Wave track qualifies in 7 events for state

It was more than expected, even without its star senior limited because of injury.

The Greenwave boys track and field team qualified in four individual events and three relays to finish in fifth place at the Northern Division I-A regional meet in Yerington on Saturday. Elko won the boys division with 137 points over Spring Creek’s 107.25 while Sparks (101), Fernley (93) and Fallon (67.25) rounded out the top five for the boys.

“On a whole everyone over performed,” Fallon boys coach Steve Heck said. “If you take Tristen (Thomson) out of the equation, going into the meet on Friday I only expected to score about 50 points. The team managed to get 67.25 with Tristen getting just four of those. That shows a great effort by the team as a whole.”

Colton Peterson (200 meters, fourth place), TJ Mauga (shot put and discus, second in both), Kapili Gleason (high jump, fourth), and three of the four relay teams qualified with the 4x200 (second), 4x100 (third) and 4x800 (fourth) making the cut. Thomson, a senior nursing a stress fracture, missed out after shattering personal and school records all season.

Only the top four individuals and relay teams qualified for the state meet, which begins Friday in Carson.

No one was going to catch Dayton senior Zackary Hawkley in the throws, but Mauga took second in both with a throw of 46-8.5 in the shot put and 163-9 in the discus. Hawkley won both events with throws of 59-6.75 in the shot put and 169-4. Fallon senior Taylen Cordes finished his career with a seventh-place finish in the shot put at 42-1, 8 inches shy of fourth, but outperformed by a foot to place in the top eight for the first time.

“TJ will have a great shot to medal in the shot and disc,” Heck said of Mauga, who sits in third in the state. “He really threw well on Friday and if he has another good day he might move up a spot or two.”

Peterson made an impressive improvement in the 200 after taking fifth in the prelims. Peterson roared back with a 22.96 to finish third in the finals. Sparks’ Nick Van Patten won the race in 22.67 as 0.31 second separated the four qualifiers.

“Colton has really being improving the last few weeks and we knew he had a shot,” Heck said. “He looked great in the preliminary race but got nipped at the line and sat fifth going into finals. Looking at the times they were really close for the third and fourth spots. I think Colton was just determined to make it to the top four. It was a photo finish but he wasn’t going to let himself get nipped at the line a second time.”

Gleason surprised the competition in the high jump after a mark of 5-6 to take fourth. Teammate Justin Cathey’s 5-4 jump put him in seventh for his first top-eight finish. Elko’s Kryin Allen won the event with a jump of 6-8.

“The high jump has been a wide open event this year,” Heck said. “Two jumpers were way ahead of the field and then the last two spots were available for the taking from just about anyone. Kapili had a great day jumping and chose the right day to get a 6-inch PR.”

Heck said the difference for Gleason this weekend was his mental approach.

“It shows a lot of poise and focus on his part to jump so well with the pressure on,” Heck added. “He has always shown a lot of talent, but he exhibited his mental toughness this weekend.”

Heck said that Peterson and Gleason’s youth could work to their advantage at state.

“Colton and Kapili are young so they can go in without the pressure an upperclassman might feel,” he said. “Sometimes kids go into a meet like this just happy to be there. I don’t get that sense from this group. They don’t just want to be there, they want to win there. It should be an exciting weekend to watch.”

The 4x200 relay team ran the race in 1:32.41 to take second, finishing 0.78 seconds behind Fernley, while the 4x100 team finished in 45.61 for third after Fernley won it in 44.80. The 4x800 team grabbed the final state berth with an 8:56.78 finish. Elko won the 4x800 in 8:09.90.

“By far the best we have been all season in the 4x100 and 4x200,” Heck said. “The boys ‘PRd’ by 4 seconds in the 4x200 and shocked some teams. Those four boys have been working hand-offs religiously the last couple weeks and it really paid off. All four looked really fast. They now have the fifth fastest time ever from our school and there isn’t a junior or senior on the team.”

The 4x100 and 4x200 teams included Drake Copley, Broder Thurston, Reid Clyburn and Peterson, and the 4x800 team included Isaiah Williams, JR Demillo, Mario Ugalde and Joseph Terry. Demillo filled in for Thomson.

“The 4x800 was a question mark going in with the loss of Tristen. JR Demillo stepped in his place and had really big shoes to fill. Isaiah Williams ran a great 1st leg setting us up in 4th place. Mario and JR both kept the gap between us and 5th place. Joe held of a surge from 2 other runners and in the end ran away from them for the last state qualifying spot.”

