Lander Marak, Dominick Corley, Josie Donelson, Logan Hofstee Among Top Entries At The Podium

By Keenan Gray of DyeStat

High School indoor track and field makes its return to The Podium this coming Saturday and Sunday in Spokane, Washington for the third installment of the Spokane High School Invitational.

As many as eight states are expected to have representation at this year’s two-day meet, including some with returning athletes looking to repeat as champions in their respective competition.

Lander Marak of Super Thrower Track Club looks to make it back-to-back titles in the boys weight throw competition, coming in with US#2 and new lifetime best effort of 70 feet, 7.5 inches from the NWPV Indoor Weight Throw Clinic on Jan. 14.

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The Sandy OR senior and USATF Junior Olympic national champion in hammer from last summer won last year’s weight throw competition by over eight feet, throwing 64-4.50.

Spokane Speed Academy’s Dominick Corley, who represents Mead WA in the high school season, is slated to run the boys 60-meter in hopes of repeating as champion from last year’s meet, where he won in 6.80 seconds.

Corley opened his senior indoor season with a 6.74 effort at the Spokane Speed Games on Dec. 16, ranking him US#4 in the event.

Corley will race a highly touted competition in the boys 60, with Washington 1A State 100 and 200 champion Reggie Witherspoon III from Seattle Academy WA, representing GLS Speed TC, and Oregon 6A 100 champion Demari Thompson of North Salem, representing Ultimate Speed Athletics, slated to compete.

Corley is also set to race the 200 on Sunday, which he ranks US #20 in at 21.77, against Witherspoon III and Alpha Speed Academy’s LeRoy Horton, a senior from Curtis WA and recent commit to Harvard.

Nike Cross Nationals All-American Logan Hofstee from East Valley (Spokane) WA will begin her indoor campaign in the girls 3,000, looking to repeat as champion following her win last year in 10:13.16. 

The Gonzaga signee will race her fellow NXN Northwest teammate, Chloe Huyler of Lakeridge OR, as well as Sydney Collier of Skyline WA, representing Cascade Striders. 

Huyler will be featured in the girls invite mile, racing against Orange County Heat’s Annie Packard (JSerra CA), Mead WA’s Charlotte Cullen and Evoke Elite Track Club’s Amaya Aramini (Bishop Manogue NV).

Hanford WA’s Landry Allen, representing Columbia Valley Academy, is back to defend her pole vault title. The junior last competed at the UCS Pole Vault Summit in Reno, Nevada, where she finished fifth overall with a personal best clearance of 12-8.

Cassandra Atkins of Alpha Speed Academy begins her indoor season looking to repeat as triple jump champion in addition to competing in long jump. The Oregon commit from Federal Way WA will jump against Maleigha Canaday-Elliott from McDaniel OR.

Redmond Sprint Club’s Braelyn Baker (Bear Creek WA) returns to Spokane in hopes of capturing two more wins in the 60 and 200 a month after winning both of those events at the Spokane Speed Games. 

Baker, a Duke commit, is set to take on Riley Allen of Central CA in the 60, then Ultimate Speed Athletics’ Josie Donelson (Lake Oswego OR) and Code Black Elite’s Marley Scoggins (Golden Valley CA) in the 200. 

Donelson headlines the girls 400 following her US #3 run in the 300 at The VA Showcase, running 37.89 against sprint stars Adaejah Hodge of Montverde Academy FL and Sydney Sutton of Bullis MD.

Donelson will race Oregon 6A state championships runner-up in 2023, Newberg’s Sophia Castaneda, as well as Orange County Heat’s Maya Woolford of JSerra CA and Washington 3A state champion and GLS Speed’s Elaina Hudackso of Interlake WA.

Steadfast Track Academy’s Dane Eike, senior at Valor Christian CO, sits atop the entry list in the boys mile with his lifetime best effort of 4:07 from the Hoka Festival of Miles last June. Eike will face Idaho 5A state cross country champion Nate Stadtlander of YMCA Team Idaho, Ryan Harrington of Electric City Track Club and Maximus Cervi-Skinner, a member of North Idaho’s NXN team, from North Idaho Distance Project. 

Stadtlander (Meridian ID) will also race the 800, while Harrington (Great Falls MT) and Cervi-Skinner (Coeur d’Alene ID) are also competing in the 3,000.

JSerra CA’s Georgia Jeanneret, racing for Orange County Heat, is the top girls 800 entrant and will face Federal Way Track’s Julia Couch (Auburn Riverside WA) and Mead’s Cullen.

USATF Junior Olympic decathlon runner-up Tomeko Cates (Mary Walker WA) will make his high jump debut. The defending Washington 1B state champion cleared a personal best 6-9 last spring.

Marissa Johnson of Super Thrower will compete in the girls shot put and weight throw competitions. The Tigard OR sophomore finished fourth in shot put and second in weight throw as a freshman in last year’s meet.

Inner Circle Track Club’s Kyra Bakke (Tualatin OR) hopes to improve upon her second-place effort from last year’s high jump competition when she cleared a personal best 5-7.