When Woods Cross’ Carlee Hansen was freshman back in 2018, she went into her first state meet kind of expecting to win four events — two individual and two relays.
Provo’s Meghan Hunter spoiled that hope when she beat Hansen in the 800 meters. Hansen had the top qualifying time, but Hunter beat her to go on and win four individual events herself — the 100, 200, 400 and 800 meters.
In the back of her mind, Hansen couldn’t help but think how cool that would be to try and win four individual events herself. It wasn’t realistic her sophomore year as she was needed in the relays again, and then last year the track and field season was canceled.
This state meet, however, Hansen hopes to follow in Hunter’s footsteps and capture her version of the quad — 400, 800, 1,600 and 3,200 meters.
“It’s been my goal to win all four since Meghan beat me,” said Hansen.
After the opening day of the 5A state track meet at Davis High School, Hansen is a fourth of the way there. The University of North Carolina commit won the first race of the day on Tuesday, capturing the 3,200-meter title with a time of 10:57.31.
She ended up beating Mountain View’s Mari Konold by two seconds as she tried to race with the pack most of the race.
“It’s not really my race, and I say that people get mad at me because I won, but honestly I prioritize the mile. It’s not so much that I don’t care about the 2 mile, but since my freshman year it’s the mile and the 800 I prioritize,” said Hansen.
Hansen will be the big favorite in the 800 and 1,600 meters during Day 2 on Wednesday, but the 400-meter is the biggest question mark in her individual pursuit. In reality, the clock will be Hansen’s biggest rival on Wednesday.
Since Hansen started competing at a high level as a freshman, her two biggest goals have been breaking the 800 and 1,600-meter state records. She’s got one more chance.
Hansen’s best time in the 800-meter this season is the 2:10.08, and the overall state record is 2:08.45. Her best 1,600 time is 4:51.13, and the state record is 4:45.13.
She opens Wednesday’s meet with the 1,600 and she admits she’s a bit nervous the heat will make a record difficult. The last race of her highlight-decorated high school career will be the 800-meter, and she said she’ll “leaving everything out on the track.”
Woods Cross isn’t expected to be in the chase for the 5A team title, which always seems to come down to the final couple events of the meet and likely won’t be any different this time around as Box Elder, Timpanogos, Timpview and Springville will all be in the mix.
Box Elder has a small lead after six events from Day 1.
On the boys side, Orem leads after day one, with Farmington and Park City expected to be in the championship hunt as well.
One of the best performances of the opening day of the 5A state meet was turned in by Orem thrower Mark Bryant. The junior hurled the discus 178’00 on his second attempt, which beat his best throw of the season so far by 14 feet. It’s also the best throw in the state this spring.
Provo senior John Hunter recorded a phenomenal performance of his own by winning the 3,200-meter with a time of 9:21.46. His qualifying time ranked eighth in 5A and he wasn’t among the favorites. He raced like it though over the final three laps after sprinting out to the lead and never looking back, winning by seven seconds.
Not bad for a runner who said he “hates” leading races.
To win after a frustrating slow start made it all the more satisfying.
“So me and my coach have been trying to get me to start faster cause that’s what I’m really bad at, I always get passed by everyone at the start, and I still wasn’t able to get that despite all that practice,” said Hunter, who won the race on his birthday.
He eventually moved up from the middle of the pack around the lap four, and then moved to the front with three laps to go.
“They just weren’t picking up the pace, so I just kind of got to the front and once I had the front I was like, ‘Well I can’t let people pass me,’ so I just took off hoping I could keep the pace,” said Hunter.
The other individual winner on the boys side was Mountain View’s Carter Walker winning the high jump.
For the girls, Highland’s Lili Fifita won the shot put, Salem Hills’ Brekell Gammell won the javelin and Box Elder’s Sarena Mackley won the long jump
5A boys state meet
Team scores (after 5 of 17 events)
1. Orem, 44
2. Mountain View, 33
3. Park City, 24
4. Timpanogos, 17
5. Farmington, 12
6. Provo, 11
7. Woods Cross, 9
8. Lehi, 8
3,200-meter — 1. John Hunter, Provo, 9:21.46; 2; Jayden Holdsworth, Orem, 9:28.12; 3. Braden Minor, Mountain View, 9:29.02; 4. Anthony Davies, Hillcrest, 9:29.62; 5. Eric Hedengren, Timpview, 9:30.08; 6. Ethan Peterson, Farmington, 9:30.97; 7. Dalton Mortensen, Bountiful, 9:31.41; 8. Taylor Knight, Orem, 9:37.53.
