Prep track and field: Another dominant day for Cedar girls, DH boys

Written by Bob Hudson
April 16, 2016
File photo from Desert Hills Invitational, Track, St. George, Utah, Apr. 16, 2016, | Photo by Kevin Luthy, St. George News

ST. GEORGE – Saturday was a good day for Julia Hunt and her Cedar High teammates.

Hunt won one event, shared in a relay victory and took second in another event. Her Lady Reds team won the championship of the Desert Hills Invitational track and field meet.

Girls 4X400 relay, Desert Hills Invitational, Track, St. George, Utah, Apr. 16, 2016, | Photo by Kevin Luthy, St. George News
Girls 4X400 relay, Desert Hills Invitational, Track, St. George, Utah, Apr. 16, 2016, | Photo by Kevin Luthy, St. George News

Hunt and her twin sister Rachel finished first and second in the 400-meter run and were one one-hundredth of a second apart at 59.12 and 59.13 seconds.

“It was fun,” Julia said of that finish. “And our (4×100) team got first with the fastest time in the state, which is awesome.”

That team included Brooklyn Shakespeare, Jacie York and the two Hunts, who sprinted around the track in 49.26 seconds. Julia Hunt was second to Enterprise’s Jaslyn Gardner in the 100. Gardner also won the 200, a race Hunt did not run.

Cedar also won the 4×400-meter relay with the team of Avery Hess, Samantha Twitchell, York and Whitney Yardley.

Cedar finished with 137 points to 95 for Orem, 69 for Desert Hills, 49 for Dixie and 41 for Richfield.

“Overall it was another great performance,” said Cedar coach Josh Bennett. Some of the noteworthy performances he mentioned were Reagan Hulet’s win in the discus, Yardley’s win in the 800 and that one-two finish in the 400.

“The number one thing now is for us to stay healthy and continue to improve,” Bennett said

Desert Hills’ boys used the same formula – a few first-place finishes and lots of depth – to claim that championship. The Thunder finished with 105 points to 98 for Orem, 54 for Richfield, 44 for Uintah and 42 for Canyon View.

Boys Discus, Desert Hills Invitational, Track, St. George, Utah, Apr. 16, 2016, | Photo by Kevin Luthy, St. George News
Boys Discus, Desert Hills Invitational, Track, St. George, Utah, Apr. 16, 2016, | Photo by Kevin Luthy, St. George News

Saturday’s weather was nearly perfect with temperatures in the 70s and some occasional wind. The 19 teams and 872 athletes at the eighth annual meet turned in numerous meet records and a couple of state bests.

Other local winners for the girls included Panguitch’s Whitni Orton in the 3200, Dixie’s Starlee Woodbury in the 100-meter hurdles and Elly Williams of Desert Hills in the shot put.

Parowan’s Brandon Robinson and Cody Gardner of Orem had a couple of the more noteworthy performances for the boys. Robinson won the long jump with a leap of 22-feet, 5-inches and Gardner won the 300-meter hurdles in 38.40 seconds. He also won the 110-meter hurdles in 15.03.

Among the local winners were Jake Nisson of Desert Hills in the shot put, the Thunder’s Bryson King in the 1600, McKade Steffensen of Canyon View in the 3200, Dixie’s Ike Urquhart in the 800, Pine View’s Neitana Leung Choi in the discus and Snow Canyon’s medley relay team of Keivontae Washington, Tim Holland, Chris Poulsen and Josh Willits. Delta’s Dallin Draper won the 100 in 10.97 and the 200 in 22.l4, both solid midseason marks.

The next state qualifying meet in Southern Utah will be the Dixie Invitational next Friday and Saturday.

Complete results are available at www.runnercard.com.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @oldschoolag

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2016, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bob Hudson is a graduate of Brigham Young University. He has been a sportswriter in central and southern Utah and Southeast Idaho. He has also worked as a news editor and managing editor. He has lived in St. George since 2000.

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