A Ruby in the rough comes out of Orofino

As the daughter of two track and field coaches, Ruby Kessinger has tried virtually every event the sport has to offer, and she enters her final state meet with an unusual combination of them.

To wit: the 100-meter dash, the long jump, the triple jump and the shot put.

It’s a bit of a pandemic stew. During the lockdowns of 2020, she and her younger sister, Lindi, spent less time at the track and more time following the private workouts of their father, former weight-thrower Jason Kessinger. The regimen might have veered them toward the field events, and Lindi won the Class 2A state discus title last year in addition to the 300-meter hurdles crown.

This year, Ruby looks capable of placing high in all four of her events at the Idaho state small-school meet, which begins today at Middleton High School near Boise. In her class she’s ranked third in all of her field events, close to the leader, and rates eighth in the 100. Lindi, a sophomore, ranks second in the discus, fifth in the 100 hurdles and fourth in the 300 hurdles.

“This year, I had a different mindset, I would say,” Ruby said this week. “My dad did a really good job of training us and knowing when to load and hit the max effort, to get better marks and peak at the right time.”

In the Class 4A competition, Moscow’s Dylan Rehder, ranked fourth in the 400 at 50.07, leads a solid group of Moscow boys, and Hannah Marcoe boasts the No. 2 time (46.72) in the girls 300 hurdles.

Kessinger’s mother, Orofino coach Julie Kessinger, also sees a sense of urgency during Ruby’s senior season as she seeks a college home. She was set to visit the College of Idaho track program in Caldwell this week as she prepped for the state meet.

“I thinks she realized it was time to further her education, and she needs a scholarship to afford it,” Julie said. “And she’s a young senior. She’ll enter college at 17, so I think there’s a lot of developing still to happen.

Her primary love has been the jumping events, but shin splints have prompted her to approach them craftily this year. She avoided the triple jump until two weeks ago, then sailed 35 feet, 6¾ inches last week. She hands the credit to longtime Orofino jumps coach Tam White.

Here are some other story lines to watch, the large-school version (Class 4A and 5A) of which is set for Dona Larson Park in Boise starting today:

Class 5A

It’s go time for Emily Collins, the Lewiston sprinter who’s made an astonishing leap as a senior.

Her best state-meet finish was eighth in the 400 last year, but she’s ranked No. 1 this season in the 200 at 25.30, a quarter of a second ahead of Boise’s Logan Smith, and second in the 400 at 56.86, within striking distance of Smith (56.15).

The Lewiston girls will score a bunch of points. Damaris Stuffle is rated first in the 100 hurdles at 15.45 and fourth in the 300 hurdles, and a Collins-anchored 1,600 relay stands second.

For the Lewiston boys, Thor Kessinger (cousin to Ruby and Lindi) has the No. 3 marks in shot put and discus.

Class 2A

Two-event defending champion Reid Thomas of Orofino boasts the top mark of 55-0½ in the boys shot put and the third-best mark of 149-9 in the discus.

Class 1A

The distance-rich Logos girls of Moscow send 12 qualifiers in 20 events, led by Clara Anderson, ranked first in the 1,600, and Sara Casebolt, who tops the 3,200 field.

It’s an intriguing scenario for Highland junior Kadence Beck, ranked a close second in the 100, 200 and 400.

For Lapwai, Alexis Herrera is rated tops in the girls’ discus and Soa Moliga is third in the shot put.

Among the 1A boys, Jack Wilkins of Kamiah is tied atop the pole-vault rankings; defending 110 hurdles champion Brady Cox of the Kubs ranks second in that event and third in the 300 hurdles; and Wyatt Johnson of Potlatch owns the second-best 200 time and the third-best 100 clocking.

Grummert may be contacted at daleg@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2290.