UVU Invitational Dominates State Action to Begin April

Alpha Invitational

Mountain View's Jadon Pace had a 22-footer to win the long jump. Jake Heslington of Timpanogos ran 9:38.59 to win the 3200. A nice mark, even though several surpassed that mark later in the week at Arcadia's lower elevation. Mackenzie Morrison of American Fork finished a mere step behind at just over 9:39. It would have been nice to have known the wind index, but an 11.05 100 by Dallin Lyndsey of American Fork was a nice 100 mark. And, Lauren Baxter ran 57.70 here for the 400 before departing for California and the intense competition at Arcadia. Springville's Mindy Stapel took her 300 hurdles time down to 47.40. completing the short list of highlights offered here.

Arcadia Invitational

There were Utah athletes competing at Arcadia, I'm just not sure I have all of them identified yet. Of the ones I do know about, here's a quick summary:

Lauren Baxter of Timpview and Sylvia Harrison of Davis ran 25.16 and 25.79, respectively, in the 200. Baxter also ran 56.47 in the 400. Baxter's marks are the top marks for Utah athletes in those events for the season to date.

Shea Martinez of Davis ran a very nice 2:10.37 in the 800, also a Utah chart-topper. Ashleigh Warner, Natalie Shields, and Jamie Stokes were all well under 5-flat in the 1600. These are top Utah marks, but the altitude factor starts to become a serious issue at 1600 meters, so it isn't completely fair to compare these times to in-state marks. Still, they were great times. Natalie Shields and Summer Harper were both under 10:45 at 3200 meters.

For the boys, Davis's Seth Fortin ran 22.44 in the 200. Riverton's Cole Lambourne took his Utah-best 400 time to 48.25. And now the list gets long...

Talem Franco, Brandon Yardley, Jackson Sagers, and Tanner Smith were all under 1:56 in the 800. Brad Nye ran a scorching 4:08.80 mile, while Haven Shelton, Skylar Williams, and Alex Hedquist all came in under 4:25. Ben Saarel nearly broke 9-flat in the 3200, going 9:01.46. Brayden Cromar was also under 9:10, with several more Utah entries under 10-flat.

Cale Strong had a season-best mark of 14.25 in the 110s, while Cameron Dopp went 39.64 for his best mark of the season in the 300s.

I've probably missed a few big performances, but that's what I was able to pick up on a first pass.

Manti McDonald's Invitational

Juab pretty much dominated both sides of this meet and left some nice marks in their dust, including a 50.57 400 by Jake Morgan and a 180-6 javelin toss by Jake Nielson. Teammate Jeff Rowley threw the javelin 171-6. Mostly, though, Juab did their domination via depth, posting solid points in almost every event.

And, not all the nice marks went Juab's way. North Sanpete's Dak Kleven dominated the 100 at 11.48 and the 200 at 22.91. Tooele's Becca Smaellie made it a nice javelin day for both genders by getting her implement out to 125-7.

Orem Region 8 Quad Meet

If this meet is any indicator, Salem Hills is going to dominate the region. Truly eye-popping marks were difficult to come by in this meet, but the 51-3 in the shot by Springville's Grant Evans, and a 2:01.88 800 for Blake Adams of Salem Hills stand out. The performance for Adams stands out more on account of the fact that he beat the field by 10 seconds than on account of the absolute magnitude of the time.

San Juan District Meet

San Juan County is a very large county with not very many people. The county is large on scenery, but not so much so in population. And, it comes as no surprise that San Juan and Monticello more or less dominated the meet. 

Best marks on the day included a 15.63 in the 110 hurdles by Ammon Mitchel of San Juan, a 16-4.5 by San Juan's Courtney MacDonald in the LJ, and a 6-1 HJ by Monticello's Jake Duncan.

Utah Valley University Invitational

UVU hosted the big one inside the borders of the state this weekend. 

Parker Langren of Brighton is going to get some notice if he keeps running 22.30 or better in the 200, as is Riverton's Courtney Paddock if she can continue producing 25.86s and 57.61s--both very nice marks. Take note that Riverton also ran a 4:03.32 4x400.

North Summit's Erica Birk ripped a nice 2:16.41 800 which will stand up very nicely in her 2A classification. It's difficult to decide the better time between that mark and her 5:02.34 in the 1600. Somebody came to this meet ready to run! Teammate Erica Richins almost made a sweep of the hurdle events, but a certain Mykah Heaton of Weber messed that up with a 45.93 in the 300 hurdles. Still, if you're having trouble reading the tea leaves, North Summit figures to be a massive 2A girls power all spring long.

Heaton didn't shine in just the 300 hurdles. The 17-7 long jump she posted had a little bit of luster as well. 

The biggest marks of the day, however, likely came in the girls high jump. This one got intense before things were done with both Union's Audrey Muir and Herriman's Kailey Hanson going over the bar at 5-7. 

We've been noting a lot of nice javelin marks this spring, and Justin Johnson of Green River joined the 180+ club with six inches to spare at this meet.

And, finally, although it's not a state meet event, take note that American Fork's Mackenzie Morrison completed the 2000 steeple in 6:18.34. That may have some implications for post-season meets following the state meet. In any case, it's a very nice 2000 steeple time, and all the more so for someone who doesn't get a lot of opportunities to run the event.

Meet Results

Wasatch Region 10 Quad Meet

Some of the region's biggest performers sat this one out, but not Wastach's Kaitlyn Walker or Cale Strong. Strong came in for some mention earlier in this article, but we'll take note of the fact that Walker ran 16.05 and 46.95 to win the girls hurdles events. Nate Lee didn't quite hit 22 feet in the long jump this time, but he was close.