San Juan hosts local teams, sweeps home invitational track and field meet with two first-place team finishes

Any home meet is destined to have spectacular finishes and massive improvements. The San Juan Championship in Blanding this past Friday, April 8 did not disappoint in that regard.

The Broncos had an amazing meet with first-place team finishes for both the boys and girls. With a first-place finish in the 400 meter, Reghan Laws led the way for the girls team.

Laws, a freshman, has shown steady improvement this season. Also placing in the 400 was Taryn Nielson in fifth.

Zack Conway, only one-tenth of a second behind Grand County’s Brenden Dowd, placed second in the 100-meter dash with a state-qualifying time of 11.86 seconds. Conway followed up his 100 meter placing with an additional second place in the 200.

Conway was joined by two other teammates in the 100 meter top ten, Magnum Nielson in third and Josh Nielson in sixth.

Within three-tenths of a second, places five through eight in the girls 100-meter race were taken by Ashlyn Palmer, Ryleigh Laws, Maycee Conway, and TaiNea Anderson.

A similar pattern emerged in the 200-meter race, but with even more Broncos involved. In second through seventh place came Ashlyn Palmer, TaiNea Anderson, Reghan Laws, Ryleigh Laws, Meagan Palmer, and Maycee Conway.

In addition to her performances in the 100 and 200, Anderson also placed second in the javelin competition, throwing over 87 feet to beat her personal best by almost seven feet. She was followed by excellent throws from Sierra Richmond (third), Molley Hall (fourth), and Kayla Howe (fifth).

In the hurdles, Leah Castellon and Alex Shumway each had top placings in the 100 and 300 meter. Castellon took second in the 100 hurdles and fourth in the 300 hurdles.

Shumway took third in both the 100 and 300 hurdles. In the 100 hurdles, the pair of Broncos were joined by Ella Davis in fourth and Phoenix Tisi in fifth.

In the boys hurdles, Brigham Nielson led the way with two second-place finishes in the 110 and 300-meter hurdles. Daniel Jolley followed with two thirdplace finishes in the 110 and 300 hurdles.

In the high jump, Hudson Whatcott earned himself a second-place finish. He also jumped over 18 feet in the long jump, far enough to earn himself a resounding win. Keaton Ivins and Logan Keith placed in the long jump as well, finishing second and fifth.

In the distance events, Logan Keith placed third in the 800 meter with a time of 2:23, a five-second personal record for the freshman. In the 1600, Edward Lyman placed second with a time of 5:14 which was also a sizable personal record.

Lyman was joined by Ryan McCullough in fourth and Isley Singer in fifth. McCullough added a third-place finish in the 3200 meter. In the girls 1600-meter run, Ella Lyman and Saylor Perkins placed second and fourth respectively.

Magnum Nielson soundly beat the competition with his javelin throw just inches shy of 150 feet. Tyler Winn and Isley Singer threw far enough to earn themselves second and third place finishes. Nielson and Winn also placed second and fourth in the shot put competition.

In the discus competition, Tyler Winn and JD Palmer got fantastic performances. Winn threw over 95 feet to earn a second-place finish, while Palmer threw over 88 feet to grab third.

Strong relay team performances for the Broncos included wins in the boys 4x400 and girls 4x100 and second-place finishes in the girls 4x400 and sprint medley.

Three Broncos earned fifth-place finishes in their respective events: Alex Shumway in the high jump, Keaton Ivins in the 400 meter, and Logan Kieth in the discus.

Monticello

Competing close to home seemed to agree with the Buckaroos. Earning second place for the boys, third for the girls, and a swath of individual places added up to a highly successful day for the team.

Usually sprint events are won by hundredths or tenths of a second, but the girls 200 meter was a different story. Taylor Lewis sprinted to a time over a second faster than her next competitor, winning the race with a time of 28.99 seconds.

Lewis wasn’t the only Buckaroo to come home first on the day. There were in fact six other individual Monticello champions.

Two of those were attained by Boston Freestone in the 400 meter and high jump. Freestone also added a fourth-place finish in the 200 meter to his already impressive performances.

Berlynn Black snagged two first-place finishes for Monticello in the high jump and long jump, and earned an additional placing in the 300-meter hurdles with her second-place finish. Right behind their teammate in the high jump was Saydi Young in second place and Marah Long in sixth.

