ST. GEORGE — Two of Southern Utah’s top throwing athletes achieved new personal bests as they won their signature events at the 113th annual BYU Invitational held in Provo over the weekend.

Snow Canyon javelin thrower Bo Hickman, a senior, eclipsed his personal best with a throw measuring 207 feet, 5.25 inches on Friday morning. As previously reported, Hickman’s previous PR came at the Dixie Invitational just two weeks earlier, when he threw 206 feet, 1 inch.

And in the girls discus, Cedar High senior Quincy Esplin extended her own school record with a throw measuring 132 feet, 7.5 inches on Friday afternoon. That mark, which came on her sixth and final attempt, gave her a first-place finish among more than 60 athletes competing in the 4A-6A group.

“There were some great throws yesterday, and I knew if I wanted to win, I would need to be at the top of my game and put out a good mark,” Esplin told St. George News on Saturday night as she and her teammates headed home.

“After a rough warm-up and a scratched opening throw, I was able to dial it in, and I’m grateful I could end the meet with a new PR and school record,” Esplin said.

“Since starting track, I’ve always had the goal to win an event at BYU,” she added. “It’s always a great opportunity to go out and throw against some of the top throwers in the state.” 

The annual invitational event, staged on Friday and Saturday at the Clarence Robison Track at Brigham Young University, attracted an estimated 4,000 athletes from more than 100 schools. Although most participating schools were from Utah, there were a number of other states represented, including Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada and Alaska.

The meet was divided into just two divisions based on school size, with the smaller group comprising 1A-3A schools and the larger one consisting of those in the 4A-6A classifications. The following are selected highlights from the meet, emphasizing top-five performances by athletes from Southern Utah schools. For complete meet results and team scores on runnercard.com, click here.

1A-3A girls

Kanab freshman Kenidee Glazier took second in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 5:09.69. She trailed only Grand County junior Cadence Kasprick, whose winning time was 4:58.47. Glazier placed fourth in the 3,200-meter run with a time of 11:14.63. Kasprick won that race also. Glazier also took fifth in the 800.

The Canyon View girls took second in the 4×100 relay with a time of 51.25 seconds, just .03 of a second behind Morgan High.

Ebony Dodoo of Delta placed second in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 15.56, while Parowan’s Brentlee Mineer took fourth in 15.69.

Canyon View junior Harmony Lopez placed third in the 300 hurdles with a time of 45.61.

Senior Madi Orton of Kanab won the high jump with a mark of 5 feet, 3 inches. Clearing 5-feet-1 were Parowan’s Mineer, who tied for fourth place, and Kanab freshman Rylee Little, who placed sixth.

Senior Alexis Allen of Panguitch placed fifth in the discus at 109 feet, 11 inches. Beaver junior Alina Lurth took fifth in the javelin with a mark of 116 feet, 9.5 inches. 

4A-6A girls

The Desert Hills girls placed second in the 4×200 relay, posting a time of 1:43.72. That was just over one second behind Timpanogos’ winning time of 1:42.74, which set a new meet record. The Thunder girls also took second in the 4×100 relay, posting a time of 48.59.

Crimson Cliffs senior Samiyah Jones placed second in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 15.14.

Snow Canyon freshman Amelia Nadauld placed fourth in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.36 seconds. Winning that race was standout sprinter Amare Harlan of Fremont, who clocked in at 11.72. Desert Hills junior Drew Schwartz placed fifth in the 100 with a time of 12.63.

The 200-meter dash saw similar results, with Snow Canyon’s Nadauld placing fourth with a personal-best time of 24.82, while Fremont’s Harlan won in a new state-record time of 23.63.

“I’m really proud of Amelia for stepping up and trusting herself against one of the greatest sprinters in state history,” said Snow Canyon coach Justin Redfearn. “She has learned a lot this year as she has transitioned from youth track and field to high school. She’s ready for region and state.”   

