The show goes on at Vollmer, with meet not canceled

It’s not unusual for Lewiston High School track and field coach Keith Stuffle to tell his athletes something like, “Go into this meet as if it’s your last meet ever.” This time, the line was more believable.

Anika Grogan, for one, took it to heart.

In one of the few athletic events in the area to proceed as scheduled Saturday despite the coronavirus outbreak, Grogan sprinted to four first-place finishes as the Bengals claimed both team titles in the Lewiston Invitational at bone-chilling Vollmer Bowl.

“I did everything I could do to make this a good last meet — if it was,” Grogan said.

Amid blustery, 40-degree weather, the Lewiston senior zipped to a personal-record time of 12.96 seconds to win the girls’ 100-meter dash. She also took the 200 and aided two relay victories as the LHS girls outscored second-place Coeur d’Alene 204-150 in a season-opening meet that drew only seven teams and a sparse crowd.

Lewiston senior Harrison Smith won the 110- and 300-meter hurdles and anchored a relay triumph as the LHS boys prevailed with 234 points, beating runner-up Cd’A by 99.

With sporting events around the globe being canceled or postponed because of concerns about the coronavirus, the Bengals have no assurance their season will continue from here. But with high school sports still are being allowed in Idaho, LHS officials gave their approval for this meet, and the Bengals embraced the opportunity.

“I’m extremely grateful for the people who put this meet on,” Smith said. “All week we’ve been talking about preventive measures (concerning the virus). There was a little more caution (than in a normal meet), but still it was business.”

Grogan turned out for track as a seventh- and eighth-grader, then spent the next two springs playing for the LHS golf team. Her father’s an avid golfer, and Grogan said she’s named after retired Swedish golf star Annika Sorenstam. But she returned to track a year ago.

“I was, like, golf isn’t really for me,” she said. “I was iffy about whether to run track. I came into it, like, what if I’m not going to be that fast? Then I went out here and I kicked some butt. I just kept pushing myself in workouts.”

She focused on the 200 for most of last season but, with her speed improving, she tried the 100 for the first time at the 5A District I-II meet and wound up nabbing a state meet berth in that event.

Jennah Carpenter and Madigan Kelly each won two individual events and contributed to a relay title for the Bengals, while Raeley Beeler and Katy Wessels ran legs for two victorious relays apiece.

Also with two individual wins was distance runner Caden Byrer of the Lewiston boys.

For Orofino, defending Idaho 2A state champion Eric Perry withstood the windy conditions to pop a 3-inch personal record and win the boys’ pole vault at 13-9, while Sydnie Zywina bounded 34-4 to rule the girls’ triple jump.

The fact that track is an outdoor sport played a role in deciding whether to move forward with the meet. The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare is recommending canceling or postponing mass gatherings and public events if, among other factors, “the event will be held indoors and bring together more than 250 individuals where social distancing of 6 feet or more is unlikely or not possible.”

At least six teams withdrew from the meet in recent days, but it’s unclear how much the virus figured into those decisions. Weather also was a factor. Early Saturday morning, LHS officials were keeping close tabs on sketchy traveling conditions in the Coeur d’Alene area, and were poised to cancel the meet if snow hit Lewiston as well.

In the end, the show went on.

“We should have called ESPN,” Stuffle joked. “We might be the only live sporting event they could broadcast today.”

GIRLS

Team scores — Lewiston 204, Coeur d’Alene 150, Orofino 83, Kamiah 26, Bonners Ferry 18, St. Maries 10, Lake City 7.

100 — 1, Anika Grogan, Lew, 12.96. 2, Ruby Kessinger, Oro, 13.55. 3, Trinity Trembley, Lew, 13.78.

200 — 1, Anika Grogan, Lew, 27.17. 2, Emily Collins, Lew, 28.25. 3, Lakelynn McComas, Lew, 28.97.

400 — 1, Nakisha Matheson, CdA, 1:03.57. 2, Raeley Neeler, Lew, 1:04.37. 3, Emily Collins, Lew, 1:05.97.

800 — 1, Lauren Forster, CdA, 2:31.89. 2, Kailey Carpenter, Lew, 3:04.13.

1,600 — 1, Lauren Forster, CdA, 5:32.40. 2, Brooke Haddy, CdA, 7:25.11.

3,200 — no entries.

100 hurdles — 1, Madigan Kelly, Lew, 16.76. 2, Abby Rasmussen, Oro, 18.09. 3, Lexii Sackett, Kam, 21.09.

300 hurdles — 1, Madigan Kelly, Lew, 50.95. 2, Abby Rasmussen, Oro, 58.29.

400 relay — 1, Lewiston (Beeler, Kelly, J. Carpenter, Grogan) 51.80. 2, Orofino 54.67. 3, Coeur d’Alene 56.36.

