POST FALLS - In the first three weeks of the high school track season, the reason for the fast start for many of the athletes is simple.

Great weather, great results.

Post Falls senior hurdler Wednesday Walton broke the school record in the 100-meter hurdles earlier this season, and on Thursday she won the 100 and 300 hurdles at the Christina Finney Relays at Post Falls High.

Walton broke her own school record in the 300 hurdles, finishing in 45.38 seconds.

"This season has seriously started so great," Walton said. "I feel like everyone on the team has been doing so much better since the start of the year. Personally, I've never felt so fast at the start of the season and it feels awesome. I don't think we've ever had so many sunny track meets back-to-back. It's just awesome."

Lake City sophomore Jake Finney won the 3,200 at the Central Valley Invitational, and was third in the 400 at the Lewiston Invitational on March 16 before winning the 400 on Thursday in 52.41 seconds.

"Last year, we had snow for a month after this," Finney said. "It's been good this year and training has been a lot better quality with a lot less snow. We've got a stronger distance relay team than last year because it's hard to get out when there's still a few inches (of snow) on the ground."

Coeur d'Alene won the team championship (boys and girls scores combined) with 266.5 points. Lewiston was second with 240.5 and Post Falls third with 226.

Coeur d'Alene senior Makayla Strand set a school record in the pole vault with a jump of 11-feet, 1-inch, breaking a 10-year record previously held by Katrina McCoy.

Lake City's 4x200 relay team of Maddison Ward, Meaghan Bare, Alissa Jolliff and Leanne Asper won in 1:45.72 and the 4x400 relay team of Ward, Camryn Wendlendt, Bare and Asper won in 4:05.65. Both times are current state bests.

Most local schools will now take a week off for spring break.

For Coeur d'Alene tcoach Linda Lanker, it will be her first in-season vacation in 31 years of coaching. Some of her athletes will be enjoying the time off in the Bahamas, Hawaii and Mexico.

"Some of them started a little early," Lanker said. "We're missing a couple of our top sprinters. I told them that I'm their coach, and they should take me too. It's the first time I'm taking a break and going to Arizona to see my mom."

While teams won't officially practice for the next week, coaches left athletes a list of various workouts to do over the break.

"Kids get what they can during spring break," Post Falls coach Wade Quesnell said. "Some kids are more motivated than others, but we've worked really hard up until this point, so an every-other-day workout right now isn't so bad in case there's some owies, they can rest those also before it really gets rolling after spring break."

Most schools have competed in at least three meets thus far, a far cry from last year, when the Finney meet was postponed from its usual pre-spring break date in late March to April 12 due to snow.

"We thought about moving it, but it's a good early meet," Quensell said. "It normally runs fast, so we'll keep it where it's at and just get it done and get on to spring break."

The better weather so far this season has paid dividends.

"I think it helps in the sense that the kids are seeing their performances are better than they were last year," Lanker said. "It's going to make them want to work out. We (coaches) give them workouts for the week of spring break. Because they've improved, they're more motivated to get out and do it because the kids don't want to lose what they've gained."

For Walton, who has signed to run track at Massachusetts, she'll spend the time off on the track.

"I know I'm going to be training almost every day during break," Walton said. "Just to make myself better, I know personally I'll be out here almost every day."

TEAM SCORES - 1, Coeur d'Alene 266.5. 2, Lewiston 240.5. 3, Post Falls 226. 4, Lake City 211.5. 5, Moscow 158. 6, Sandpoint 109. 7, Timberlake 72. 8, Lakeland 68.5.

100 - 1, Addison Johnson, Coeur d'Alene, 11.29. 2, Andres Nunez, Lewiston, 11.51. 3, Chase Lanhan, Moscow, 11.65. 200 - 1, Andres Nunez, Lewiston, 23.18. 2, Bret Davide, Post Falls, 23.26. 3, Nathan Newby, 23.31. 400 - 1, Jake Finney, Lake City, 52.41. 2, Andy Scuderi, Post Falls, 52.62. 3, Tim Prummer, Sandpoint, 52.72. 800 - 1, Jerry Cook, Moscow, 2:02.04. 2, Matthew Burgstahler, Sandpoint, 2:03.74. 3, Kyler Little, Lake City, 2:03.79. 1,600 - 1, Sam Levora, Sandpoint, 4:27.58. 2, Eric Storey, Moscow, 4:27.86 3, Kyler Little, Lake City, 4:27.89. 3,200 - 1, Sam Levora, Sandpoint, 9:55.79. 2, Kyler Little, Lake City, 10:04.93. 3, Jake Finney, Lake City, 10:04.99.

110 hurdles - 1, Zion Stuffle, Lewiston, 15.42. 2, Keenan Marianno, Post Falls, 15.74. 3, Samuel Lee, Coeur d'Alene, 15.90. 300 hurdles - 1, Zion Stuffle, Lewiston, 39.65. 2, Samuel Lee, Coeur d'Alene, 41.70. 3, Quenton Franklin, Post Falls, 41.90. 4x100 relay - 1, Coeur d'Alene (Makenzie Baker, Addison Johnson, Anthony Dahlheimer, Reece Mahaffy), 44.48. 2, Lake City, 45.12. 3, Moscow, 45.20. 4x200 relay - 1, Post Falls (Bret Davide, Brady Ulen, Brenden Learning, Andy Scuderi), 1:32.85. 2, Lake City, 1:33.28. 3, Moscow, 1:35.92. 4x400 relay - 1, Moscow (Jerry Cook, Joey Cook, Chase Baune, Eric Storey), 3:32.87. 2, Post Falls, 3:37.56. 3, Lake City, 3:38.71. 4x800 relay - 1, Lake City (Jake Finney, Zack Holbrook, Garrett Johnson, Scott Knapp), 8:50.09. 2, Lewiston, 9:05.55. 3, Post Falls, 9:12.20.

