PREP TRACK AND FIELD: Grady's shot

COEUR d’ALENE — Coeur d’Alene High junior Grady Leonard realizes his success in recent weeks isn’t something that will travel south for next week’s state 5A meet at Dona Larsen Park in Boise.

Then again, that same success — on April 8 in Boise — might be all the confidence he’ll need to make a little noise.

“It’s been pretty good so far,” Leonard said of his season. “With the local meets, it’s been a lot of double wins. But I’ve also had the opportunity to travel to bigger meets in Pasco and Boise (the Pulse Invitational at Centennial High) this season and compete with the top contenders in the state. So it’s been a lot of fun that way. We’ve got a great coach, and it’s been a great year so far.”

Leonard was second in the shot put at the Pulse invite with a throw of 56 feet, 5.5 inches, and third at Pasco (53-3 3/4). In the discus, he was third at both meets (159-0 at Pulse and 169-10 in Pasco).

“There’s definitely some good competition out there this year,” Leonard said. “As good as you can be in a small area, there’s always someone that could be a little better than you in a bigger area.”

Leonard won the boys 5A shot put with a throw of 55 feet on Thursday at Coeur d’Alene High as the Region 1 meet began in the 5A and 4A classifications.

Having that early preview, Leonard believes, could help him make his move next week.

“It’s definitely an advantage,” Leonard said. “It helps you get a feel for it and what you’re up against at state.”

Leonard transferred from Lakeland to Coeur d’Alene High as a sophomore, but was unable to participate in track and field as his family had yet to move from Rathdrum.

Competing in the throwing events is something that runs in Leonard’s family, as his dad, Neil, competed at Nevada and San Jose State. His sister, Kristine (Leonard) Rothwell, threw at Lakeland High and at Idaho, and is the current Coeur d’Alene throws coach.

“We’ve had quite a history,” Grady Leonard said. “It’s nice to get to pick her brain as a coach. I’m definitely a lot more comfortable with her as my coach, whereas with another person, they might not see it at my point of view. It’s nice to have that connection and it’s easier to be coached by her.”

Entering Thursday, Leonard’s mark of 58 feet in shot put, set at the Christina Finney Relays in Post Falls on April 22, ranked second in 5A.

While she carries the top mark in the girls 4A triple jump (36-5 1/2 at the District 1 All-Star Meet on May 5), Lakeland sophomore Whitnee Skalskiy knows she’ll need to focus on one jump at a time during next week’s state meet. Skalskiy won the girls triple jump with a mark of 37-8 — a school record — in Thursday’s regional meet.

“I started the season at 36 (feet) and started going downhill a little bit,” Skalskiy said. “I’ve just been trying to visualize my jumps in my head and remain focused on that.”

Now, she’ll hope to rebound after finishing 14th at state in the triple jump last year.

“I didn’t do very well at all,” Skalskiy said. “I’ve done more training before the season to prepare for this year and be more mentally prepared.”

Both relays that Skalskiy competes on (4x200 and 4x100) are ranked in the top six in the state.

“My strongest event is the triple jump for sure,” Skalskiy said. “I’ve just focused on that a lot more and my second phase has been a lot better than last year. I’ll just need to be more mentally prepared next week knowing that I’m going to compete against some higher level kids.”

Bannock Pointer of Lakeland won the 4A boys pole vault with a school-record 13-1.

Post Falls’ girls 4x800-meter relay team of Jazzmin Kernodle, Ida Mae Brooks, Jenna Gardiner, Bayley Brennan won in a school-record 9:54.53.

The 5A and 4A regional meets will conclude today at Sweeney Track at Vollmer Bowl in Lewiston.

5A

(Top three individuals, two relays to state)

BOYS

TEAM SCORES — 1, Lewiston 51. 2, Coeur d’Alene 33. 3, Post Falls 28. 4, Lake City 24.

