RICHLAND — Pendleton saw some of the best competition it will see all year Saturday at the 8th Annual Clay Lewis Invite at Hanford High School.
The Bucks held their own in the sprints and relays to finish eighth in the boys team standings with 56 points.
Hermiston won the boys team title with 126 points, with Kennewick second at 108 and Kamiakin third (85).
Ben Hopkins and John Thatcher picked up the lion’s share of the points for the Bucks, with Hopkins winning the 200 meters in a time of 22.51 seconds, with Thatcher second at 22.85.
Hopkins was also second in the 100 with a personal best of 11.16.
Thatcher was second in the 400 with a personal best of 49.47, just a half-step behind Kamiakin’s Gunner Smith (49.21).
Pendleton’s Jack Reynolds turned in a season-best 4:45.23 to place second in the 1,600. Reynolds had the lead toward the end, only to see Moses Lake’s Lane Christensen pass him late in the race for the win with a time of 4:42.05.
Hopkins and Thatcher joined forces with Quinn Kennedy and Gabe DeGrofft to finish third in the 4×100 relay with a time of 43.07.
Hopkins, DeGrofft, Reynolds and Thatcher teamed up to finish fourth in the 4×400 relay with a time of 3:37.37.
In the triple jump, Graysen Mead was seventh with a mark of 40-9 1/2, while Kennedy finished eighth with a leap of 39-10.
La Grande’s Brogan Hedgepeth was named the Outstanding Male Athlete. He won the shot put (55-1 1/2) and the discus (180-5).
The Pendleton girls finished 12th in the team standings with 19 points.
Chiawana won the girls’ title with 146.5 points, followed by Kamikain (100) and Moses Lake (93).
Hazel Case led the Bucks with a fourth-place finish in the long jump with a leap of 16-1. She also was fourth in the 200 with a time of 27.77.
Kayle Smith added a fourth-place finish in the pole vault with a height of 8-6, while McKenzie Shelden was sixth in the triple jump (31-1) and eighth in the long jump (15-4).
Richland’s Navy Khamlue-Pratt was named the Outstanding Female Athlete. She won the 100 (12.31), 200 (26.19) and ran a leg on the Bombers’ 4×400 relay team that placed second (4:15.72).
