The Grand County High School boys track and field team earned a first-place finish despite bringing only 15 athletes with them to the Carbon High Invitational in Price on Saturday, April 13, where the girls also placed fourth. The Grand County High School (GCHS) Red Devils were also victorious in boys soccer and softball action.
The GCHS Red Devils placed first with 132 points, while Uintah took second at 121, and Carbon took third at 94.
Red Devil junior Eli Hazlett completed the golden quad-fecta, winning the 100-meter (11.37), 200-meter (22.80) and 400-meter (50.81) races, as well as taking part in the first-place 4×100-meter relay (45.24), along with Connor Guerrero, Corbin Arbon and Dante Wells. Hazlett was the only thing standing in the way of Guerrero’s also winning four events — Guerrero won both the 110-meter hurdles (16.64) and the 300-meter hurdles (42.49), but placed second to Hazlett in the 200-meter race (23.59).
“Because of things like spring break, vacation and senior trip, we only had 15 boys and we still walked away with a win,” GCHS assistant track and field coach Randy Martin said. “It really shows the talent and depth of this team.”
The Red Devils were battling for the points lead with Uintah for most of the day prior to pulling away in the throwing events. GCHS’s Jarom Shumway (118 feet), Sage Stroder (115 feet, 7 inches) and Carlin Bierschied (104 feet, 11 inches) placed fourth, fifth and sixth in the discus, while Bierschied (42 feet, 1 inch) and Shumway (41 feet) took the top two spots in the shot put. Shumway also ran well in the hurdles earlier in the meet, placing third in the 110-meters (17.58) and seventh in the 300-meters (47.06).
“Carlin Bierschied has been a real pleasant surprise,” Martin said. “He entered the season in great shape, he’s put on a lot of muscle, and so far he’s had a great season.”
Martin continued, “What put us over the top late was the 18 points we got from taking first and second in the shot put.”
In the long-distance events, Evan Ellison partially rebounded from a lengthy illness to place second in the 1600-meter race at 4:53.38, while teammate Malachi Ricks placed eighth at 4:56.92. In the 3200-meters, Ricks placed second at 10:21.54 and Ellison placed ninth at 11:19.61.
“I was very pleased with Evan Ellison having the energy to finish,” Martin said. “He was really sick a couple weeks ago and is just getting back into shape. He used a lot of energy in his first race and in the 3200, he just ran out of gas.”
In the girls division, Carbon won the invitational with 137 points, while Union took second with 108.5, Uintah took third with 70 and GCHS took fourth with 61. Their day was highlighted by Veda Gritts, who won both the shot put (35 feet, 1.5 inches) and the discus (98 feet, 4.25 inches), also taking fourth in the javelin (102 feet, 1 inch); and Kylah Ricks, who won both the 1600-meter (5:35.95) and 3200-meter (12:01.69) races. Morgan Lewis had fifth-place finishes in both the 400-meter race (1:08.86), and the high jump (4 feet, 8 inches), and just missed out on points in the long jump, taking ninth (14 feet, 8.5 inches).
When they return from spring break, the GCHS Red Devils next compete at the Eastern Utah Championships at San Juan High School, which is scheduled to take place on Friday, April 26, at 3 p.m.
Hazlett, Guerrero, Ricks, Gritts each take multiple events
“Carlin Bierschied has been a real pleasant surprise. He entered the season in great shape, he’s put on a lot of muscle, and so far he’s had a great season.”