800 relay — 1, Lewiston (McKeig, K. Carpenter, McComas, Wessels) 1:57.20.

Distance medley — not contested.

1,600 relay — 1, Lewiston (Collins, Wessels, Grogan, Beeler) 4:19.61. 2, Coeur d’Alene 4:37.12. 3, Kamiah 5:00.27.

High jump — 1, Jennah Carpenter, Lew, 5-0. 2, Myah Rietze, CdA, 4-10. 3, Alexis McKeig, Lew, 4-8.

Pole vault — 1, Savannah Butler, CdA, 7-6. 2, Ema Thompson, Lew, 7-0. 3, Julia Williams, Lew, 7-0.

Long jump — 1, Jennah Carpenter, Lew, 16-6½. 2, Ruby Kessinger, Oro, 16-0. 3, Sydnie Zywina, Oro, 15-9.

Triple jump — 1, Sydnie Zywina, Oro, 34-4. 2, Ruby Kessinger, Oro, 33-9. 3, Emily Collins, Lew, 33-8.

Shot put — 1, Victoria Rae, BF, 38-11. 2, Kaitlyn Ward, CdA. 35-4½. 3, Lily Phenicie, CdA, 31-9.

Discus — 1, Kaitlyn Ward, CdA, 130-9. 2, Victoria Rae, BF, 130-3. 3, Emily Bronson, CdA, 128-5.

BOYS

Team scores — Lewiston 234, Coeur d’Alene 135, Orofino 79, Kamiah 77, St. Maries 58, Lake City 48.

100 — 1, Jacob Schnatter, LC, 11.32. 2, Eric Perry, Oro, 11.82. 3, Jaiden Caviness, Lew, 11.93.

200 — 1, Jacob Schnatter, LC, 23.03. 2, Kolby Moore, SM, 25.38. 3, Slade Peressini, CdA, 25.45.

400 — 1, Jace Sams, Kam, 54.49. 2, Cory Godwin, Oro, 55.89. 3, Devin Zagelow, Lew, 57.11.

800 — 1, Payton Bigler, Lew, 2:06.53. 2, Cameron Dance, CdA, 2:09.06. 3, Nicholas Remacle, Lew, 2:13.07.

1,600 — 1, Caden Byrer, Lew, 4:35.53. 2, Braden Dance, CdA, 4:41.18. 3, Payton Bigler, Lew, 4:43.25.

3,200 — 1, Caden Byrer, Lew, 10:13.87. 2, Braden Dance, CdA, 10:18.97. 3, Elijah Sobo, Lew, 10:19.33.

110 hurdles — 1, Harrison Smith, Lew, 16.33. 2, Joel Scott, Oro, 17.67, 3, Justin Dittman, SM, 18.45.

300 hurdles — 1, Harrison Smith, Lew, 43.24. 2, James Elliott, CdA, 45.98. 3, Justin Dittman, SM, 46.05.

400 relay — 1, Lewiston (Caviness, Hammond, Stroschein, Glaze) 47.18. 2, Orofino 48.33. 3, Kamiah 51.52.

800 relay — 1, Lewiston (Caviness, Zagelow, Walker, O’Brien) 1:38.76. 2, Kamiah 1:45.91. 3, Coeur d’Alene 1:47.91.

Distance medley — 1, Coeur d’Alene (C. Dance, Ball, Garner, B. Dance) 12:35.63. 2, Kamiah 13:18.07.

1,600 relay — 1, Lewiston (Bigler, Zagelow, O’Brien, Smith) 3:49.11. 2, Coeur d’Alene 4:07.40.

High jump — 1, Eli Jolly, CdA, 6-1. 2, Jack Kliewer, CdA, 5-10. 3, Harrison Smith, Lew, 5-8.

Pole vault — 1, Eric Perry, Oro, 13-9. 2, Dallin Dance, CdA, 11-6. 3, Justin Dittman, SM, 11-0.

Long jump — 1, Jacob Schnatter, LC, 21-7. 2, James White, Lew, 18-11½. 3, Donavan Hammond, Lew, 18-10½.

Triple jump — 1, Joel Scott, Oro, 38-8. 2, Mikal Brotnov, Kam, 37-4. 3, Kaleb Glaze, Lew, 36-7.

Shot put — 1, Reid Thomas, Oro, 45-8. 2, Logan Parson, LC, 40-9. 3, Samuel Granger, CdA, 39-0.

Discus — 1, Logan Parson, LC, 136-11. 2, Thor Kessinger, Lew, 122-8. 3, Thor Kessinger, Oro, 118-2. (Note: Lewiston and Orofino each have athletes named Thor Kessinger. They’re cousins.)

Grummert may be contacted at daleg@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2290.