KAYSVILLE — Acting on a suggestion from his coach, Brock Morley undertook a road trip from Price to Davis County to see how he would fare against a different set of hurdlers than the ones he usually competes against in regular season track meets.
The Carbon senior figured the long trek would give him an accurate barometer on his progress this season.
"The more competition (I face), the better I know I'll be," Morley said. "Going against faster kids will definitely help me. It will help me get to where I want to be."
Judging by his performance on Wednesday afternoon, Morley appears to be in good shape as he attempts to defend his state title in the 300 hurdles. Morley claimed athlete of the meet honors on the final day of the 17th annual Davis Super Meet after sweeping the 110 and 300 hurdles.
Morley started off by winning the 110 hurdles after finishing in 15.33 seconds — finishing 0.30 seconds ahead of Davis hurdler Dalton Facer. Later, he prevailed in the 300 hurdles with a time of 39.86. This time around, he eclipsed another Darts hurdler, Kyler Sprague, by 0.59 seconds.
For Morley, these early victories serve as a good tune-up in his quest to defend his 3A title. He knows a target is on him after winning a year ago, but it is only serving to motivate him.
"It's easier being the guy who's going for a state championship instead of defending it," Morley said. "It just puts a little more pressure on me. At the same time, it's a good thing. It pushes me a little bit more."
Davis came up short on getting victories in the hurdles, but the Darts enjoyed overwhelming success in plenty of other events. Getting a sixth consecutive team title at the meet turned out to be a breeze for the host school.
Davis finished first with 206 points. Syracuse claimed second place with 139. Bingham tallied 70.5 points for third place — edging out Bountiful by a single point.
Tanner Hinds won the 200 meters for the Darts with a time of 22.94 seconds. Davis distance runner Logan Petty claimed victory in the 3200 after finishing in 9:59.70. Conrad Daley was the team's other individual winner when he placed first in the high jump after clearing a height of 6 feet 4 inches.
The Darts also earned victories in the 4x400 relay and 4x800 relay. Getting a victory in the 4x400 helped Davis turn things around in the relays after a dropped baton on the final exchange cost it in the 4x100 and Bingham beat the Darts in the medley relay a short time later.
Still, Davis needed to rally to get the lead going into the final lap. But anchor leg Ben Poulson held on and helped the team finish in 3:28.06 for the victory.
"My team had me in a good position," Poulson said. "We were second at 150 and that third leg we came up and got the lead and got the adrenaline going."
Bountiful sprinter Mario Harper ran the anchor leg for the Braves' winning 4x100 team and also won the 100 meters. Harper finished the 100 in 11.50 seconds — beating Hinds by a hundredth of a second to claim first.
His final time was not as high as Harper wanted, especially coming off a season where he won state titles in both the 100 and 200. Still, a victory is a good starting point for his ultimate goal: earning a state record.
"I'm trying to get some state records this year in the 100 and 200," Harper said. "Those are my goals — to hold the state records. I'm on training pace to earn those times and get those marks."
Syracuse runner Tyler Siddoway took first in the 400 with a time of 50.71. Jake Rossmango won the 800 after crossing the line in 1:58.08. Austin Costley claimed victory in the 1600 after finishing in 4:25.67. Hunter Naisbitt won the shot put when he threw a distance of 48 feet and 10.75 inches.
In each event, the second-place finisher also came from the Titans. Costley believes this demonstrates the overall depth they enjoy this season. "People will be talking about Syracuse as a program," Costley said. "We got great coaches around in every event. At the end of the year, Syracuse will be established as a program more than just individuals."
Fremont's Ben Johnson earned performance of the meet honors after winning the discus with a throw of 166 feet and 1 inch.
Other individual winners included Alta's Zach Liston in the long jump, Northridge's Skyler Whitney in the javelin and Bingham's Devin Dorieous in the pole vault.
e-mail: jcoon@desnews.com