2008-09 Season Review

The Community Colleges of Spokane men’s track and field team completed the 2009 season as NWAACC Champions. This is the 5th consecutive team title for the Sasquatch men and 11th title in 15 years. It has been 20 years since a team has won 5 straight. No other NWAACC school has won more than 4 in a row!!!!

Seven individual champions highlighted the two-day competition hosted at Spokane Falls Community College, but the team win was a combined effort of all the CCS men who made the finals in their respective events. 2009 boasts 31 NWAACC All-Americans for the Sasquatch, 6 more than last year. After the first day of competition the CCS men were 10 points ahead of eventual second place Lane Community College, but halfway through Day 2 the Lane men had scored heavily in the sprints and jumps. The win was ultimately secured late in the second day with 48 points coming from great efforts in the 5000m, Triple Jump, and Javelin. The Sasquatch men outdistanced Lane by 26 points: 277.5-251.5. It is the highest point total for any men’s team in NWAACC history.

Even with a superbly balanced attack by the sprints/hurdles, jumps, and throws, the men’s distance squad could have fielded their own team. Every distance event from 1500m to 10,000m was won by a CCS man. 106 points were generated by those five events. Jasen Brown came close to winning the 800m final (0.06 seconds), but his second place finish was complimented by champions Sean Coyle, Dak Riek, and Herschel Sanchey. Sanchey held off Coyle in the 1500m, and the two switched places in the 3000m Steeplechase. Coyle ran a new school record in the Steeple earlier this season at the Oregon Twilight meet. 2007 NWAACC Cross Country Champion Riek won both the 5,000 and 10,000m races ahead of 2008 Cross Country Champion Rigoberto Jiminez, who came in second. Michael Vetter and Marzell Jenkins finished second and third in the 100m and 400m, respectively, and helped the Sasquatch earn second place in the 4 x 100m Relay. Earlier All-American performers Mark Weller, Tim Armstrong, Sean Coyle, and Jasen Brown brought home the final eight points with their second place finish in the 4 x 400m Relay. Armstrong, who three weeks previous had begun gathering All-American certificates with his third place finish in the NWAACC Decathlon, was part of perhaps the most exciting moment in the meet when he waited alongside eventual champion and teammate Austin Victor following the 110m Hurdle final. After minutes of waiting, the results were in and Victor had beaten NWAACC leader Armstrong by 1 hundredth of a second. The top four placers were separated by only 0.04 seconds in what may be the closest race to determine a champion in NWAACC history. Armstrong earned another All-American honor with his third place finish in the 400m Hurdles. Sasquatch throwers were held out from All-American honors in the Shot Put, but competed very strongly in the Discus, Javelin, and Hammer. CCS basketball player Griffin Jones won the Discus while teammate Kahel Smith finished second in both Discus and Hammer throws. Jason Flemmer was also second with his 200+ throw in Javelin. Deonta Edwards, last season’s champion in Long Jump and High Jump, repeated in the High Jump and barely missed an NWAACC-tying record in that event with three attempts at 7-1. He finished second in Long Jump and third in Triple Jump. Freshman Carter Nell recorded a season best in Pole Vault and earned his first All-American award with his third place finish. Edwards was named Field Athlete of the Meet with the 24 points earned in his three events.

 

 2009 NWAACC Track and Field Champions

• 22-2 In scoring meets
• (Beat 2 D-I Colleges, 2 D-II Colleges, 3 D-III Colleges, 4 NAIA Colleges)
• 31 All-Americans
• 7 Conference Champions
• 56 All-Conference Selections
• School Record Steeplechase
• 11 Athletes in the All-Time Top Twenty List
• Fifth title in a row and 29th overall
• Highest Point total in NWAACC History (50+  years)