Deishi pole vault leads Shocker state track squad

Hannah Hughes, second from right, a three-time district champion in the 100 and 200-meter sprints and discus qualified in those three events plus long jump at state. Hughes finished third in long jump, eighth in the 100M and 10th in discus.

Lexi Deishi set the new district pole vault record with an 11-foot effort that sent her to state ranked 17th among all state pole vaulters. Deishi

Freshman Sarah Mullen who qualified for state in the triple jump, finished in 14th place with a leap of 30 feet, 3 inches.

Posted Thursday, June 1, 2017 1:05 pm

Mike Maltais

WATERVILLE-MANSFIELD – Pole vaulter, Lexi Deishi and spring and field specialist, Hannah Hughes led a trio of Waterville-Mansfield Shocker varsity track and field girls who competed at the state track and field championships at Cheney last Thursday-Saturday, May 25-27.
Deishi, a junior, carried the District 5/6 pole vault record of 11 feet to the state meet and finished in second place at Cheney with a vault of 10’, well below her personal record.
At the league championships in Tonasket, May 10, Deishi easily outdistanced her nearest rival by two feet to win the league title. The following week at District 5/6 competition in Quincy, Deishi cleared 11 feet to set the new district mark.
At Districts, Deishi also placed fourth in the 100-meter dash and fifth in the 400M.
“She really has exemplified what it takes to be successful, hard work, motivation and a personal commitment to her event,” coach Justin Grillo said.
Hughes, a Mansfield sophomore and multi-event specialist, qualified in four track and field events, where she is ranked among the top 10 in the state, Grillo said. Those events include the 100-and 200-meter sprints, long jump and discus.
Hughes placed third at state in long jump with a leap of 16’11.25”, eighth in the 100M and 10th in discus with a toss of 100’8”.
“Earlier in the preliminaries, she placed eighth in the 100 meters with a time of 12.99 which qualified her for the finals,” said Grillo. “She also took 12th in the 200-meter dash preliminaries with a time of 27.62, but did not qualify for the finals.”
Hughes entered the state competition ranked second in long jump, fifth in the 100M, eighth in discus, and10th in the 200M, in the 2B division.
At earlier District 5/6 competition Hughes, a three-time district champion, won the 100M, long jump and discus and finished second in the 200M.
“She is also a 4.0 student athlete at Mansfield High School,” Grillo said.
Freshman, Sarah Mullen “made it in the triple jump which is pretty awesome for her to have the opportunity to compete at the state level,” said Grillo.
Mullen placed 14th in the state triple jump finals with a distance of 30’ 03”.