TRACK: Thurman moves on in triple jump

A late season switch to a new event appears to be paying off for Carson High's Elena Thurman.

Despite competing in the triple jump for only the second time ever, the sophomore bounded into contention during the Northern 4A Regional Track and Field Championships trials on Saturday.

Thurman posted a mark of 33-feet, 1-inch that stood as fifth best in the girls triple jump and supplied one of the top highlights for the Senators during competition at their own Jim Frank Track and Field Complex. Overall, Carson athletes in 17 events qualified for the regional finals at home next Saturday. Thurman improved her previous best mark by two feet.

"She was bounding on the field in practice one day and we saw she has some springs to go with her good speed," Carson coach Robert Maw said of Thurman's switch out of the 200 and to the triple jump. "It was good to see her get through (to the finals). We were shooting for 34 (feet) today, but this is impressive for only her second time out. She is such a good competitor, I think she will have a shot at qualifying for state."

The top three finishers in each event next Saturday advance to the NIAA State Championships on May 20-21 at Del Sol High School in Las Vegas.

There were other bright spots for the Senators.

Among those was freshman Josilyn Daggs, who qualified with the third-fastest time in the 100-meter hurdles (16.20) and fourth-fastest in the 100 meters (13.07), winning her heats in both events. Daggs and Thurman also ran legs for Carson teams that advanced as third-fastest in the 4x200 relay (1:49.27) and fourth-fastest 4x100 relay (51.53).

On the boy's side, Carson's 4x200 team of Gabe Pongasi, Trey Jensen, Clint Page and Taylor Bradshaw continued its late-season surge by posting a season-best 1:31.81, the third-fastest qualifying time in the event.

"That was definitely good news for them," Maw said.

Pongasi also had the second best qualifying mark of 41-10-3/4 in the boys triple jump and Bradshaw was fifth best in the 400 with a 51.46 effort. Carson's 4x100 relay team also advanced with a 44.34.

Carson had two qualifiers in the boys pole vault, seniors Eric Garcia and Anthony Winder. Garcia qualified as the top seed with a solid 13-foot clearance, while Winder and nine others jumped 12-6. They are part of high-caliber field that includes the Douglas trio of Nick Maestretti (who placed second at state in 2010), Colt Silva and Justin Seyfried; as well as Galena's Tommy Sullivan and Brent Showalter of Reed. Maestretti has jumped 15-3 this season, Sullivan 15-0, while Garcia and Seyfried have both jumped 14-6.

"I want to make it to state," Garcia said. "It's going to be very interesting and really competitive. It's times like this where you see people go really high. They go to the bigger pole, move their hand grip up and just go for it."

Sophomore Maddi Saarem also advanced in the girls pole vault as she jumped 8-6. Amanda Brazeau of Douglas, the defending region champion, and Madison Mills of Galena jumped 9-0 to lead the qualifiers.

Carson had qualifiers who ran personal best times in the girls 800 and 1,600. Alex Drozdoff qualified No. 4 in the 1,600 as she ran 4:33.22, a personal best by six seconds, and Mallory Wilson qualified No. 10 in the 800 as she ran 2:28.96, a personal best by 10 seconds.

A pair of Senators who are in just their first season with the track and field program, advanced in the girls throws: Caitlin Sinclair in the discus and Courtney Hack in the shot put. Sinclair, a senior, qualified No. 7 in the discus with a throw of 94-8. Hack, a sophomore left-hander, had a personal record throw of 30-7-1/4.

Carson moved on as automatic qualifiers in both the boys and girls 4x400 relays at the end of the day. Both events had only nine entries so no trials were needed.

