The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

WAITSBURG - Ten minutes before the women's relay race at the Carnival of Speed in Milton Freewater began that fateful weekend, head track coach Jeff Bartlow knew the team was in a pickle.

One of the four runners, Kayla Huxoll, had just been struck in the foot by another competitor's javelin in a freak accident and Yesenia Escalante, a hurdler, was the only alternate.

While the relay runners from the other 19 teams were already warming up, Bartlow, who was at the scene of Huxoll's accident, told members of the Cardinals' team to find Escalante and get everyone ready for the event.

"We were i...