3,200 — 1, Austin Byrer, Lewiston, 9:40.72. 2, Joey Perez, Lewiston, 9:53.86. 3, Nolan Mullen-Huber, Coeur d’Alene, 10:05.10. 4x200 relay — 1, Lake City (Austin McMasters, Chase Moyer, Thomas Redal, Grant Clark), 1:30.31. 2, Post Falls, 1:31.46. 4x800 relay — 1, Lake City, 8:19. 2, Coeur d’Alene, 8:26. High jump — 1, Brian Skinner, Coeur d’Alene, 6-2. 2, Tyler Trengrove, Post Falls, 5-10. 3, Elijah Blake, Post Falls, 5-10. Pole vault — 1, Troy Hanes, Lewiston, 13-0. 2, Cody Barber, Post Falls, 12-6. 3, Daniel Tanaka, Lake City, 12-6. Long jump — 1, Gunnar Sciortino, Post Falls, 21-5. 2, Kempton Sharp, Lewiston, 21-0 1/2. 3, Brian Skinner, Coeur d’Alene, 20-3. Triple jump — 1, Aaron Wickett, Lewiston, 41-7 1/2. 2, Duncan Butler, Lake City, 40-3 1/2. 3, Treyce Bradley, Lewiston, 39-7. Shot put — 1, Grady Leonard, Coeur d’Alene, 55-0. 2, Robert Van Idour, Lewiston, 51-9 1/2. 3, Mason Ulrich, Lewiston, 47-11 1/2. Discus — 1, Grady Leonard, Coeur d’Alene, 158-7. 2, Jaxon Fleshman, Coeur d’Alene, 137-9. 3, Dustin McLean, Lewiston, 132-10.

GIRLS

TEAM SCORES — 1, Coeur d’Alene 49. 2, Lake City 33. 3, Lewiston 29. 4, Post Falls 25.

3,200 — 1, Miriam Ames, Lewiston, 11:51.51. 2, Rylee Brown, Coeur d’Alene, 12:23.94. 3, Ida Mae Brooks, Post Falls, 12:53.46. 4x200 relay — 1, Coeur d’Alene (Emily Callahan, Taryn Horvath, Carmen Duffy, Josette McArthur), 1:44.04. 4x800 relay — 1, Post Falls (Jazzmin Kernodle, Ida Mae Brooks, Jenna Gardiner, Bayley Brennan), 9:54.53. 2, Coeur d’Alene, 9:56.85. High jump — 1, Melody Kempton, Post Falls, 5-6. 2, Mallory Bernatz, Lewiston, 5-0. 3, Olivia Reynolds, Lewiston, 5-0. Pole vault — 1, Amber Mallet, Coeur d’Alene, 10-6. 2, Amanda Deegan, Coeur d’Alene, 10-6. 3, Madelyn Lauritzen, Lake City, 9-0. Long jump — 1, Katie Havens, Lewiston, 17-5 1/2. 2, Hailey Haakenson, Coeur d’Alene, 17-1. 3, Mackenzie Morris, Post Falls, 16-4 1/2. Triple jump — 1, Katie Havens, Lewiston, 35-6. 2, Hailey Haakenson, Coeur d’Alene, 35-6. 3, Melody Kempton, Post Falls, 34-10 1/2. Shot put — 1, Katelyn Conery, Coeur d’Alene, 36-10 1/2. 2, Keara Simpson, Lake City, 35-9. 3, Emily Hernandez, Lake City, 35-4. Discus — 1, Jocie Osika, Lake City, 131-1. 2, Ali Carlson, Lake City, 124-1. 3, Keara Simpson, Lake City, 120-4.

4A

(Top two individuals, winning relay to state)

BOYS

TEAM SCORES — 1, Sandpoint 35. 2, Moscow 32. 3, Lakeland 15.

3,200 — 1, Josh Corgatelli, Moscow, 10:00.55. 2, Jacob Graham, Sandpoint, 10:11.68. 3, Clay Rasmussen, Sandpoint, 10:37.56. 4x200 relay — 1, Moscow (Jayson Gray, Noah Klocke, Joey Cook, Collin Niehenke), 1:30.77. Sprint medley — 1, Moscow (Noah Klocke, Mohammed Mansour, Jayson Gray, Collin Niehenke), 3:42.60. 2, Sandpoint, 3:42.85. High jump — 1, Jake Smith, Moscow, 6-0. 2, Forest Zubaly, Lakeland, 5-10. 3, Sawyer Seley, Sandpoint, 5-8. Pole vault — 1, Bannock Pointer, Lakeland, 13-1. 2, Cole Hooper, Sandpoint, 12-6. 3, Slade Rucker, Sandpoint, 11-6. Long jump — 1, Cooper Stephens, Moscow, 18-8. 1, Spencer Bassett, Sandpoint, 18-8. 3, Sawyer Seley, Sandpoint, 18-3. Triple jump — 1, Jayson Gray, Moscow, 43-4. 2, Spencer Bassett, Sandpoint, 41-0. 3, Kaden Davis, Lakeland, 40-4. Shot put — 1, Carlos Collado, Sandpoint, 44-8. 2, Zack Alamillo, Sandpoint, 42-1. 3, Wyatt Youngblood, Moscow, 42-0.

