Skyridge’s Seth Wallgren had never won an individual state championship so the motivation was extremely high in his last high school 3,200-meter race on Thursday.
As for Herriman’s Addi Bruening, she was the defending state champ and even though she wasn’t wearing the No. 1 bib number she wanted to prove she was still the best.
The two seniors kicked off the 6A state track meet exactly how they’d hoped, by capturing the first individual title handed out at BYU.
Wallgren stuck with the pack for most of the race, but then made his move with 400 meters to go. He then kicked as hard as he could for the final lap knowing the field was stacked with great kickers behind him as he finished with a time of 9:05.26. Runner-up Ethan Peterson of Farmington finished in 9:06.82.
With the third-fastest qualifying time going into the race, Wallgren knew he was a slight underdog but was focused on his mindset.
“The nerves part of racing is hard. You don’t want to psych yourself out, but you don’t want to count yourself out. I just wanted to be in that in between, know that I had the power in me to win, but I can’t control what the other runners are doing,” said Wallgren, who finished sixth in the 3,200 meters a year ago and then fourth at the state cross country meet.
“I’ve never been state champion before, so being a state champion in the two mile was definitely one of my goals. It was such a good feeling to cross that line.”
For Bruening, the 3,200 race was her specialty but she hadn’t run a perfect race yet this year and had only the third-best qualifying time heading into the race. That top time belonged to Lone Peak’s Taylor Rohatinsky, who set a 6A state record at the BYU Invitational two weeks ago with a time of 10:35.90.
Bruening didn’t run in the 3,200 at the meet, instead focusing on the 800 and 1,600.
The two future BYU runners went head to head on Thursday, and Bruening reminded everyone what a great kick she has edging Rohatinsky 10:39.09 to 10:39.74.
“I was just knowing that I belonged up there and I wanted to go do my best,” said Bruening.
After those opening distance races, the meet settled in mostly trials on the track except for the 4x200 and 4x800 relays and field events.
With seven events completed, the defending state champs from a year ago are both the driver’s seat for a repeat. Corner Canyon’s boys lead with 44 points after day, while Lone Peak’s lead with 43 points.
Farmington’s boys sit in second place with 32 points, but its 4x800 relay team turned in one of the top performances of the day as it broke the overall state record with a time of 7:43.28. The Phoenix surpassed Corner Canyon’s state record time of 7:44.91 from a year ago.
In the boys javelin, Roy’s Ethan Ecker had one of the top individual performances of the day as he on the javelin with a throw of 195’02.25. His previous best at a sanctioned meet this season was a 172’11.00.
For the girls, 6A star runner Amare Harlan of Fremont posted great qualifying teams in the 100 and 200 meters, but narrowly missed out on another state record she’s chasing in the long jump. She leapt 19’03.00 on her third attempt, which is the third-longest jump in state history and agonizingly close to the state record of 19’04.75 set back in 2001. She’s a junior and will have another year to beat it in 2023.
6A Boys
Team scores
1. Corner Canyon, 44
2. Farmington, 32
3. Skyridge, 28
4. Layton, 26.5
5. West Jordan, 21.5
6. Roy, 19
6. Syracuse, 19
8. Bingham, 18
Individual results
3,200 meters — 1. Seth Wallgren, Skyridge, 9:05.26; 2. Ethan Peterson, Farmington, 9:06.82; 3. Ryan Bennett, Farmington, 9:11.52; 4. Jayden Fitzgarrald, American Fork, 9:12.07; 5. Chase Evans, American Fork, 9:15.44; 6. Joshua Hernandez, American Fork, 9:15.52; 7. Tyler Spencer, Davis, 9:15.78; 8. Spencer Bradshaw, Farmington, 9:17.09.
4x200 relay — 1. Corner Canyon, 1:27.29; 2. Bingham, 1:27.89; 3. Skyridge, 1:30.05; 4. Syracuse, 1:30.51; 5. Cyprus, 1:3.57; 6. Roy, 1:30.76; 7. Farmington, 1:30.93; 8. West Jordan, 1:31.52.
4x800 relay — 1. Farmington, 7:43.28; 2. Corner Canyon, 7:47.40; 3. Skyridge, 8:00.81; 4. Davis, 8:01.56; 5. Lone Peak, 8:05.66; 6. Herriman, 8:09.53; 7. American Fork, 8:13.10; 8. Mountain Ridge, 8:16.21.
Long jump — 1. Elias Gerald, Westlake, 22’08.75; 2. Brandon Hall, Bingham, 21’03; 3. Dayton Runyan, Farmington, 21’02.00; 4. Jackson Ames, Corner Canyon, 21’00; 5. Slater Hancock, Davis, 21’00; 6. Nico Rubio, West, 20’10.50; 7. Brandon Burgess, Bingham, 20’08.75; 8. Kapeli Smith, Kearns, 20’06.50.