Nadauld also placed second in the long jump, posting a personal best and new school record of 18 feet, 3 inches in her one and only attempt. Harlan won that event with a wind-aided mark of 19 feet, 7.75 inches. The wind gauge had recorded a tailwind of +2.3, or 0.3 over the limit. Otherwise, Harlan’s mark would have eclipsed her own state 6A record of 19 feet 3 inches, set last year, as well as the all-time Utah state record of 19 feet, 4.75 inches, set by Alta’s Amy Menlove in 2001.

Crimson Cliffs senior Maci Cottom tied for fifth place in the high jump, clearing 5 feet, 3 inches.

Cedar junior Kiara Hansen took fourth in the shot put with a top mark of 37 feet, 9.5 inches.

Hurricane junior Katie Elison placed third in the javelin with a throw of 117 feet, 7 inches. Cedar senior Kasia Davis placed fifth with a throw of 112 feet, 1.75 inches.

1A-3A boys

Water Canyon senior Jonathan Timpson won the high jump. He cleared 6 feet, 1.5 inches on his first attempt.

Kanab senior Travis Stewart placed second in the 400 with a time of 50.08. He also took sixth in the 200.

Delta senior Jyson Diaz took fifth in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.17. His teammate and fellow senior Cameron Curtis placed fifth in the 300 hurdles in 40.43.

In the long jump, Delta’s Cameron Smith placed second with a leap of 21 feet, 5.75 inches, while Bryce Valley’s Randen Leslie placed fourth with a mark of 21 feet, 2 inches.

Tanner Taylor of Delta placed fifth in the shot put, his best mark measuring 46 feet, 8.75 inches.

4A-6A boys

Pine View senior Sawyer Woods placed third in the javelin with a personal-best throw of 199 feet, 1.75 inches. That was a Pine View school record as well as the 13th-best mark in the nation this season, according to Pine View coach David Holt.

“Every thrower competing brought their A game,” said Snow Canyon’s Hickman, the event’s winner. “This resulted in some of the toughest competition I’ve ever thrown against.”

Finishing in second place was Springville senior Walker Deede, whose best mark was 204 feet, 4.25 inches. Like the best efforts of Hickman and Woods, Deede’s best throw came on his sixth and final attempt.

“I was fighting from behind throughout the whole competition and that fueled my desire to win,” Hickman added. “At the end of the day, I did what I came to do and came out on top.”

In addition, the Snow Canyon boys placed fifth in the 4×100 relay with a time of 42.94 seconds. That was exactly one second behind winning team Mountain View’s 41.94 time. The Warriors also placed fourth in the 4×400 relay with a time of 3:24.17.

Snow Canyon junior Trevor Gough placed third in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.82 seconds. Region 10 rival Austin Eaton, a junior at Crimson Cliffs, placed fifth in that same race with a time of 15.03. In the 300 hurdles, Snow Canyon junior Semaj Thompson placed fourth with a time of 38.75, while Cedar junior McKoy Smith took fifth in 38.78 and Eaton placed seventh.

“We had some great performances this weekend and some things we need to clean up heading into region and state,” Redfearn said. “Overall, I’m just really proud of how our athletes responded to cold and wet temperatures and, of course, great competition.”

Crimson’s Eaton also placed third in the long jump with a mark of 21 feet, 7.5 inches.

Kaden McKinlay, a senior at Desert Hills, placed second in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:54.50. He trailed only Kadan Allen of Herriman, who won the event in 1:53.08.

Hurricane junior Owen Iloa won the high jump, clearing 6 feet, 6 inches. Placing a respective third and fourth in that event were Snow Canyon’s Matthew Leavitt and Owen McKay, who each cleared 6 feet, 1.5 inches.

Cedar senior Dallan DeMille placed fifth in the discus with a mark of 153 feet, 3.25 inches.

Pine View junior Teancum Jensen placed second in the discus with a mark of 161 feet, 1 inch. Jensen also took fourth in the shot put with a personal-best mark of 52 feet, 9.75 inches.

Upcoming 

Next up for the Region 10 athletes will be the region championship meet at Dixie High this week, May 10-11, from 4-8 p.m. both days. The Utah High School Activities Association’s state track meet for all classifications (1A-6A) will occur the following weekend, May 19-20, at BYU.

Updated May 7, 9 p.m. to add a photo gallery.

Photo Gallery

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