No Hurdles to Success

GIRLS TRACK AND FIELD PREVIEW

Athletes to Watch

Anna Adamko, sr., Columbia River (throws); Jessica Bottelberghe, sr., Columbia River (middle distance); Alex Coons, sr., Woodland (sprints); Jennifer DeBellis, jr., Columbia River (pole vault); Lynelle Decker, jr., Mountain View (middle distance); Megan Kelley, sr., Camas (sprints/long jump); Tee Tee Martin, jr., Heritage (sprints); Johna McEllrath, jr., Prairie (throws); Rachel McQuivey, sr., Skyview (hurdles); Kelly Nigro, so., Woodland (hurdles); Kristina Owsinski, sr., Prairie (hurdles/pole vault); Sara Slayton, sr., Camas (hurdles); Priscilla Timmons, sr., Skyview (distance); Kelly Young, sr., Washougal (hurdles).

League overview

CLASS 4A GSHL: Skyview lost much of the star power from the squad that dominated last year’s district meet, but Rachel McQuivey and Priscilla Timmons should be big point scorers throughout the season. Kelso was second at district, but no GSHL team finished in the Top 25 at state.

CLASS 3A GSHL: Camas’ strong depth should dominate the district meet, but the Papermakers, Columbia River, and Prairie all could be contenders for the state title. For Camas, Boise State-bound Megan Kelley could contend for multiple state championships, while Sara Slayton, Ciara Klein, Cami Parsons, and Lauren Neff all are strong candidates to score points at the state meet. Columbia River and Prairie each have multiple contenders to win events at the state meet: Anna Adamko, Jessica Bottelberghe and Jennifer DeBellis for the Chieftains; and Johna McEllrath and Kristina Owsinski for the Falcons. Columbia River tied for the state title last year, while Camas was a close third. Mountain View, meanwhile, can count on plenty of points from Lynelle Decker, who third in the 800 and sixth in the 1,600 at last year’s 4A state meet.

CLASS 2A GSHL: R.A. Long won last year’s league meet, but Washougal and Woodland could contend this year. Woodland is particularly deep, aided by the return of Charity Arn, who placed in a pair of events at state two years ago before missing last season with an injury.

CLASS 1A Trico: La Center’s Katrina Chamberlain is one of the top all-around athletes in the area, finishing second in high jump, 10th in triple jump, and fifth in shot put at last year’s state meet.

Allow us, for a moment, to delve into the psyche of someone who willingly throws themselves into the 300-meter hurdles, which also could be called the Running of the Masochists.

After all, you race 300 meters at top speed, with a set of eight barriers at a height of 30 inches — a battle of fortitude as much as speed.

Or, as Skyview senior Rachel McQuivey puts it, “Who wants to run full speed and have something in their way? It’s really a mental game, not to think about the fatigue and the pain you’re in and your lungs — ‘I need more air.’ ”

What kind of person finds pleasure in running such a race?

We’ll let the coach explain.

“She’s very dedicated. She’s a great student, a very teachable person. She has a lot of drive, that drive to be successful and that motivation.”

Which shouldn’t be surprising — except that the quote comes from Jolene Morrison, McQuivey’s voice teacher.

And it has nothing to do with McQuivey’s success as a hurdler — except that it has everything to do with it.

McQuivey is on a quest this year to win a state title in the 300 hurdles.

She ran a personal-best time of 43.60 seconds at last year’s state meet, which was one of the top 70 times in the nation according to athletic.net, and was more than a full second better than 99.99 percent of the state’s track athletes.

The problem is that it left McQuivey more than a full second behind Kayla Stueckle of Puyallup’s Emerald Ridge, who happened to be in the same race.

Stueckle has taken her prodigious talents to the University of Washington, depriving McQuivey of some motivation while at the same time enhancing it.

“She deserved that first-place title, and I deserved the second place I got,” McQuivey said. “This year, I really think that first place has my name on it.”

Which might seem like braggadocio, if only McQuivey weren’t so personable, talented and driven.

“She’s a very, very hard worker,” Skyview track coach Ron Heidenreich said. “She has a lot of talent, but a lot of her success has come from hard work. She’s mentally tough, that’s what she is.”

McQuivey also competes in the 100-meter hurdles and runs the anchor leg for Skyview’s 1,600-meter relay. But it’s the hardest race that is her favorite, and that’s the one that has her headed to Brigham Young University to compete in college track.

“The 300 race is my baby,” she said. “I’m comfortable with it. I’m a stubborn runner. I know what games my mind can play with me in the 300. People who are looking from the outside-in might look at running as punishment. But I love it. Push-ups — to me, that’s punishment.”

Not that McQuivey is averse to punishment. Not that she is driven by fear.

Which brings us back to the singing.

McQuivey has been taking voice lessons for years. She sang the “Star-Spangled Banner” for the Skyview volleyball team’s Senior Night (as a two-year varsity player, she was part of two league championship teams). And she is scheduled to perform at the Clark County Fair this coming summer, where she plans to sing Rascal Flatts’ “Unstoppable.”

“She has a voice,” said Morrison, the singing teacher. “Not up to the caliber of Carrie Underwood, but that type of singer. Rachel does great with musical theater, as well.”

Somehow, you would expect nothing less from Rachel McQuivey.