Notes: Looking ahead to the regional finals next Saturday, field events will begin at 8:30 a.m. and running events at 9. ... Three Carson High graduates will compete for the Nevada Wolf Pack at the Western Athletic Conference Championships in Honolulu this coming week. Constance "Alex" McAlman is seeded No. 1 in the women's discus (161-5) on Thursday and second in the hammer throw (193-9) on Friday. McAlman is also entered in the shot put. "She is probably one of the most versatile throwers in the WAC," Wolf Pack assistant coach Cody Fleming said. The senior, who has come back strong since sustaining a meniscus tear in November, is three feet away from the school record in the discus and nine feet away from the school record in the hammer. Gloria Sosa is also entered in the 5,000 and 10,000 meter races. The junior has already run a personal record time of 18:01 in the 5,000. Christy Works is also entered in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. ... Another Carson High graduate, Kayla Sanchez, is also running for Arizona State at the Pacific-10 Conference Championship this coming Friday and Saturday in Tucson, Ariz.

CARSON GIRLS

100 hurdles -- 3, Josilyn Daggs 16.20

100 -- 4, Josilyn Daggs 13.07

Triple jump -- 5, Elena Thurman 33-1

Discus -- 7, Caitlin Sinclair 94-8

Shot put -- 9, Courtney Hack 30-7-1/4

800 -- 10, Mallory Wilson 2:28.96

1,600 --- 4, Alex Drozdoff 5:33.22

Pole vault --- 3, Maddi Saarem 8-6

4x100 relay -- 4, (Josilyn Daggs, Kaitlyn Holmes, Ali Cowan, Elena Thurman) 51.53

4x200 relay -- 3, (Josilyn Daggs, Kaitlyn Holmes, Ali Cowan, Elena Thurman) 1:49.27

4x400 relay -- automatic qualifier

CARSON BOYSTriple jump -- 2, Gabe Pongasi 41-10-3/4

Pole vault -- 1, Eric Garcia 13-0; 2, A.J. Winder 12-6

400 -- 5, Taylor Bradshaw 51.46

4x200 relay -- 3, (Gabe Pongasi, Trey Jensen, Clint Page, Taylor Bradshaw) 1:31.81

4x100 relay -- 5, (Connor Beattie, Clinton Page, Trey Jensen, Gabe Pongasi) 44.34

4x400 relay -- automatic qualifier

DOUGLAS GIRLS

200 -- 5, Shannon Sturgess 26.92

800 -- 5, Aspen Abbott 2:26.34

1,600 -- 7, Mattie Seamans 5:38.03; 11, Sadie Gastelum 5:47.42

300 low hurdles -- 8, Megan Filbin 50.58

4x100 relay -- 7, (Alexyss Easlick, Baylee Robinson, Marissa Cowan, Amanda Brazeau) 52.01

4x200 relay -- 6, (Shannon Sturgess, Molly Downer, Erika Duarte, Kelsie Martinez) 1:51.24

Long jump -- 2. Holly Downer 16-3-3/4; 8, Erika Duarte 15-1

Triple jump -- 9, Katie Seamans 32-3-3/4

High jump -- 3, Shannon Sturgess, Holly Downer 4-8

Pole vault -- 1, Amanda Brazeau 9-0; 9, Baylee Robinson 8-0

Shot put -- 3, Desieree Cage 33-3-3/4; 4, Brianne Burnside 32-7; 7, Sasha Rushinock 30-8-3/4

Discus -- 1, Brianne Burnside 111-10; 8, Sara Holman 93-8; 9, Desieree Cage 93-4

DOUGLAS BOYS

100 -- 9, Clayton Limacher 11.84

200 -- 8, Clayton Limacher 23.38

800 -- 11, Andrew Cobourn 2:07.79

1,600 -- 3, Andrew Cobourn 4:38.97

4x100 relay -- 7, (Clayton Limacher, Steven Campbell, Justin Draper, Dylan Neilsen) 44.72

4x200 relay -- 6, (J.T. Dunning, Clayton Limacher, Cole Melhus, Justin Draper) 1:32.27

Triple jump -- 4, Cole Melhus 40-0-3/4

Pole vault -- 2, Colt Silva, Nick Maestretti, Justin Seyfried, 12-6

Discus -- 4, Justin Dry 141-3

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