Grizzlies become League Champs

NEWPORT — Grizzly track and field boys team made local history Tuesday, May 5, winning the NE2B League championship for the first time since 2007. At that time the track and field program were overseen by coach Barry Sartz, whose legacy has impacted current coach Levi Litowitz.

“This is now officially the most successful team since he coached here,” Litowitz said. “Despite Barry's passing, he is still a great inspiration to me and (assistant) coach (Kyler) Zorica. We are constantly trying to live up to his expectations and the legacy he left here.”

There were 12 schools competing in the league Championship. The Newport boys placed first with an overall score of 104. Saint George’s was second with 81 points and Chewelah was in third with 80 points.

“What was really cool to see is that we got contributions from all the disciplines during this meet,” Litowitz said. “We got points in distance, throws, jumps, sprints, hurdles, genuinely from every discipline. This was a true team win for our boys. This is a step towards our ultimate goal and our team is really bought in. Now we head to the Barry Sartz Last Chance meet, where we can remember Barry’s legacy with a league title in hand.”

Newport girls finished in eighth place with 50.5 points. Davenport girls finished first with a score of 104.5, followed by Freeman in second place at 98 points and NW Christian was third with a score of 89.

“It’s awesome to see a true team win,” Zorica said. “Sometimes in track, athletes can forget that this is a team sport, but not today. They earned this win as a full team.”

Newport’s Jonathan Hill won first in the 400-meter race with a personal record (PR) of 51.23. Lucas Croswhite won first in 110-meter hurdles with a PR of 14.53 that also puts him first in 2B state rankings. He also took first in pole vault, reaching 15-feet with a PR that broke the Newport High School record again, and he won first in long jump with a PR of 19-feet, 8-inches. Rayben Jurgens was first in discus, throwing 130-feet, 3-inches, first in shot put at 43-feet, 9.5-inches; Damien Hamberg won third in shot put with 42-feet, 3.25-inches; Nathan Donati finished third in javelin with a PR of 127-feet, 8-inches; Daxe Hansen finished third in triple jump clearing 37-feet, 9-inches; and the 4x400 relay team of Kale Markwardt, Dax Hansen, Jonathan Hill and Tanner Rheinford finished second at 3:40.15.

For the Lady Grizzlies Olivia Collins won second in the 3200-meter race with a time of 12:44.56 and Joelle Brandtner won second in triple jump at 34-feet, 2-inches.

“We were able to fill out a team for every relay this meet and they performed well; they sacrificed for each other and were completely bought in,” assistant coach Adam Wiltse said.

Next up for Newport is the Barry Sartz Last Chance Invite Wednesday, May 13, 3 p.m. at Ellersick Field, also Senior Night.

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.