The Grand County High School track and field boys took first place and the Red Devils led in overall points in the 1A-3A division at the Brigham Young University Invitational in Provo on Friday and Saturday, May 4 and 5.
The Red Devils brought down four school records in the two-day event.
On the boys side, senior Ryan Lewis claimed a new school record in the 3200-meter race, running a 9:43.21, breaking a record Ryan Stucki held since 2001.
Lewis placed fourth in the event. Sophomore Eli Hazlett broke Kelly VanArsdol’s school record in the 400-meter race, which he set in 2007. Hazlett ran a 48.98 in qualifying before running a 49.73 in the final, placing second to Valley’s Cameron Franklin, who ran a 48.80.
“Eli ran 51 seconds into the wind last week in practice and I told him if it weren’t for the wind he would have broke the school record of 49.96, which was the only time anyone had broken 50 seconds,” Grand County High School Track and Field Coach Dennis Wells said. “The first time he broke 50, in qualifying, he actually got under 49 seconds, then he broke VanArsdol’s record again in the final.”
For the girls, freshman Kylah Ricks broke a pair of school records both previously held by Dayna VanArsdol, setting a new mark in the 3200-meter race at 11:31.36 and a new record in the 1600-meter race at 5:16.39. Ricks took second in both races as North Summit senior Sadie Sargent ran a 10:36.59 in the 3200-meters and Union senior Kennedy Powell ran a 5:06.37 in the 1600-meters.
Wells said he was impressed with the record-breaking performances from the meet, even though the runners didn’t win their races.
“We went against a lot of good schools, not just from Utah, but also Wyoming and Idaho, and a couple from Nevada, too,” he said.
The boys finished with 60.5 points, while Salem, Idaho, placed second with 55 and Mountain View, Wyoming, placed third with 47. For the girls, Grand placed sixth with 33 points behind North Summit (72); North Sevier (44); Juab (43); Delta (36); and Preston, Idaho (35). Overall, the Red Devils’ 93.5 points edged out Salem’s 86 points for the highest combined score.
“In a big meet like this one, those second, third and fourth-place points add up,” Wells said.
In addition to taking second in the 400-meter race, Hazlett also placed fourth in the 200-meter race (22.72), and fifth in the 100-meters (11.80). Lewis placed seventh in the 1600-meters (4:32.10) and ninth in the 800-meters (2:01.17). Sophomore Evan Ellison also placed well in all three races, finishing 10th in the 3200-meter race (9:58.90), and the 1600-meters (4:33.27); and 22nd in the 800-meters (2:05.95).
The boys also placed well in all three relay events. In the 4×400-meter relay, freshman Dante Wells, Hazlett, senior Dakota Johnson and junior Connor Guerrero placed third at 3:32.15; in the medley, junior Stacy Randall, Guerrero, Ellison and Lewis placed fourth at 3:52.13; and in the 4×100-meter relay, Wells, Johnson, Guerrero and Randall placed fourth at 44.97.
Dennis Wells said he expects a few more school records to fall before the end of the season, noting that the 800-meter and 1600-meter records are within reach. He also said the medley record will likely be broken when he stacks his best runners in each distance for the state meet.
Guerrero and Johnson both fared well individually. Guerrero placed third in the 300-meter hurdles at 40.32 and Johnson placed eighth at 42.68. Johnson also placed second in the javelin at 159 feet, 1.5 inches. Sophomore Jayden Dowd (fifth place high jump of 6 feet) and senior Ruben Villalpando, (seventh place, 110-meter hurdles, with a run of 16.40) also had scoring finishes in boys events.
For the girls, senior Abby Mason, juniors Annabelle Garrett and Auburn Jackman, and Ricks combined for a second-place 4:29.56 in the medley relay. In addition, junior Veda Gritts scored in two throwing events, placing third in the shot put (35 feet, 5.25 inches) and sixth in the discus (103 feet, 5 inches), while nearly scoring in the javelin as well, placing ninth at 102 feet, 9.25 inches. Junior Shane Stroder placed ninth in the discus at 101 feet, 1.5 inches.
The Red Devils were scheduled to compete at the Region 15 Championships in Manti on Tuesday and Wednesday, May 8 and 9. The state championship meet is scheduled to take place Thursday through Saturday, May 17-19, at Brigham Young University in Provo.
Lewis, Hazlett, Ricks rewrite school record book