4x800 relay — 1. Park City, 7:55.93; 2. Timpanogos, 7:59.04; 3. Woods Cross, 8:01.71; 4. Bountiful, 8:06.01; 5. Farmington, 8:07.51; 6. Orem, 8:14.26; 7. Payson, 8:14.45; 8. Timpview, 8:21.58.
4x200 relay — 1. Mountain View, 1:29.46; 2. Park City, 1:29.99; 3. Orem, 1:30.01; 4. Box Elder, 1:30.39; 5. Timpanogos, 1:31.73; 6. Woods Cross, 1:31.80; 7. Farmington, 1:31.95; 8. Provo, 1:32.95.
Discus — 1. Mark Bryant, Orem, 178’00; 2. Teague Andersen, Lehi, 161’00; 3. Kolby Ferrell, Viewmont, 158’05; 4. Erik Bryant, Orem, 153’05; 5. Jesse Helton, Park City, 147’07; 6. Alec Berlin, Farmington, 147’01; 7. Luke McCurdy, Park City, 142’06; 8. Colton Butterfield, Maple Mountain, 138’11.
High jump — 1. Carter Walker, Mountain View, 6’06; 2. Ethan Stoddard, Orem, 6’02; 3. Abe Stafford, Mountain View, 6’02; 4. Kevin Wise, Timpanogos, 6’02; 5. Cole Johnson, Orem; 6 (tie). Michael Dodd, Springville; Ryan Flake, Spanish Fork, 6’00; 8. Jacob Gates, Timpview, 6’00.
5A girls state meet
Team scores (after 6 of 17 events)
1. Box Elder, 31
2. Timpangos, 21
2. Timpview, 21
4. Salem Hills, 18
4. Woods Cross, 18
6. Park City, 14
7. Springville, 13
7. Provo, 13
3,200-meter — 1. Carlee Hansen, Woods Cross, 10:57:31; 2. Mari Konold, Mountain View, 10:59.35; 3. Emily Sumsion, Springville, 11:08.78; 4. Brynn Esplin, Timpview, 11:16.95; 5. Caroline Rupper, Brighton, 11:17.39; 6. Mckayla Boulton, Timpview, 11:18.58; 7. Sarah Galbraith, Springville, 11:26.54; 8. Ava Trimble, Orem, 11:35.02.
4x800 relay — 1. Park City, 9:29.18; 2. Timpview, 9:31.16; 3. Timpanogos, 9:32.28; 4. Springville, 9:43.59; 5. Bountiful, 9:45.55; 6. Farmington, 9:47.46; 7. Orem, 9:53.41; 8. Wasatch, 9:56.42.
4x200 relay — 1. Timpanogos, 1:43.52; 2. Spanish Fork, 1:46.58; 3. East, 1:46.78; 4. Timpview, 1:47.11; 5. Park City, 1:47.36; 6. Box Elder, 1:47.39; 7. Olympus, 1:47.83; 8. Wasatch, 1:48.06.
Shot put — 1. Lili Fifita, Highland, 42’06; 2. Rakayla Clement, Woods Cross, 37’00; 3. Maren Jones, Mountain Ridge, 35’06; 4. Aneres Liufau, Provo, 34’09; 5. Kamia Masuda, Provo, 34’09; 6. Rylan Sears, Bonneville, 34’07; 7. Meg Cummings, Mountain Ridge, 33’00; 8. Bailey Sweat, Wasatch, 32’06.
Javelin — 1. Brekell Gammell, Salem Hills, 130’07; 2. Ashlyn Reeder, Box Elder, 126’11; 3. Paige Berg, Wasatch, 124’07; 4. Keira Braegger, Box Elder; 123’08; 5. Laura Lindquist, Bonneville, 120’06; 6. Kailee Talbot, Box Elder, 108’09; 7. Emery Knight, Box Elder, 107’07; 8. Lizzie Rushton, Payson, 101’04.
Long jump — 1. Sarena Mackley, Box Elder, 16’06; 2. Chloe Peterson, Salem Hills, 16’06; 3. Sarah Ballard, Lehi, 16’05.25; 4. Izzy Mirando, Timpanogos, 16’01.50; 5. Hannah Rose, Provo, 16’00.50; 6. Sarah Spangenberg, Viewmont, 15’10; 7. Shawnti Diaz, Murray, 15’08.75; 8. Rosa Welch, Lehi, 15’07.00.