This was the beginning of an epic run for Riverside Christian track and field coach Scott Wells, whose boys and girls teams collected 12 state trophies with six 2B titles from 2002 to 2012.
After the girls enjoyed a streak of five straight state trophies, highlighted by a record 107-point performance in 2004, RC鈥檚 boys took over and basically owned Cheney, winning titles in 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2012.
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CHENEY 鈥 What faced the Riverside Christian girls is track and field鈥檚 equivalent to a two-out, ninth-inning home run in a tie game or a buzzer-beating 3-pointer when you鈥檙e trailing by two.
With one event to go, the Crusaders sat tied for second place at the Class B state championships, one point out of first. The three best teams in the final event, the 1,600-meter relay, also were the three teams separated at the top by that single point.
With the pressure on and the crowd noise intense, Riverside Christian responded with a state-meet-record time of 4 minutes, 7.66 seconds to claim the championship with 72 points. Valley Christian and DeSales, second and third in the relay, respectively, also placed second and third in the meet with 71 and 68 points respectively.
The relay record came on a day that also saw the Crusaders set a meet record in the 400 relay and collect points in a variety of dramatic ways.
鈥淭hat was sweet,鈥 said coach Scott Wells, who saw his team slowly creep back into contention throughout the final day of competition at Eastern Washington University. 鈥淭he kids are smart. They knew what the score was.鈥
The only score that favored the Crusaders was the final one. They entered Saturday鈥檚 competition with only four points but with high hopes that their sprinters 鈥 individually and on relays 鈥 would pull them to the top. That happened, but not exactly as scripted.
The 4x100 relay team of Erin Treece, Erin Shively, Lisa Wolverton and Ineke Ojanen sped to time of 50.10, a record for the state B finals. Shively scored big points with a runner-up finish in the 400, Ojanen took fourth in the 100 and Wolverton and Treece placed fifth and sixth in the 200.
But the 800 relay team, which entered the finals with the fastest qualifying time, suffered a dropped baton during a handoff. It was an ill-timed setback, but the Crusader foursome did manage to finish the race in fifth 鈥 for four points that proved to be crucial.
鈥淭hat was a big competitive performance to pick up the baton and finish in fifth,鈥 said Wells.
The next big competitive performance came off the track in the high jump pit. Sophomore Karalee Clark won the event by clearing 5 feet, 4 inches, just a quarter-inch short of her personal best.
Wells marveled at events on the oval that more resembled those of a roller coaster.
鈥淥ne minute you drop the baton, 10 seconds later you win the high jump. That鈥檚 track and field,鈥 he said.
Motivation was not an issue for the 4x400 team. Shively took out her lead leg in about 1:01 and the rest 鈥 Sharelle Wells, Jen Shuel and Wolverton 鈥 built on her lead from there. Their winning time was almost three seconds ahead of a near-dead heat finish between Valley Christian and DeSales.
Shuel and Wolverton, the two seniors on the relay team, said their teammates helped keep them pumped up throughout the race.
鈥淥ur team was lined up everywhere,鈥 said Wolverton.
鈥淲e鈥檙e seniors and we had to give it all we鈥檝e got,鈥 chimed in Shuel.
Wolverton said the team enthusiastically took on the state-title responsibility against Valley Christian and DeSales.
鈥淲e had run against them before and knew we could take them,鈥 she said.
That the title didn鈥檛 come easily was most satisfying to Wells. In addition to the dropped baton, 300-meter hurdler Sharelle Wells fell during qualifying heats Thursday and didn鈥檛 advance to the finals.
鈥淚 am totally satisfied. We never gave up hope,鈥 said Wells. 鈥淚t was an incredible year.鈥
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