PREPS: Carson's track meet will go on today despite tragedy

The annual Carson High Invitational track meet goes off today (8:45 a.m. is the first field event) with the host school at less-than full strength.

Many members of the Carson track team won't be competing today because they are attending the memorial of classmates Stephen Anderson and Keegan Aiazzi.

A total of 17 teams will be on hand today, including Douglas, Dayton, Sierra Lutheran Damonte Ranch, Spanish Springs, Whittell, Lovelock, Fernley, Lowry, Gabbs, Galena, Rite of Passage, North Tahoe, Mammoth and North Valleys.

Carson coach Robert Maw said he came close to canceling the meet.

"Monday I was going to cancel, but after talking to the administration and the Anderson family who are close friends, we decided to go ahead with it," Maw said. "About one-third of the team is going to the funeral and two-thirds will be out for the meet. It's been pretty hard for them to focus (this week). I told them not to come to practice (early in the week) because they needed time for themselves

"Obviously we're not going to be anywhere near full strength and not as competitive as I would have hoped. The frosh-sopoh kids will be here."

Carson also will be without weight specialist Nate Hazard, who suffered an injury to his throwing hand during a recent drill and will be out for the rest of the season.

Josilyn Daggs has performed well for Carson this year, and she could go top-3 in a couple of events. Alex Drozdoff is the top seed in the 3,200 while Maddi Saarem has cleared 9-6 in the pole vault and is the co-No. 1 seed in that event.

The girls' shot put and discus will be a duel between Dayton's Kathy Arias, the defending 3A state champ, and Damonte's Kennedy Hall.

Maw wouldn't hazard a guess as to who the favorites should be in the team competition, but said that Damonte Ranch, Douglas and Spanish Springs looked pretty good among the 4A teams.

Here are the top entrants in each event heading into today's meet:

100 - North Valley's Nick Palko (11.24), Damonte Ranch's Joel Bergstrom (11.33) and Jonathan Adams of North Tahoe (11.54) are the top boys' entrants. Fernley's Amelia Maguin (12.54), Damonte's Melissa Sheridan (12.87) and Damonte's Adrienne Roane (13.17) are the top entrants in the girls. Carson's Josilyn Daggs could sneak into the top four.

200 - Douglas' Clayton Limacher is seeded No. 1 at 23.64, while Damonte's Bergstrom is at 23.82 and Fernley's Jeremy Ruiz is at 24.01.

Carson's Daggs has the fastest time at 27.03, but hasn't run varsity a lot this year. Damonte's Melissa Sheridan is the favorite here at 27.36 with Carson's Elena Thurman at 27.76. Douglas' Sturgess is at 28.08.

400 - Whittell's John Robinson is top notch and enters with a time of 50.40. Sierra Lutheran teammates Nick DePaoli and Nathan Conover are at 51.94 and 52.97, respectively.

Damonte's Ciara O'Driscoll leads the girls' contingent at 60.16. Galena's Rachel Zunino and Damonte's Cassandra Ramos are at 62.22 and 63.52, respectively.

800 - Robinson is favored in this event, too, having run a 1:53.87. Qualls is at 1:59 and Coburn is at 2:03.58.

O'Driscoll is the girls' favorite at 2:22.94, but will be pushed by Mariah Anthony at 2:24.74 and Lovelock's Samantha Dennler (2:27.24).

1600 - Douglas' Andrew Coburn is the leader coming in at 4:36.38 followed by Fernley's Cody Crader at 4:36.5 and Mammoth's Toby Qualls at 4:47.24.

Damonte's Meragan Wood is the top girls' entrant at 5:23.67, followed by Anthony at 5:24.94 and Douglas' Sadie Gastelum at 5:30.82.

3200 - Sierra Lutheran's Nathanael Williams leads the way at 10:19.23 followed by Galena's Daniel Metzger (10:47.45) and Sierra Lutheran's John McRae (10:50.36).

Carson's Alex Drozdoff leads the girls at 11:55 while Wood is next at 12:03.11. Sierra Lutheran's Becky Grabow is seeded third at 12:19.5.

110/100 H - Galena's Hunter Dietmeier is seeded No. 1 at 16.74, while Dayton's Cameron McGifford is at 17.26. Damonte's Brennen Bryant is third at 17.44.

Fernley's Maguin leads the girls at 15.74, while Damonte's Heather Ahnlund is next at 16.83. Fernley's Brittany Moreno is third at 17.34. Carson's Daggs (16.40) could have an impact here.

300 H - Galena's Dietmeier leads the boys at 43.74 followed y Dayton's McGifford at 43.68 and Douglas' Logan Peterson at 44.34.

Ahnlund of Damonte is the top girl at 50.16, and she's followed by Fernley's Moreno at 51.95 and Douglas' Megan Filbin at 53.48.

HJ - Dayton's Kage Walker and Spanish Springs' Vance Lively come in at 6 feet, while Dayton's Jordan Brown is next at 5-10.

Douglas teammates Holly Downer and Shannon Sturgess plus Lovelock's Dennler are the top entrants at 5-feet.

LJ - Spanish Springs' Lively leads the boys at 20-10 1/2, while Douglas' Justin Seyfried is next at 19-1. Damonte's Jerry Moorehead is next at 19-0 1/2.

Douglas' Downer leads at 16-7, while Whittell's Sammy Bumbach is next at 15-11 followed by Sturgess of Douglas at 15-4 1/2.

TJ - Galena's Sean McGinley leads the boys at 39-9 1/2 along with Palko of North Valleys. Damonte's Moorehead was next at 39-9 1'4.

Douglas' Mattie Seamans is seeded No. 1 at 34-1 1/2, while Lovelock's Sarah Brinkerhoff and Dennler are at 32-10 3/4 and 32-0 1/2.

PV - Galena's Thomas Sullivan leads the boys with a 15-foot effort. Douglas teammates Seyfried and Colt Silva are at 14-6 and 14-feet, respectively.

Carson's Maddie Saarem and Damonte's Cassie Luce are tied at 9-6, while Lovelock's Brinkerhoff is at 8-6.

SP - Fernley's Nick Katz is the leader coming in with a season-best of 48-6 1/2. North Valley's Alex Sanders at 48-3 and Dayton's Manuel Castaneda are at 47-9 1/2. Carson's Blake McCoy is a darkhorse at 41 feet.

Damonte's Kennedy Hall and Dayton's Kathy Arias are the class of the event at 39-3 and 38-9 1/4, respectively. Douglas' Desieree Cage is at 34-4 3/4.

Discus - Katz has the top throw at 153-10, while Douglas' Justin Dry is at 139-3. Damonte's Connor Smith has a 138-6. McCoy is at 129-10.

Arias leads the girls at 131-9, while Douglas' Brianne Burnside is at 111-10 with Hall at 108-2.