On a cloudy, windy Saturday the Raiders opened their 2013 track and field season at the West Valley invite at West Valley High School in Spokane.

Only 11 tracksters made the trip to West Valley. None placed but two came close. The meet featured most of the strong squads from the Greater Spokane League, Great Northern League, and Northeast A, making it very difficult to place in all events.

Freshman Lukas Hermetz continues to impress his coaches as the improvement from the cross country season transferred to his track events. In his first 1600- and 400-meter races of the season, Hermetz broke his career personal records by running a 5-minute, 28-second mile and a 62.8-second 400. In his first-ever time competing in the long jump, Hermetz leapt 13 feet, 11.5 inches.

Freshman Eren Moon almost placed in the shot put taking 10th with a throw of 29-2. Moon finished 18th in the discus with the throw of 72-6. In the javelin, Moon threw 48-1, the 39th best throw at the meet.

Senior Samantha Turner started her season with a solid performance, throwing the discus 70-4 and the shot 24-1. Both distances were better than her throws a year ago at the same meet. In the javelin, Turner posted her greatest improvement from last year. Her throw 61-6 was over 12 feet better than her performance at the same meet a year ago.

Sean Waters missed placing by just a couple of feet in the shotput, taking 18th with a 40-2 throw. Over at the discus, Waters threw 118-3, which was the 13th best throw of the meet.

Tyler Agosto, the Raider runner in the 100- and 200-meter sprints, ran a 14.25-second 100 and a 31.01 in the 200. Agosto also threw the shot, his best throw at 31 feet, even.

Zack Erickson set a career PR at West Valley. In the 800, Erickson ran a 3:19.65 second race, better by 22 seconds than his previous PR. His 1600 time of 6:23.22, is a 1:29 improvement from last year at the same meet.

Chyenne Kelly-Marconi came very close to placing in the triple jump as she hopped, skipped and jumped to 31-3 ninth-place finish. In her other events Kelly-Marconi jumped 12-7 in the long jump, ran a 19.85-second 100-meter hurdles, and ran a 78.05-second 400.

Mikel Friedlander ran the 100 in 16.4, and the 400 in 77.4. Mary Ann Matheson had first-meet jitters, running a 3:34.6 800, 7:50.85 1600, and 13:58.3 3200. Matheson looks to improve her times this week.

Newcomer from Spokane, Alaynah Herman made her LR debut in the 1600 (7:48.96) and 3200 (13:51.8). Clare Castrodale ran her first race of the 2013 season, finishing the 1600 in 8:16.27.

“Most impressive was the performances of our returning athletes,” noted Head Coach Lori Adkins. “For their first outing, their times and distances compare to mid-season marks from last season.”

The Raiders look to have more eligible as they travel to Ephrata for the Ray Cross Invitational this Saturday starting at 11 a.m.

This year’s Ray Cross will feature around 30 teams. Most of the competition will be from the Caribou Trail League, the North Central 1B, and Central Washington 2B. Many from the 1A South Central Athletic Conference will also be there along with Ephrata’s rivals from the 2A Central Washington Athletic Conference.