GIRLS

TEAM SCORES — 1, Sandpoint 42. 2, Lakeland 29. 3, Moscow 22.

3,200 — 1, Katherine Ruck, Moscow, 11:21.16. 2, Corinne McClelland, Sandpoint, 12:29.96. 3, Claire Pierce, Sandpoint, 12:39.78. 4x200 relay — 1, Lakeland (Whitnee Skalskiy, Julia Kaplan, Tauna Kirk, Jillian Mael), 1:47.63. 2, Sandpoint, 1:49.31. Sprint medley — 1, Sandpoint (Jaelyn Martin, Claire Keener, Paige Dumars, Hannah Davidson), 1;53.12. 2, Moscow, 1:54.44. High jump — 1, Bronwyn Schumacker, Moscow, 4-10. 2, Sarah Ratchen, Lakeland, 4-8. 3, Saydee Brass, Sandpoint, 4-6. Pole vault — 1, Hannah Davidson, Sandpoint, 8-6. 2, Lacie Redding, Sandpoint, 8-0. 3, Grace Shook, Moscow, 8-0. Long jump — 1, Bronwyn Schumaker, Moscow, 16-4. 2, Jezza Hutto, Sandpoint, 16-2. 3, Whitnee Skalskiy, Lakeland, 16-1. Triple jump — 1, Whitnee Skalskiy, Lakeland, 37-8. 2, Alex Shuman, Lakeland, 32-7. 3, Sharon Rowe, Sandpoint, 31-5. Shot put — 1, Janice Aylward, Sandpoint, 35-0 1/2. 2, Paige Dumars, Sandpoint, 33-6. 3, Gracey Meyer, Moscow, 33-0. Discus — 1, Sarah Bond, Lakeland, 112-5. 2, Dani Dowd, Lakeland, 110-3. 3, Janice Aylward, Sandpoint, 103-1.

3A

Tiger boys, girls open early lead

SPIRIT LAKE — The Timberlake boys and girls opened leads in the team standings after the first day of the 3A District 1 meet at Timberlake High.

The meet concludes today in Spirit Lake starting at 4 p.m.

BOYS

(Top three individuals, winning relays to state)

TEAM SCORES — 1, Timberlake 33. 2, Priest River 22. 3, Kellogg 15. 4, Bonners Ferry 6.

3,200 — 1, Landon Davis, Timberlake, 10:16.03. 2, Cameron Parks, Priest River, 10:39.21. 3, Caleb Gleason, Priest River, 10:40.33. Sprint medley — 1, Timberlake (Randy Duclos, David Dickinson, Isaiah Higbee, Brayden Menti), 3:44. 2, Bonners Ferry, 3:51.54. High jump — 1, Collin Dietrick, Priest River, 5-8. 2, Jacob Campbell, Priest River, 5-6. 3, Tristan Carman, Kellogg, 5-6. Long jump — 1, Jestin Hofer, Timberlake, 20-1 1/2. 2, Noah Shaw, Kellogg, 19-0. 3, Collin Dietrick, Priest River, 18-8. Shot put — 1, Dan Smith, Timberlake, 43-5 1/2. 2, Shawn Doran, Timberlake, 41-9 3/4. 3, Jacob Hammerberg, Kellogg, 40-6.

GIRLS

(Top three individuals, winning relays to state)

TEAM SCORES — 1, Timberlake 36. 2, Kellogg 23. 3, Bonners Ferry 15. 4, Priest River 1.

3,200 — 1, Abigail Peightal, Timberlake, 12:18.93. 2, Jamey Weishaar, Timberlake, 12:37.83. 3, Kassidy Hammond, Timberlake, 12:45.42. Sprint medley — 1, Timberlake (Jessica Schell, Aislynn Anderson, Anna Gardom, Allison Kirby), 1:54.59. 2, Kellogg, 1:57.17. Pole vault — 1, Allison Kirby, Timberlake, 9-0. 2, Victoria Smith, Bonners Ferry, 8-6. 3, Mariko White, Kellogg, 8-6. Triple jump — 1, Jasmine James, Kellogg, 34-7. 2, Allison Kirby, Timberlake, 30-9. 3, Keelie Lawler, Timberlake, 29-5. Discus — 1, Kara Steele, Kellogg, 117-10 1/2. 2, Kayla Miller-Graybill, Kellogg, 109-6. 3, Haley Wenk, Bonners Ferry, 106-11 1/2.