Desert Hills boys and girls win Region 9 track titles

Written by Jeff Richards
May 10, 2019
Athletes compete in the girls 100-meter hurdles during the Region 9 championship meet at Snow Canyon High School, St. George, Utah. May 9, 2019 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

ST. GEORGE — Desert Hills High School repeated as Region 9 track and field champions Thursday night, with the Thunder earning both the girls and boys team trophies at the conclusion of the region title meet held at Snow Canyon High School.

Desert Hills athletes surround Region 9 championship trophies following meet at Snow Canyon High School, St. George, Utah. May 9, 2019 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

Desert Hills coach Dace Goulding said the meet was closer than expected at the end of the first day on Wednesday, with the eventual runner-up Hurricane boys doing well in early events.

“Hurricane’s got a great team. They’ve got a bunch of real strong kids in distance and hurdles and just overall a good team,” Goulding said. “So I was a little nervous after the first day, but we still looked pretty good. And then on the second day, we had some outstanding performances, including a new school record in the discus.”

On his final attempt, Desert Hills senior Ryan Warner unleashed a throw that measured 169 feet, 8 inches, more than 10 feet farther than his closest competitor’s best mark.

“Ryan’s always just there, constant, like the sunrise. He does a great job, so that was really neat to see,” Goulding said, adding, “We also almost broke our school record in the 4×400, so I think we’ve got a good strong team going into state next week.”

With overcast skies and temperatures in the low 70s Thursday evening, the meet’s conditions were favorable, if a bit windy.

Following is a short recap of some of the top performances at the region meet:

Girls events

Chloe Taylor of Desert Hills crosses the finish line after winning the girls 300-meter hurdles during the Region 9 championship meet at Snow Canyon High School, St. George, Utah. May 9, 2019 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

Desert Hills seniors Bailey Brinkerhoff and Samantha Nelson posted a 1-2 finish in the 3,200-meter run, with winner Brinkerhoff crossing the finish line in 11 minutes, 15.38 seconds and runner-up Nelson finishing in 11:19.05, more than 8 seconds faster than her region-winning time last year.

Brinkerhoff and Nelson also finished a respective second and third in the 1,600, an event won by sophomore Alli Baker of Pine View in a time of 5:04.23.

Cedar High senior Jasie York won the 800 in a time of 2:13.66. York also won the 100 in a time of 12.84 seconds.

Canyon View senior Larissa Dabb won the 400 in a time of 58.35. Coming in about a second later was senior Kennedy Peck of Desert Hills, who was runner-up in 59.34. Dabb also won the 200 in a time of 26.57. Peck finished third in that event, while Desert Hills teammate Rachel Myers, also a senior, placed second in 26.85.

Senior Chloe Taylor of Desert Hills won the 300-meter hurdles in a time of 43.78. Taylor also won the 100 hurdles in a time of 15.35, while sophomore teammate Hannah Stuart placed a close second in 15.62.

Desert Hills also won the 4×100 relay, while Cedar’s girls won both the 4×400 and the sprint medley relays.

In girls field events, Cedar made a strong showing, with junior Mayci Torgerson winning both the high jump and the long jump. Torgerson cleared 5 feet, 4 inches to win the high jump, while senior teammate Sara Kovac took second in that event by clearing 5 feet even. Torgerson’s winning long jump measured 16-11.

Denim Henkel of Cedar, also a key member of the region champion softball team, placed first in the shot put with a winning toss measuring 36-7.

Logann Laws of Cedar competes in the javelin throw during the Region 9 championship meet at Snow Canyon High School, St. George, Utah. May 9, 2019 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

Logann Laws of Cedar won the javelin event with a throw measuring 129-6. Emilee Nelson of Dixie, who’d won the event at the BYU Invitational last weekend, took second in region with a throw measuring 125-3.

Senior Abby Monson of Desert Hills won the discus with a throw measuring 111-6.

Boys events

Sophomore Joshua Armstrong of Hurricane won the 3,200 with a time of 9:45.08, while his older brother, senior Caleb Armstrong finished second in 9:49.15. The brothers also posted the same order of finish in the 1,600, with Josh winning in 4:21.51 and runner-up Caleb finishing in 4:22.06.

Bailey Oswald of Cedar won the 800 in a time of 1:57.06, narrowly edging teammate Brady Bettridge, who finished second in 1:57.15.

Senior Braden Squires of Desert Hills came from behind in the final stretch to win the 400 in a time of 49.75. Zarek Profitt of Snow Canyon and Britt Dunnell of Canyon View placed second and third, respectively.

Ryan Warner of Desert Hills set a new school record in the discus with this throw measuring 169 feet, 8 inches, during the Region 9 championship meet at Snow Canyon High School, St. George, Utah. May 9, 2019 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

Sophomore Sherm Jensen of Pine View won the 200 in a time of 23.08. In the 100, Squires of Desert Hills won in 11.25, while Jensen placed second in 11.46.

Sophomore Spencer Carlile of Dixie won the 110 hurdles in a time of 15.56, and he also won the 300 hurdles in a time of 40.37.

Desert Hills also won the 4×400 at the end of the meet, with Cooper Kenney, Kire Goulding, Logan Wilstead and Squires combining for a first-place time of 3:25.21.  

Meanwhile, Dixie’s boys won the 4×100 and Cedar won the sprint medley event.

In boys field events, Dixie senior Justin Weidauer placed second in the discus to Warner of Desert Hills with a throw of 159-1.

Brock Nowatzke, a junior at Snow Canyon, won the shot put with a throw of 52-3.

Senior Mason Creager of Desert Hills won the javelin with a throw measuring 174-5.

Senior Braden Esplin of Snow Canyon won the long jump with a leap of 20-7.75.

Senior Logan Eves of Hurricane won the high jump by clearing 6-5, a full 3 inches higher than second-place finisher Ian Lambert of Hurricane, who cleared 6-2.

For complete meet results, click here.

The state track meet is May 17-18 at Brigham Young University in Provo.

Region 9 championships, girls team scores

  1. Desert Hills 184
  2. Cedar 131.5
  3. Canyon View 78.5
  4. Hurricane 74.5
  5. Pine View 65
  6. Snow Canyon 50.5
  7. Dixie 33

Region 9 championships, boys team scores

  1. Desert Hills 151
  2. Hurricane 93
  3. Dixie 79
  4. Cedar 76
  5. Canyon View 75
  6. Snow Canyon 70
  7. Pine View 67

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2019, all rights reserved.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jeff Richards, a native of Salt Lake City with family roots in Panguitch, lived in Moab for 20 years before joining St. George News in 2017. Jeff is a longtime journalist and secondary school teacher. He and his wife Penny are the parents of five daughters. They also have two young grandsons. Jeff and his family enjoy swimming, camping, sightseeing, reading, and taking pictures.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @stgnews@moabjeff@stgnewssports

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