Some thoughts and ideas carried over from the state meet … I give Vashti Cunningham and her dad, Randall, the Most Arrogant Award.
Cunningham, who has cleared as high as 6-4, passed until everybody was out before entering the competition. She had the bar set at 5-10 and missed three times.
Are you kidding me? Is there anything wrong with going in at 5-3 and winning the event before going for a higher height? I guess in the grand scheme of things a gold medal at a high school state meet means little to a talented athlete who has much biger fish to fry. I’ve never talked to Vashti. She’s a tremendous athlete, and is a potential Olympian. I just think it was an idiotic move.
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I’ve floated this idea to several people in the community, and they all would be in favor of it. It’s no secret trying to get a school in southern Nevada to host anything big is like pulling teeth. Take track for instance. Palo Verde pulled out during the winter, and fortunately Del Sol stepped up and agreed to host the meet. There was so much wrong with that complex it’s not even funny.
First, the long jump and triple jump runways should be longer. Granted it was the same for everybody, but it’s likely southern Nevada kids had jumped there before and had already adjusted. Secondly, there was a dip in the approach for the high jump. According to what Carson coaches told me, they were told “to deal with it.”
Thirdly, the discus situation was a joke. Coaches were on the complete opposite side of the throwing area from their athletes, making it difficult to coach them between throws.
So, here’s my idea.
Let’s allow Carson High to host the state meet every year, and let’s have Las Vegas be the permanent host for cross country. We all know Carson has the best track in the state, and the Vegas coaches love Carson’s track.
Let’s make a deal.
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I drove home from Las Vegas with veteran CHS assistant coach Mike Louisiana. We are both from California, and we are both in agreement there should be ONE state meet which includes ALL divisions.
If California can do it, Nevada should be able to work it out. Track is an individual sport, and a 1600 runner from White Pine could be faster than somebody from Carson High. Let’s have qualifying meets throughout the state, and set the standards so there are two heats in every event on Friday at the state meet except in the 3200. The last state meet I covered in California, kids had to run 800s and 1600s on both Friday and Saturday.
Say in the sprints, you could have the two heat winners and the next six fastest times advance to Saturday’s finals.
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I’ve never been a starter for a track meet, but the person who started the 800 relay really screwed things up. Runners were held in the ready position for what many thought too long. The result? Kai Benedict twitched and was DQ’d for a false start. Benedict showed a lot of class when he talked to reporters after the event. He admitted he ‘slightly’ moved, but he also pointed out they were held in the set position for a long time. I was glad to see him demolish the field in the 3200. The McQueen star’s headed to Cal, and the Golden Bears are getting a great talent.