In the boys high jump, Easton Young earned a notable thirdplace finish.

Nial Reay and Robert Morrison were the last two athletes to come away with individual wins in the San Juan Invitational. Both were earned in throwing events. Reay won the discus competition, while Morrison won the shot put. Reay also placed fourth in the 100 meter, and Morrison got fifth in both the 100 and the javelin.

Also placing and earning points for their team in the throwing events were Donovan Atwood (fourth in discus and sixth in shot put), Nial Reay (seventh in shot put), Kinlee Atwood (seventh in the shot put and fifth in the discus), and Kyleigh Adair (fifth in the shot put and second in discus), Jesse Gomez (sixth in discus), Kaitlyn Musselman (eighth in the javelin), and Shayla Pehrson (fourth in discus).

Ayla Carling showed skill in both middle and long distance events, placing third in the 400 meter, fifth in the 800, and second in the 3200, earning 24 points for her team.

Also placing in three events (mostly distance events) were Curtis Bunker and Jesse Pettit. Bunker placed fourth in the 800, second in the 3200, and third in the long jump. Pettit placed eighth in the 800 meter, third in the 1600 meter, and fourth in the 3200 meter.

Buckaroo relay teams also had a strong day in Blanding. The girls 4x100 squad and boys 4x400 team came home in second, and the girls 4x400 relay team got third.

Other athletes showing great skill and earning top placings included Easton Young (fifth in the 100, third in the high jump), Kinlee Atwood (third in the 100), Soren Welch (third in the 400, sixth in the long jump), Tavon Black (fifth in the 110 hurdles), Lilly Burton (fourth in the 800), Alexis Bailey (eighth in the 800, fifth in the 1600), and Shayla Pehrson (fifth in the 300 hurdles). 

Whitehorse

The Whitehorse Raiders ended the San Juan Invite with almost 20 topten finishes among the teams. Senior Weston Manygoats led the way with three first-place finishes in the distance events (800, 1600, and 3200). With his three top finishes, Manygoats earned well over half of the team’s total points.

With four top ten finishes, Brett James had a busy but impressive meet. James took fourth in the high jump, fifth in the 800 meter, seventh in the 400 meter, and tenth in the long jump.

Shania Mitchell also competed in several events for Whitehorse. She threw 30 feet, five inches in the shot put competition to win the event. She added a sixth-place finish in the javelin and a third in the discus.

Kylie Kinsel competed alongside Mitchell in the discus competition and placed seventh. Amos Nocki and Izaya Bob placed seventh and eighth in the discus. Bob also placed ninth in the javelin competition.

In the 300-meter hurdles Sebastian White placed fourth for the boys team, while Lewneil Hascon placed sixth for the girls team. The boys 4x100 relay team earned an impressive second-place finish

Also finishing well for the Raiders was Kailee Tohonnie. She picked up two top-ten finishes in the sprint competition (tenth in the 100, eighth in the 200).

Monument Valley

Although few in number, the Monument Valley Cougars represented well at the San Juan Invitational in Blanding.

On the distance side, Caitlyn Yazzie performed well enough to earn herself two top-ten placings. She was fourth in the 3200 meter and seventh in the 1600.

In the girls 400-meter run, Lillianna Fatt and Yanabah Smith both had impressive performances. Fatt placed fourth, while Smith placed sixth. Smith also placed ninth in the 800 meter.

Doreon Chee placed eighth in the 400 meter, ninth in the long jump, and ninth in the shot put. Also with three top-ten placings was Theo Tohsonie with an eighth place in javelin, ninth place in discus, and tenth place in shot put.

Three girls placed in the top ten in the shot put competition for Monument Valley. Tasheena Cly led the way with a fourth-place finish. She was followed by Chalyishia Tsosie in sixth place and Alyah Blackwater in tenth place.

Tsosie and Cly also placed in the discus competition with Tsosie placing ninth and Cly placing tenth. Seth Sheppard and Tramon Jake also had impressive throws on the day. Sheppard threw 34 feet, ten inches for fifth in the discus. Jake placed tenth in the javelin competition.

 

Whitehorse is the only San Juan County track and field team in action for the remainder of this week. The Raiders travel to Page, AZ on Saturday, April 16. Monticello will join Grand County and Green River for a trip to the Duchesne Invitational on Tuesday, April 19. 

 

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