Fallon's Whitney Skabelund, right, hands off the baton to Brynlee Shults during the 4x100 relay on Saturday at Fernley.
Easy does it.
In just the second meet of the season, the Fallon track teams continued their growth at the Fernley Sticker Meet on Saturday. Team results were not available.
T.J. Mauga continued his rapid improvement in the discus, taking second with a toss of 148-2. He also placed fourth in the shot put (44-3), while teammate Taylen Cordes tied for fifth at 36.
Mauga’s rise to the top has been rapid even after qualifying for the Division I-A state meet last season. This year, he has the sixth-best discus throw in the state regardless of classification.
“TJ is definitely becoming one of the premiere throwers in our division, and really the state,” Fallon boys coach Steve Heck said. “He is ranked No. 6 in the entire state right now in the discus through all divisions. That is a pretty great accomplishment for a sophomore. The coaching staff is really excited about his progress in the shot put as well.”
Nathan Heck took first in the 100 meters (11.41 seconds), 200 (23.08) and pole vault (13 feet) in another solid outing for the standout senior.
Charles Fulks took sixth in the 100 (11.68) and third in the 200 (23.45), while Fallon also got solid runs from Dustin Hopkins in the 400, where he placed eighth (58.93) and Trevor Davis in the 800, who took fifth (2:15.67).
Stalwarts Tristen Thomson (4:50) and Ethan Smith (5:10) finished second and eighth, respectively, in the 1,600.
“The distance squad had a strong outing,” Steve Heck added. “In the 1600, Tristen ran within a few seconds of his best time from last year and Ethan ran a new PR (personal record). Michael Anderson took 15 seconds off his PR as well. Tristen and Ethan also turned around and ran strong 3200s.”
Jordan Schultz had a fluid run in the 300 hurdles to take second with a mark of 42.71.
“Jordan Schultz ran a great race in the 300 hurdles taking another second off his best time from last week,” Heck added. “We are really excited about how he looks in the hurdles. He is running much smoother and stronger than last year.”
The Lady Wave, meanwhile, were once again led by a stable of jumpers.
Whitney Skabelund took second in the triple jump (30-11) and third in the long jump (14-11.5).
Fallon, though, had five of the top eight finishers in the triple jump. Along with Skabelund, Brynlee Shults was third (30-3), Sierra Hickox took fourth (29-4), Misaki Clare was fifth (29) and Cassidy East placed eighth (26-6). East also was second in the high jump (4-8), while Shults was fourth (4-6).
Melanie Nuckolls had an impressive run in the 800, taking eighth with a time of 3:00.43.
Chole Overlie, meanwhile, was strong in the distance races as she scored a pair of second-place finishes in the 1,600 (6:13.18) and 3,200 (14:16.13), while Diana Martinez was sixth (6:29.23) in 1,600.
Nuckolls followed Overlie’s lead in the 3,200 placing fourth (15:11.60) followed by Amanda Pursley in fifth (15:48.31) and Jeanne Anderson in seventh (16:32.94).
As for the field events, LeAnn Stands took third in the shot put (30-10.5), while Clare was fourth (29-11). Amy Nelson took seventh in the discus with a toss of 75-6.5.