PROVO — Day one of the Utah State Track & Field Championships wrapped up and southern Utah’s preps lead the 3A classification Friday at BYU. Day two and the majority of the event finals will take place throughout the day Saturday.
The Hurricane boys lead all schools after four events with 32 points (five ahead of second place Desert Hills) and the Desert Hills girls team grabbed a big lead with 58 points after five events (38 points ahead of second place Carbon/Cedar).
Hurricane’s Caleb Armstrong nabbed perhaps the biggest upset of the day, claiming gold in the boys 1600-meters with a time of 4:18 and beating out Stansbury’s Josh Wintch and Desert Hills defending 1600 champ Jaiden Melendrez. Cedar’s Jensen Lambert, who took region in the 1600, placed fourth. Another reason Hurricane led at the end of day one was because of Robert Campbell’s 142-foot discus throw, which was good enough to earn a silver behind Morgan High School’s Josh Dillon.
The Desert Hills girls team dominated day one, winning the medley finals, shot put, and placing in the long jump and 1600. DH’s medley team (Samantha Martinez, Jessica Harris, Emma Jacobson and Laynee Wells) finished in 4:16.75 and edged out Richfield (4:17.52) and Cedar (4:20.68). Desert Hills’ Elly Williams took home gold in the shot put with her throw of 40-04.25. Cedar’s Mic Webster took gold in the 1600 with a time of 5:06 and Desert Hills Bailey Brinkerhoff, Samantha Nelson, and Laynee Wells took second, third, and fourth respectively to help DH jump out to a big lead in the team portion.
Things to watch for Saturday:
- Desert Hills’ Carter Reynolds, who won region in the 110 and 300 hurdles, placed first in his heat for 110 hurdles, but was edged out in the 300 hurdles heat by three-tenths of a second by Richfield’s Josh Thomas. Both races should be neck-and-neck.
- Dixie’s Starlee Woodbury and Desert Hills’ Kaylee Carter will likely be in an epic finish in the girls 100-meter hurdles. Woodbury (15.17) just barely beat Carter (15.23) in the heat Friday. Woodbury is also a favorite to win the girls 100-meter and has a shot at gold in the long jump.
- While the Desert Hills girls team took a big lead Friday after five events, the Cedar girls were 3A state champs last year and rely on most of their points coming from their stable of runners. Cedar’s runners have historically delivered big on Saturday and this year should be no exception. Desert Hills’ girls finished second last year and after Friday’s early lead, it should be a close race between Cedar and DH for the 3A girls championship. Perhaps the race that may decide things could be the girls 4×100 relay. In Friday’s heat, only .06 of a second separated Cedar (49.33) and Desert Hills (49.39).
Check back at STGNEWS.com Saturday for a full recap of the UHSAA 3A Track & Field Championships.
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