Carson girls track has to play catchup

RENO - If Carson High's girls track team is going to win the 4A state team title, it will have to do it the hard way.

Despite a win in the 300-meter hurdles and a second-place finish in the 100-meter event by senior Kayla Sanchez, the Senators are trailing Western by nine points going into the last day of the NIAA 4A State Track & Field Championships at Damonte Ranch.

Western, thanks to a win in the 1600-meter relay, has 35 points compared to 26 for the Senators, who lost a great chance to cut into that deficit when it finished fifth in the 1600 relay despite a respectable time of 4:01.92.

Robert Maw, Carson head coach, gave his team an A-minus before the start of the relay event. No doubt he probably would have lowered that performance grade to a B-plus after the final event.

"We lost a couple of points when Kayla lost in the 100," Maw said. "We got one of those back when Christy (Works) moved up a spot from where she was seeded in the 800."

Probably the biggest surprise is that Sanchez won't be a four-time winner at this year's event.

Sanchez, who has dominated the state track scene since her freshman season, was nipped at the finish of the 100-meter dash by Western's Tiarra Tyler, who was timed in 12.05. Sanchez was timed in 12.12. Tyler's 12.05 tied Sanchez's stadium record.

"I felt I was warm; ready to run," Sanchez said just a few minutes after the finish. "It was not a very good race. It was so-so."

"I know she is always first out of the blocks," Maw said. "She probably peaked last week."

In the 300 hurdles, Sanchez's timing was clearly off. She stuttered stepped badly on the first two hurdles, and even had a small miscue on the third hurdle. She also got some help when Lenette Battle of Shadow Ridge, who was battling for the top spot hit a hurdle and went down with about 150 meters to go. The stumble left Sanchez with a big lead, and she won despite a so-so 44.40.

"I didn't feel like this last week," said Sanchez, who was clearly fatigued. "I've never been that dead at the end of the race before."

"She missed every hurdle," said her dad, Louie, an assistant coach. "She never misses the first three hurdles like she did."

Sanchez has two more shots at gold medals today in the long jump and 200 meters, and she is favored in both events. She may need to win both if the Senators want to win the team title.

Caleb Carter finally surpassed the 21-foot mark (21-0 1/2) in the long jump, but failed to medal, settling for fifth

Christy Works ran a phenomenal anchor leg for the Senators' 1600 relay squad. The Senators were seventh after two laps, but Works helped the team get to fifth place.

Meanwhile, at the 3A level, both the Dayton boys and girls' teams turned in solid performances. The Dust Devils are third on the girls side behind Boulder City and Pahrump Valley, while the boys lead Faith Lutheran by a point (49-48).

"The kids we brought here are quality," Dayton coach Mike Paul said. "I knew their times (and marks) would hold up."

Dayton's Erika Garcia gave area track fans a preview what they can expect the next three seasons.

The Dayton freshman easily won the 100-meter event, clocking an impressive and personal best of 12.79.

Garcia, whose previous best was a 12.9, got off to a nice start. She was able to hold off fellow freshman Joi Goynes of Faith Lutheran and junior Albany Patton of Spring Creek.

"It was a good race," Garcia said. "I lost to one of the girls (Patton) earlier. It was nice to be able to beat her today."

Garcia came back later to take third in the triple jump with a leap of 32-feet 7-inches. She will compete in the 200 and 400-meter events today.

"She is an amazing athlete," Paul said of Garcia. "The triple jump is probably her weakest event, and she was third in that."

Garcia wasn't the only Dayton athlete to win gold on the first day of the two-day event.

Hans Meyer, a senior, won the 110-meter high hurdles in 16.12, a mere .02 behind his time of last week. Meyer needed a big lunge in the last few meters to beat out Casey Knutson and Jeremy Smith, both of Boulder City. Trace Feemster won the 200 in a school-record time of 22.29.

Meyer admitted the race was a lot closer than he expected.

"I had a bad start," he said. "I hit quite a few (hurdles). I haven't been up to par since I hurt my hip. I haven't been able to get under 16 since then.

"I'm not going to lie. I thought I'd win by 10 meters. Those Boulder City guys are really good."

Feemster was third in the long jump with a mark of 20-4 1/2, and he ran an impressive anchor leg on Dayton's 800-meter relay team.

Freshman Kathie Arias of Dayton was second in the shot put with a throw of 34-11, Logan Ingersoll claimed a fourth-place medal in the high jump with a leap of 5-10 and Tegan Volberding was second in the triple jump at 33-5

Sierra Lutheran's boys' 3200-meter relay squad of Levi Grabow, Michael Kubel, Andrew Deterding and Taylor Love opened the meet with an impressive victory. The group was timed in a PR of 9:04.

Deterding lost the lead at the end of his second lap leg, but Love, who ran a 2:06 split, was able to make up the ground on his first lap. Love never trailed the entire final lap.

"We're very excited," Sierra Lutheran coach Steve Kubel said of his school's first state event title. We're proud of the boys. They all did an outstanding job. Everybody pulled their weight and did what they had to do."

Douglas took home medals in two individual events and a relay.

Basketball star Jessica Waggoner was fourth in the 4A shot put at 38-8. Teammate Nicole Mehrer was third in the triple jump with a leap of 34-3 3/4. The Tigers' 3200-meter boys relay squad finished third at 8:03.06, trailing Galena which set a stadium record in a time of 8:01.22. Las Vegas was second in 8:02.42.

NOTES: Valley's Garic Wharton set a state 4A record with a 21.10 in the 200 meters. He broke Joeal Hotckins' mark which had stood since 1982 ... Independence's Cameron Thomas also set a state 2A record in the 200 with a 22.21, eclipsing the old mark of 22.92 by Steven Lucchesi of Lincoln County in 2004 ... Silver Stage clocked an 8:32.40 in the boys' 3200-meter relay, breaking the old mark of 8:33.48 set by Faith Lutheran in 2004... Action continues today at 9 a.m.