Raiders have solid opening at West Valley invite

Raider Track travelled to Spokane Valley Saturday to take part in the West Valley Invitational.

Lake Roosevelt went in with many young athletes who had yet to compete at the high school level. Those athletes shined, and many veterans picked up where they left off in 2013.

“The Raiders had a great first outing,” Head Coach Lori Adkins said, “We were able to establish strong starting points as we begin our season goal setting.”

Chyenne Kelly-Marconi competed in her four main events at West Valley. In the 400-meter run, Kelly-Marconi finished 19th overall with a time of 71.92 seconds. In the 100 hurdles she ran a 19.09, lept 14 feet, 2 inches in the long jump and soared 30-8.5 in the triple jump.

Octavio Alejandre recorded a big career personal recored in the shot put, taking fifth with a throw of 42-0.5

Josh Wilder also recorded a big career PR at West Valley. In the 400 Wilder finished 42nd overall with a time of 63.82 seconds, almost three seconds faster than his previous best.

Paladine Williams finished 47th overall in the 1600 with a PR of 5:26.14, 43 seconds faster than his previous best.

Clare Castrodale improved her time in the 3200 to 14:54.58, a full minute and 20 seconds better than her previous PR.

Freshman Nathaniel Hall ran the 400 in career PR time of 58.15 seconds. In the 200, a race he did not run as an eighth-grader, Hall finished in 26.19.

Nathan Morrell threw the shot 34-3 to beat teammate Bryson Goggles by an inch. Morrell threw the discus 85-10 to lead the Raiders in that event.

Cameron Tillman posted career PRs in both the 100 and 1600. Tillman finished the 100 in 13.61 seconds and cut over a minute off his 1600 time to finish in Friedlander also PR’d with a triple jump of 31-8, and trimmed 11 seconds off his 400 to finish at 63.62.

Matthew Tillman sliced 0.6 seconds off his previous best 100 to finish in 14.04 seconds, and triple jumped a full 18 inches further at 28-3.

Freshman Aiyana Picard picked up where she left off in the high jump, clearing the 4-foot standard. Kendra Saulque threw the disc for a 2-foot PR at 64-2.

All these PR performances are exciting for the coaches.

“Many veteran’s returned at or even above “PR” levels, which was outstanding to see,” Adkins said. “Also, new strengths are emerging from our younger new team members.”

The Raiders will look to build on the momentum from the first meet this week as they prep for Saturday’s Ezra Gordon’s Invitational at Colville. LR hopes to take the full squad, not all of whom could go to the West Valley meet.

At Colville, the Raiders will see many Bi-County, Panorama, Northeast “A”, and Great Northern League schools. Mt. Spokane of the Greater Spokane League and Priest River of Idaho will be sending squads.

From WIAA District 6 the Raiders will be joined by Tonasket, Bridgeport, Pateros, Liberty Bell, and Oroville. This big field will provide plenty of competition for the Raiders, who look to have more placers at this meet. At Colville High School, the field events start at 10:30 a.m. and track events begin at 11.

For full meet results go to athletic.net and search Lake Roosevelt HS.