, respectively.

Jones faces a familiar opponent in the girls 60 meters in Journey Cole (Kent Meridian WA) of GLS Speed Track Club. The two have split their head-to-head matchups this season in Spokane. Cole is entered in the 200 meter, too.

WATCH THE STCU WEST COAST CHAMPIONSHIPS ON SATURDAY AND SUNDAY ON RUNNERSPACE (+PLUS required)

Keelan Wright (Chaparral CA), who was scheduled to race Cole and Jones at the Spokane High School Invitational but didn’t race, is entered in both events. Wright ran a season's best 7.49 and 24.41 at the Wes Kittley Invitational on Jan. 24.

Jason Lorig (Ketchikan AK) of Bolt Track and Field, Nicholas Altheimer (Emerald Ridge WA) of Kitsap Fliers and Joseph Donnelly (Lake Oswego OR) of The Inner Circle Track Club headline the invitational boys 60 meters.

Sutton Flint (Liberty-Issaquah WA) of GLS Speed will go for the 200 meters and 60-meter hurdles double after claiming both titles at the Spokane High School Invitational.

Hayden Boaz (Summit OR), who won the boys 3,000 meters at the Spokane High School Invitational, renews his match-up with North Idaho Distance Project trio of Max Cervi-Skinner, Zack Cervi-Skinner and Wyatt Carr (all attend Coeur d’Alene ID), with the addition of Ty Cirino (Central OR) and Liam Miller (South Torrance CA) in the field.

All six boys will return to race in the invitational section of the mile, along with Cole Fiegener (Corvallis OR).

Wilson Schmidt (Belgrade MT), third at 2024 Nike Outdoor Nationals in the 800 meters, is the top name to watch for in the boys competition.

Canadians Raiya Matonovich and Adrianna Buitelaar, a pair of British Columbia U18 champions, lead the girls invitational mile field, with Nike Outdoor Nationals 4xMile teammates Sophia Malinoski and Elyse Henrikson (Lincoln OR) and Ana Peters (Lake Oswego OR) in contention.

Buitelaar, Henriksen and Peters also lead the way in the girls 3,000 meters race, while Malinoski is the top entry in the girls 800 meters.

In field action, throwers Marissa Johnson (Tigard OR) of Super Thrower Track Club and Kimberely Beard (King’s WA) of Get Strong First Track Club continue their friendly rivalry in both the girls weight throw and shot put competitions. Johnson and Beard rank sixth and seventh, respectively, in the nation in the weight throw.

Pole vault action on the girls side features five of the top vaulters in the Pacific Northwest.

Landry Allen (Hanford WA) of Columbia Vault Academy is lone returning standout from last year’s competition, finishing third. Jacqueline Jones (Inglemoor WA), Ava Enriquez (Bothell WA) and Karina Cooper (Camas WA) and Alexa Anderson (Tigard OR) of Willamette Striders are all contenders, too, for the individual title.

Chase McGee (Camas WA) of Willamette Striders will try to improve upon his US#9 clearance of 16 feet, 8 inches (5.08m) in the boys pole vault competition.

Iman Foster (Jesuit OR) of The Inner Circle, Laine McKenzie (Cedarcrest WA) of GLS Speed and Addison Kelly (Silas WA) of Alpha Speed Academy, all ranked top 25 in the country for girls triple jump, head back to the runway following top three finishes at the Spokane High School Invitational. Foster won with a US#8 mark of 40-7.50 (12.38m), McKenzie finished second in a US#12 mark of 40-0.75 (12.21m) and Kelly took home third in a US#23 mark of 39-3 (11.96m).

McKenzie is also slated to compete in the long jump, where she’s ranked US#17.