The annual Carson Track & Field Invitational is Saturday, and CHS coach Robert Maw is welcoming the biggest field in the history of the event.
Maw said 27 schools are entered in the event, though Reed and McQueen will only field partial teams. There are nine D-1 teams entered — Carson, Douglas, Galena, Hug, McQueen, North Valleys, Reed, Spanish Springs and Wooster. There are five 1A entries, including Dayton, Fernley, Lowry, South Tahoe and Sparks. From Division III, it’s Incline, ROP and Yerington, and Division IV has Excel Christian, Gabbs, Hawthorne, Pahranagat Valley, Pyramid Lake, Sage Ridge, Sierra Lutheran, Smith Valley, Virginia City and Whittell.
“We haven’t had this many small schools,” Maw said. “I think we have a great facility, and we put on a great state meet last year. I think schools want to come and compete at the best facility in the state.”
Maw believes his boys team will have a chance to hoist the championship trophy, though the team will be without distance specialist Ian VanRensselaer, who took a spill while running the 800. His injury will take away points from both relay and individual events.
“We look strong,” Maw said. “Ian is going to have an MRI, so we won’t know for sure until we get results, but I’m not expecting him back.”
Corey Reid, coming off his decathlon title at the Arcadia Invitational, will run the 200, 400, possible a relay and high jump. Greg Wallace, who high jumped 6-6 last weekend, will challenge Reid and Quintin Mills in the high jump. Asa Carter should win the triple jump and medal in the long jump, and Ian Schulz will battle it out with Dayton’s Zach Hawley for the discus title. Schulz eclipsed 164 feet Tuesday at North Valleys in windy conditions.
“We’re solid there (high jump),” Maw said. “We held Asa out Tuesday because he had a bruised heel, but we expect him to be ready for Saturday.”
Madison Preston is favored in the high jump, long jump and triple jump, and Maw expects her to win all three.
Maw is expecting big things from Sahara Winder and ValerieSue Meyer.
“Sahara has dropped her time in the 400, and she’s competitive with ValerieSue,” Maw said. “ValerieSue is starting to round into shape.”
Let’s take a look at each individual event, and keep in mind it’s not known who’s going to run what event as of now:
100: The top four boys times belong to Reed’s Eric Espirtu (10.94), Carson’s Corey Reid (11.13), Reed’s Porter Hansen (11.16) and Spanish Springs’ Tyler Duran (11.30). Spanish Springs’ Jessica Ozoude (12.30) leads the girls followed by teammate Madison Alexander (12.94), McQueen’s Brooke Pszotka (12.98) and Hug’s Nikita Cleveland (13.05).
200: Reid (22.02) leads the boys contingent. Espirtu (22.46), Hansen (22.50) and Yerington’s Reese Neville (23.03) are the next-fastest entrants. Ozoude (25.27) is the top girls’ entrant. South Tahoe’s Maya Brosch (26.39), Reed’s Ali Miller and Carson’s Madison Preston (26.80) are right up there.
400: Reid (47.37), Hansen (50.99), Dayton’s Dallon Mendoza (51.83) and Wooster’s Chris Greco (52.04) are the frontrunners. Ozoude has the fastest girls time in 59.27, while Carson’s ValerieSue Meyer (60.49), Brosch (60.81) and Galena’s Heather Huene (61.11) are ranked next.
800: If he opts to participate, Reed’s Anthony Ocegueda (1:58.60) is ranked high. Galena’s Pearson McIntire (2:03.60), Galena’s Dru Hall (2:03.65) and Galena’s Andrew Dobrowski (2:04.30) will challenge. Douglas’ Lindsey Adams (2:14.09), Spanish Springs’ Maria Mettler (2:22.57), Galena’s Abby Bolt (2:26.90) and Lauryn Masic (Spanish Springs) 2:28.05 have the fastest entry times for the girls.
1600: With McQueen’s Kai Benedict and Connor Ross not here, Galena’s Mason Labadie (4:31) is the favorite. Ocegueda (4:33.25) and Douglas’ Austin Croxall (4:37.50) will fight for medals. Adams (5:09.29), Bolt (5:17.20), Mettler (5:24.20) and Massic (5:31.95) are the top girls.
3200: Ocegueda (9:23.17) is second to Benedict. Labadie (9:56.57), Reed’s Ben Stevens (9:57.01) and Croxall (10:30.41) are all solid runners. Bolt (11:40.50) is the top entrant, and South Tahoe’s Ally Sullivan (11:52.92), Adams (12:06.91) and Gio Casazza of Galena (12:13.40) have the top times.
110/100H: Reid is tops at 14.90 followed by Galena’s Isaac Artinger (14.95), Hug’s Isaiah Clark (15.10) and Dayton’s Benji Ply (15.36) are right in the battle for the top spot. Galena’s Megan Farrell (15.88) leads the way followed by Brosch (16.00), Galena’s Emily Etter (16.83) and Preston (17.09) will challenge.
300H: Reed freshman Grant Cotter (42.56) has the fastest time followed by Neville (42.64) and Dayton’s Jon Ply (43.22). Brosch (46.68) is tops followed by Carson’s Athena Favero (47.60), Lowry’s Kenadee Pennington (47.66) and teammate Hailey Hinkle (50.06).
HJ: Carson’s Greg Wallace and Dayton’s Benji Ply have gone 6-6, Reid has gone 6-5 1/2) and Galena’s Quintin Mills and Dayton’s Jon Ply have gone 6-4. Preston leads the girls entrants with a best of 5-7 followed by Fernley’s Stephanie Perez, Galena’s Etter and Lowry’s Jeppsen, all at 5-feet.
LJ: Sage Ridge’s Ethan Hardacre tops the field at 21-7 3/4 followed by Douglas’ Connor Lyons (21-5), Mills at 21-4 and Reed’s Tayjon Campbell at 21-1. Preston is the overwhelming favorite at 17-8 1/2 followed by Spanish Springs’ Elle Thomas at 16-6 1/2, Farrell at 16-4 3/4 and Carson’s Hailey Palotas (15-11).
TJ: Carson’s Asa Carter leads the field at 44-8 followed by Hug’s Gerald Roscom (43-1 1/2), Hardacre (43-0) and Carson’s Aaron Woodbury (42-0), Preston leads at 36-8 1/2. Reed’s Journey Artis (34-8 3/4), Jeppsen (33-6) and Smith Valley’s Kellie Rogaczewski (32-11 1/4) are solid challengers to medal.
PV: Wooster’s Kevin Mohr is at 15-feet and teammate Zachary Arbogast is next at 14-6. Benji Ply is No. 3 at 14-3. Farrell has cleared 12-3, Etter is at 12-1 and Gaby Palmer is at 11-3 for the girls. Galena will be looking for a sweep here.
SP: Dayton’s Zach Hawley leads the area at 57-6 followed by Galena’s Chris Kiley (49-2 1/2). Dayton’s Jesus Castaneda is at 48-7 1/2 while Carson’s Ian Schulz and Chris Miranda are at 48-1. Sparks’ Driftwind Nau is tops for the girls at 39-4 1/4, Spanish Springs’ Sophie Grote is at 38-9 and Dayton’s Kaylee Turner is at 38-feet.
DISCUS: Carson’s Schulz has thrown 164 feet, while Hawley comes in at 162-2. Carson’s Josue Orozco is a darkhorse to medal at 139-1. Douglas’ Morgan Weston leads the girls at 128-10 and Nau is at 127-10. Turner comes in third at 127-7.