It didn’t take Trey Knight long to throw his name into the ranks of the NCAA’s top track and field athletes.
The freshman from Ridgefield notched the eighth best hammer throw mark in University of Southern California history on Friday. His throw of 226 feet, 9 inches won the Beach Invitational at Long Beach, Calif.
That mark is a collegiate personal-best for Knight. It is also just 10 feet shy of the qualifying standard for the U.S. Olympic Trials, to be held this June in Eugene, Ore.
Southern Cal has a dual meet against UCLA before the Pac-12 Championships May 14-16 in Los Angeles. The NCAA Regionals are next up in Texas before the NCAA Championships June 9-12 in Eugene.
Knight set the national high school record in June, throwing 261-7 with a lighter high school hammer. He was the Washington Gatorade boys track and field athlete of the year three times, capturing four state titles in the shot put and discus.
Schmidt runs strong for Corban
Valerie Schmidt, a sophomore at Corban, continued her strong 2021 season by winning the 100 meter hurdles on Saturday at the Wes Cook Invitational in Salem, Ore.
Schmidt, a Prairie grad, is perhaps the best all-around athlete at Corban. She holds the school record in the 100 hurdles and is in the top-10 all-time in the 200 meters, 400 hurdles, long jump, high jump and shot put. She set the school heptathlon record in 2019, a mark that still stands.
Portland State football takes field
The Portland State football team had its lone game this spring, falling to Montana 48-7 on Saturday.
Score aside, the game served to reward the dedication of players who stuck with the program despite not having a season last fall.
That included a few Clark County players. Jalynnee McGee, a freshman from Skyview, had three carries for six yards. Darien Chase (Union) caught one pass for eight yards in his first action since transferring from Nebraska. Brady Brick, a junior from Battle Ground, started on the offensive line. For Montana, junior Michael Matthews (Camas) had two tackles.
Do you know of a standout performance by a college athlete from Clark County? Email sports editor Micah Rice at micah.rice@columbian.com.
