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All golden for the Gardoms

| May 23, 2018 1:00 AM

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Chase Gardom

To have one individual track and field championship in a given year is a pretty special thing for a household.

Two is pretty amazing.

Things are pretty amazing for the Gardoms of Spirit Lake right now.

OVER THE course of the last two weeks, they’ve had Anna, a sophomore at Idaho State, and Chase, a junior at Timberlake High, claim titles in the javelin and triple jump, respectively.

Both came in different fashions.

For Anna, who entered the Big Sky Championships in Moscow ranked 13th, she just wanted to continue to improve in her first year in that event.

“In my head, I just wanted to win,” Anna Gardom said. “So I just thought, why not win it today?. After my first few throws, I got up to third and then the girl from Eastern (Washington) popped one.”

On her final throw of the event, on May 11, Gardom won the event with a throw of 160 feet, 3 inches, moving into second in the school’s record books.

“I just got up, and one thing (Idaho State throws) coach (Dan) Walker has told me is to not be tense,” Anna Gardom said. “I just did a dance to loosen up and my teammates were cheering me on. By that time, I just had a plan to throw between gaps and I saw an opening. I thought it was now or never, so I tried it and it felt so good.”

Her mother, Lisa, was in attendance for the event while her father, Brandon, was at the 3A District 1 meet in Spirit Lake where Chase was competing.

“It was really cool to have her there,” Anna Gardom said. “She works, and I’m over 500 miles away, so they’re really never able to come watch. It was cool to have a family member there.”

Anna traveled home with her mom that night, where Chase was waiting for her.

“I stayed up until she got home to congratulate her,” Chase Gardom said. “I went downstairs and held the medal. It was really cool.”

The javelin is not contested in Idaho, but is in Washington at the high school level.

“Growing up in Idaho, I asked coach (Brian) Kluss if I could throw it at an open meet when we were competing in Washington,” said Anna Gardom, who won a state 3A title in the 400-meter dash as a freshman, and played on a state 3A basketball title team in 2016. “He looked at me, and said, ‘you don’t even know what a javelin is, and said no way and he wasn’t going to throw me into that.’”

A WEEK later, during the state 3A triple jump last Friday, Chase won his first state title with a mark of 44 feet, 10 3/4 inches at Middleton High.

Chase posted the winning mark on his first attempt.

“When I got out of the pit, the lady that measured was shocked,” Chase Gardom said. “It was amazing. It really took the pressure off and kind of helped get in the heads of the others in the event.”

Gardom entered the triple jump as the fifth seed.

“I knew I couldn’t get comfortable and to keep trying my best,” Chase Gardom said. “I thought I had it, and got it.”

After his jump, Chase walked over to Kluss.

“He hit that mark in the first jump and I would say his confidence was very similar after the jump,” Kluss said. “I could just see the rest of the field just deflate. All of the other athletes knew at that point they were jumping for second place. He actually had another jump that was probably farther on his last attempt, but it was a foul, barely.”

“I walked over to the fence and he told me that was awesome,” Chase said. “I was hoping to do well in the triple, but when I did that, it was an amazing feeling.”

His sister knew Chase was capable of a breakthrough at state.

“I knew that kid was long and strong,” Anna said of Chase. “I know what kind of time and effort he puts in. I remember getting a text after the first meet of the year that he’d broken the school record on his first jump. It’s super cool for him.”

“Chase has grown physically this year and has been in the weight room for the last three years, so he has some good growth in that area as well,” Kluss said. “The most impressive difference I saw from him this year is that he has embraced working out much more then in the past. I had several conversations with him in the offseason about finishing his workouts and being the best all the time, and he really worked hard to get to that point this year. I was very impressed with his work ethic this season.”

ANNA GARDOM will compete in the javelin at the NCAA West Regionals on Thursday in Sacramento.

“I just need to stay loose and I’ll be fine,” Anna Gardom said. “I just know I’ve got to enjoy the experience. As long as I’m progressing, I’m good with whatever happens.”

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at (208) 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at jelliott@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter @JECdAPress.