Shot put - 1, Jeremiah Hazard, Coeur d'Alene, 44-5. 2, Cole Zacha, Lewiston, 43-2. 3, Briar Adona, Moscow, 43-0 1/2. Discus - 1, Cole Zacha, Lewiston, 156-11. 2, Briar Adona, Moscow, 142-4. 3, Matthew Bauman, Post Falls, 135-8. High jump - 1, Chandler Smith, Post Falls, 6-0. 2, Ryan Failor, Post Falls, 5-10. 3, Samuel Lee, Coeur d'Alene, 5-10. Pole vault - 1, Steven Beck, Post Falls, 14-0. 2, Josh Graham, Coeur d'Alene, 13-0. 3, Preston Rhodes, Timberlake, 12-6. Long jump - 1, Makenzie Baker, Coeur d'Alene, 21-1 1/4. 2, Mason Schumaker, Lewiston, 20-6 1/4. 3, Trent Greene, Lake City, 20-1 1/2. Triple jump - 1, Mason Schumaker, Lewiston, 39-8. 2, Alex Lewis, Moscow, 39-3 1/4. 3, Evan Lunning, Moscow, 38-11 1/2.

100 - 1, Maddison Ward, Lake City, 12.76. 2, Victoria Goetz, Coeur d'Alene, 13.10. 3, Jayden Hall, Lake City, 13.53. 200 - 1, Maddison Ward, Lake City, 25.97. 2, Victoria Goetz, Coeur d'Alene, 27.63. 3, Anna Gardom, Timberlake, 27.96. 400 - 1, Leanne Asper, Lake City, 1:00.25. 2, Emilee Schlader, Lewiston, 1:01.60. 3, Brittany Tackett, Coeur d'Alene, 1:01.63. 800 - 1, Jaycee Rade, Coeur d'Alene, 2:25.72. 2, Shevaun Ames, Lewiston, 2:26.49. 3, Josie Brown, Coeur d'Alene, 2:27.40. 1,600 - 1, Kara Story, Coeur d'Alene, 5:18.71. 2, Krista Story, Coeur d'Alene, 5:19.95. 3, Josie Brown, Coeur d'Alene, 5:21.14. 3,200 - 1, Mikhaela Woodward, Sandpoint, 12:23.02. 2, Persia Anderson, Post Falls, 12:29.99. 3, Kayla Zurosky, Coeur d'Alene, 12:31.17.

100 hurdles - 1, Wednesday Walton, Post Falls, 15.59. 2, Kaitlyn Gunnerson, Coeur d'Alene, 15.92. 3, Jordan Ward, Lakeland, 16.25. 300 hurdles - 1, Wednesday Walton, Post Falls, 45.38. 2, Kaitlyn Gunnerson, Coeur d'Alene, 46.86. 3, Georgia Filler, Moscow, 49.08. 4x100 relay - 1, Coeur d'Alene (Victoria Goetz, Kaitlyn Gunnerson, Brittany Tackett, Sara Chalich), 50.64. 2, Moscow, 52.10. 3, Post Falls, 53.03. 4x200 relay - 1, Lake City (Maddison Ward, Meaghan Bare, Alissa Jolliff, Leanne Asper), 1:45.72. 2, Post Falls, 1:48.99. 3, Moscow, 1:49.43. 4x400 relay - 1, Lake City (Maddison Ward, Camryn Wendlendt, Meaghan Bare, Leanne Asper), 4:05.06. 2, Coeur d'Alene, 4:07.38. 3, Post Falls, 4:18.51. 4x800 relay - 1, Coeur d'Alene (Madison Sumner, Kayla Story, Jaycee Rade, Krista Story), 9:59.72. 2, Post Falls, 10:47.15. 3, Lakeland, 11:46.66.

Shot put - 1, Emilee Schlader, Lewiston, 35-1. 2, Aneesah Gondo, Post Falls, 33-7. 3, Nikole Alamillo, Sandpoint, 33-3. Discus - 1, Nikole Alamillo, Sandpoint, 113-9. 2, Kassie Whitcomb, Lake City, 105-4. 3, Frances Smith, Timberlake, 103-2. High jump - 1, Jordan Ward, Lakeland, 5-2. 2, Brittany Pope, 4-10. 3, Shevaun Ames, Lewiston, 4-10. Pole vault - 1, Makayla Strand, Coeur d'Alene, 11-1. 2, Cecilia Watkins, Lewiston, 9-6. 3, Cassi Gerome, Post Falls, 8-6. Long jump - 1, Megan Ralstin, Lewiston, 17-4 1/2. 2, Makayla Strand, Coeur d'Alene, 15-11 3/4. 3, Brenna Meehan, Post Falls, 15-11. Triple jump - 1, Megan Ralstin, Lewiston, 35-4 3/4. 2, Kasey Widmyer, Lake City, 34-8. 3, Dani Failor, Post Falls, 32-8 3/4.