Long before Mountain View coach Dave Houle had to "sweat out" his boys' team state championship, the Lady Bruins had clinched still another state track title.
Mountain View joined Spanish Fork in 4A, Cedar City in 3A, Juab in 2A and Wayne in 1A with titles following the two-day competition. And while winning the state crown is nothing new for the Bruins, the ease with which they captured this year's was unusual.Following the 3200 meters run early Saturday, in which Mountain View placed three runners in the top four spots, the Bruins had about all the points they would need. So the battle in 5A became the race for second place, a race won by Viewmont. Thanks in large part to senior Danna Rast, the Vikes edged Kearns by six points for the silver trophy. Rast won the 100 and 200 meters, anchored the winning 400 relay team, and helped Viewmont take second in the medley relay.
Kearns' Kelly Snodgress also won two gold medals, one in the 400 meters and the other as part of the 1600 relay team. Another impressive performance came from Candice Workman of Clearfield in the shot, where her winning throw was 41-13/4.
Spanish Fork won the 4A title as expected, despite winning only one individual gold on Saturday. Erianne Allen won the 300 hurdles in a time of 44.81. The Dons scored points in all but three events to distance themselves from Murray. Mountain Crest's Jane Akalaonu took home firsts in the 100 and 200 meters, the latter with a time of 24.71 that ties the all-time state record for the event. Ironically, Rast of Viewmont had run a faster time during Friday qualifying but it was disallowed due to a tailwind that was 0.9 miles per hour over the limit.
Cedar City used the middle distances to win gold, as Allison Adams took the 400 meters and placed second in the 800 meters to lead the Redmen. Cedar scored 23 points in the 400, 16 in the 800 and 14 in the 200 meters. Tiffany Stewart of Carbon won both hurdle events, and Bear River's Holly Gibbons finished an injury-plagued season on a high note with victories in both the 100 and 200 meters.
Launa Leaming of North Sevier won four golds on Saturday, with wins in the 100, 200, 300 hurdles and the 400 meter relay. Teammate Holly Taylor also won three as part of the relay, the high jump and the 800 meters. Holly Hall won the discus and Katie Brough the 100 hurdles for Juab, which edged North Sevier by eight points for the gold.
Piute's Cally Allen won three golds, capturing the 100 and 300 hurdle races and the long jump. The Wayne "family" of runners, the Elletts, dominated the 800 and 3200 meter races to pace their school to the state title.