Shot put — 1. Anthony Macedo, West Jordan, 55’03.75; 2. Tyler Poooele, Layton, 55’03.50; 3. Evan Forbush, Davis, 49’09.75; 4. Dawson Jacobsen, Corner Canyon, 49’05.00; 5. Matt Lafaso, Syracuse, 49’02.50; 6. Cody Christensen, Corner Canyon, 49’00.50; 7. Cameron Beck, Skyridge, 49’00.25; 8. Hugo Ortega-Sanchez, Corner Canyon, 48’00.50.
Discus — 1. Tyler Poole, Layton, 175’04; 2. Cody Christensen, Corner Canyon, 163’06.25; 3. Aleka Leausa, West Jordan, 163’00; 4. Anthony Macedo, West Jordan, 156’09; 5. Dawson Jacobsen, Corner Canyon, 149’07.25; 6. Jackson Stark, Syracuse, 142’03; 7. Kyle Taylor, Syracuse, 139’11.50; 8. Nathaniel Gomm, Mountain Ridge, 139’04.50.
Javelin — 1. Ethan Ecker, Roy, 195’02.25; 2. Nick Forsyth, Layton, 186’00.25; 3. Reese Jones, Roy, 179’05.50; 4. Brevin Hamblin, Syracuse, 164’03.75; 5. Kadan Allen, Herriman, 162’09.50; 6. Jack Burke, Skyridge, 159’11; 7. Eli James, Herriman, 159’10; 8. Matt Taylor, Skyridge, 158’11.
Weber’s Cami Cvitkovich competes in the high jump at the 6A track state championships at the Clarence F. Robison Outdoor Track and Field in Provo on Thursday, May 19, 2022.
Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
6A Girls
Team scores
1. Lone Peak, 43
2. Syracuse, 30
3. Herriman, 28
4. American Fork, 20
5. Westlake, 19
5. Fremont, 19
7. Bingham, 16
8. Corner Canyon, 15
Individual results
3,200 meters — 1. Addi Bruening, Herriman, 10:39.09; 2. Taylor Rohatinsky, Lone Peak, 10:39.74; 3. Avalon Mecham, American Fork, 10:41.51; 4. Natalie Swain, Binghamn, 10:50.09; 5. Hailey Low, Layton, 10:57.73; 6. Sydney Horner, Riverton, 11:07.31; 7. Avery Moore, American Fork, 11:10.26; 8. Shelby Jensen, Westlake, 11:13.97.
4x200 relay — 1. Bingham, 1:42.89; 2. Lone Peak, 1:44.48; 3. Corner Canyon, 1:44.73; 4. Skyridge, 1:46.28; 5. Syracuse, 1:47.02; 6. Westlke, 1:47.85; 7. Cyprus, 1:48.28; 8. Davis, 1:48.89.
4x800 relay — 1. Lone Peak, 9:25.66; 2. Riverton, 9:31.22; 3. American Fork, 9:36.41; 4. Westlake, 9:41.96; 5. Corner Canyon, 9:47.29; 6. Farmington, 9:48.72; 7. Layton, 9:56.07; 8. Herriman, 9:56.46.
High jump — 1 (tie). Cortnie Barker, Syracuse; Cami Dvitkovich, Weber, 5’07.75; 3. Presley Gray, American Fork, 5’03.75; 4. Looryn Helgesen, Davis, 5’01.75; 5. Kloe Liptrot, Syracuse, 5’01.75; 6. Averie Olsen, Fremont, 5’01.75; 7 (tie). Nancy Roundy, Pleasant Grove; Jocelyn Ordyna, Bingham; Rylee Parkinson, Mountain Ridge, 4’11.75.
Long jump — 1. Amare Harlan, Fremont, 19’03; 2. Tehana Moo, Syracuse, 17’09; 3. Sarah Taylor, Fremont, 16’07.25; 4. Lily Crofts, Corner Canyon, 16’07.25; 5. Harmonie Ragin, Lone Peak, 16’06.75; 6. Meredith Boggess, Lone Peak, 16’05.25; 7. Natalie Hansen, Riverton,16’01.00; 8. Maddie Oliver, Pleasant Grove, 15’09.25.
Discus — 1. Tieri Rigamoto, Westlake, 121’01.50; 2. Hannah Parry, Copper Hills, 114’01.25; 3. Ulu Havea, West Jordan, 112’06.50; 4. Kalo Fifita, Herriman, 106’08.25; 5. Maren Jones, Mountain Ridge, 105’10; 6. 6. Zoey Wheeler, Syracuse, 105’04.50; 7. Camille Allen, Hunter, 103’05; 8. Karly Rusch, Syracuse, 100’06.25.
Javelin — 1. Eva Chenn, Lone Peak, 118’05.25; 2. Presley Heggie, Herriman, 109’05.50; 3. Ruby McConnachie, Hunter, 109’01.50; 4. Lauryn Hall, Davis, 108’01.75; 5. Addison Freeland, Herriman, 106’10.75; 6. Miley Richards, Skyridge, 106’03.50; 7. Mia Midley, Copper Hills, 105’02.25; 8. Kloe Liptrot, Syraucse, 104.00.