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Sophia Aldous
PRIEST RIVER — It was another busy week for the Priest River Lamanna Track and Field team with the Spartans hosting the 29th Annual Priest River Invitational Saturday, April 25.
The boys finished in third, just 1.5 points away from second out of nine teams. The girls finish in sixth. Ian Lamanna again had a great day, winning the pole vault, long jump and 100-meter. His jump of 14-feet, 4-inches in the pole vault broke the meet record of 14-feet, 3-inches set in 2024 by Sandpoint’s Klein Fragoso. There were many other outstanding performances for the boys, according to coach Jared Hughes, including Daniel Gunkle running a personal best of 11:02 in the 3200-meter. He also anchored the winning medley relay with Peyton Whitehead, Kellen Smith and Gunnar Pettit. Niki Porinchok continues to dominate the discus and added a second-place finish in the shot put. The other set of champions for the boys was the 4x200-meter relay team Whitehead, Smith, Pettit and Landon Blackburn that set a new season best by two seconds.
On the girls’ side, Ashlyn Korff won the long jump, triple jump, 100-meter and then went on to win the Priest River Distinguished Young Women title in the evening. Kalleelah Davis jumped four-feet, 8-inches for a season best. Davis, Farrah Hollett, Averii Meek and Trinity Meyers also had a great day with all four having huge personal bests in at least one throwing event.
On Monday, April 20 Priest River traveled to Bonners Ferry for a double dual with Bonners Ferry and Troy, Montana.
“There were a lot of great performances by the athletes,” Hughes said. Both boys’ and girls’ teams went 1-1 on the day, beating Troy, but losing to Bonners Ferry. Most notably was Ian Lamanna breaking the school record in the pole vault with a jump of 14-feet, 7-inches. Lamanna broke the record of 14-feet, 6-inches set by Corbin Maltba in 2017. Lamanna also set a personal best of 21-feet, two-inches in the long jump. This is just 2 ½ inches from the school record. On the girl’s side, Korff led the way with second place finishes in the 100-meter, 200-meter and long jump.
“Overall, 17 or our 19 competing athletes finished the week with at least one personal best,” Hughes said. “The other two are dealing with some nagging injuries. This is the result of the hard work being put in by the athletes and coaches.
“Lastly, I would like to thank all the volunteers who helped run our home meet,” Hughes said. “Without them, the meet would never be the success it is.”
The Spartans participate in the Meet of Champions in Post Falls on Thursday, April 30 at 3:30 p.m. Only the top 16 individuals and top eight relays will qualify for this meet.
SOPHIA MATTICE-ALDOUS IS A MURROW NEWS FELLOW WORKING DIRECTLY WITH NEWSROOMS AT THE NEWPORT MINER AND RANGE MEDIA THROUGH A PROGRAM ADMINISTERED BY WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY. HER REPORTING IS AVAILABLE FOR USE VIA CREATIVE COMMONS WITH CREDIT.
