When Devin Bryant, Viktor Korchemniy, Ray Hardaway and Anatolly Staragerov turned out for the Auburn Mountainview 400-meter relay team this track and field season, it was just supposed to be a way to stay in shape for football.
“We thought we could be good,” said Korchemniy, a junior. “We just weren’t sure how good.”
The four underclassmen proved to be fabulous, racing to a fifth-place, 43.45-second finish at the state 3A meet at Tacoma’s Mount Tahoma Stadium last Saturday.
“If you would have asked me at the beginning of the season, I would have doubted that we’d do as good as we did,” Korchemniy admitted.
Initially, the relay team got off to a slow start, with Bryant, a sophomore, unable to compete.
“I started pretty late because I was ineligible because of my grades,” Bryant said. “So I had to get those up.”
Although the core of the relay team – Korchemniy, freshman Hardaway and sophomore Staragerov – remained intact, the team relied on a revolving cast of runners in the beginning, including senior Chris Ackerman and junior Shaddye Melu.
In the season-opening meet, the Lions posted a glacial 52.83 time against Bonney Lake.
Slowly, they began to put it together, however, shaving seconds.
It wasn’t until Auburn Mountainview’s April 20 dual meet against Lakes, with Bryant finally eligible, that everything fell into place. The relay team beat the Lancers, stopping the clock in a swift 44.60.
“Beating them here at our place, that was the first time that I thought we’d be pretty good,” boys coach Craig Spence said.
“We were running with Shaddye… and it was clear he was getting spread thin. And Devin is no question faster. So getting Shaddye back into the 400 and Devin into the relays was a late season boost for us.”
“It was pretty big,” Hardaway added. “Devin is pretty good, and we were able to switch me to anchor. We were able to break 45 seconds, finally with Devin. That was the first big step.”
Once the postseason hit, the Lion relay kicked it into high gear, breaking the 44-second barrier at the May 14 sub-district meet with a third-place 43.93 finish.
“Then they all focused in on this, and everybody just got much better,” Spence said.
At the May 21 district meet, the team cut even more time, finishing fifth with a 43.88 and qualifying for state.
At the state meet, the relay team battled through intermittent showers and a rough lane eight assignment to move out of the preliminaries and into the final.
“Friday and Saturday we tried to put together some good times,” Spence said. “Vic was running 10 (seconds) flat on the back stretch, which is pretty good. And Ray was passing guys on his leg. Our strategy all along has been get out as far as we can and hold on for dear life.
“I always told Ray, ‘Hey, you’re a freshman anchor, if you get passed by two guys, at least we’re coming in third.’ But I think he decided to pass people at the state meet. I know he passed the Wilson guy, who was pretty damn good, and another guy. That’s a big step for a freshman and a first-year guy.”
In the end, the team found itself on the podium as the fifth-fastest 3A sprint relay team in the state, with a 43.45. Yelm came out on top as the 3A champion with a time of 43.15.
According to Spence, who also coaches the group in football, the crucial element to this spring’s success was the team-first attitude.
“The biggest part is making the guys accountable to each other,” Spence said. “It’s been more of a team. Sometimes track can be about these little groups. The whole reason they got into it is because we came off a good football season. I think the idea of team makes sense to them.”
“(Being a team is) really important because we’ve got to work on being a well-tuned machine,” Korchemniy agreed.
And with the entire 400-meter squad returning next season, the goal is clear.
“Next year we want to take state,” Korchemniy said.
ALSO: Auburn Mountainview junior Shaddye Melu (pictured below) finished seventh in the high jump with a leap of 6-4, despite nursing a stress fracture in his foot. … Junior William Mack came in 16th in the 3A discus with a toss of 120-8. … Sophomore Chris Scharer placed 15th in the 1,600-meter race with a 4:24.94, with teammate and junior Dylan Summerlin grabbing 18th with 4:40.19. … Junior Whitney Echols had the 15th fastest time in the girls 200 with a 28.05.