Nursing a stress fracture, Thomson couldn’t jeopardize his college future.

Thomson, who broke the school record in the 800 and was ranked No. 1 in the 800, 1600 and 3200 in the region, finished sixth in the 1600 and ninth in the 800. Thomson ran the mile in 4:39.85 and 800 in 2:09.92, about 2 seconds off from qualifying in the 1600 and 9 seconds in the 800.

“It was a disappointing end to Tristen’s high school career with his injury,” Heck said. “We encouraged him not to run but he wanted to give it a shot. His races were gutsy efforts but he unfortunately came up short. It is tough to see that happen to such a great young man, but he has a great career ahead of him. It was evident from the behavior and comments of other athletes, coaches and fans that he has earned a lot of respect around the league.”

Clyburn, who wasn’t ranked in the top eight during the season, came close in the hurdles, taking sixth in the 300 in 44.02, less than 2 seconds from fourth, while Davis Koenig, Trevor Brown, Trevor East and John Kirkland finished 11th through 13th and 15th in the 110 hurdles prelims. East also took 14th in the 300.

In the long and triple jumps, Bryan Duenas took sixth with leaps of 18-10.5 and 38-0.5, falling less than 2 feet shot in the long and 8.5 inches short in the triple.

“Bryan Duenas had a shot but he has not had the opportunity to jump much this year,” Heck said. “He PR’d in the triple jump but it wasn’t quite enough. If he can jump on a weekly basis next year, I expect he will be one of the top jumpers in the north.”

Ryan Bitter finished seventh in the triple jump at 37-7.25 with an improvement of a foot, while Kirkland was 10th at 35-2.5. Jordan Boothe finished eighth in the pole vault at 10 feet, followed by Nathaniel Klein in 12th at 9-6. The fourth-place mark was 11-6. Bitter and Booth weren’t ranked in the top eight during the season.

Skabelund wins jumping events to pace Fallon to 5th-place finish

Led by a pair of first-place finishes, the Lady Wave turned in well-rounded performance at last weekend’s regional meet.

The Lady Wave track and field team qualified in five individual events and two relays as both squads placed fifth in the Northern Division I-A regional meet in Yerington on Saturday.

Truckee easily claimed the girls division with a 201-126.25 victory over Spring Creek, followed by Lowry (90), Elko (74) and Fallon (73) to round out the top five.

“It’s kind of what we expected. We wanted a little more,” Fallon girls coach Paul Orong said. “The girls competed their butts off. I can’t be more pleased than that. It’s about what we expected.”

Whitney Skabelund (long and triple jumps, first; pole vault, fourth), Leann Stands (discus, second) and Jordan Beyer (high jump, third), and the 4x200-meter and 4x100 relay teams placed in the top four to qualify for state. Only the top four individuals and relay teams qualified for the state meet, which begins Friday in Carson.

Skabelund was the only champion on either side for the Greenwave. The junior jumper leaped 35 feet, 10.25 inches to win the triple jump and 17-00.25 in the long jump. Skabelund also squeezed in a leap of 9 feet in the pole vault to qualify.

“She put herself in a position to win,” Orong said. “We wanted her to qualify and that’s what she did. We’re really hoping she’ll jump her best at state. We expect good things (in pole vault), too.”

Skabelund, a junior, will face stiff competition from the South this weekend and Orong wouldn’t be surprised if she turns in the best performance for any jumper in any division.

“That will fuel Whitney to do the best,” said Orong of Skabelund, who was barely out-jumped by a southern competitor in her regional. “It gives her a little extra motivation in the long jump. When it all comes down, she’ll be the best jumper in the state, regardless of division.”

And don’t be surprised if she turns some heads in pole vault where she nearly cleared 10 feet in the regional. “

“It’s the same thing as long jumping. It’s the same type of procedure,” Orong said of the natural ease from long jump to pole vault. So that kind of translates and you’re holding a pole.”

Possessing a strong shot at possibly sweeping the long and triple jumps, Fallon fell short. But not due to a lack of effort as the rest of the division outperformed.

“I can’t complain when my jumpers finished fifth and sixth,” Orong said. “I can’t really be upset when they do stuff like that. Everybody in front of them jumped out of their mind. You expect something like that and some surprises, but not that many.”

Sierra Hickox fell one spot shy in the triple jump after a mark of 33-8.5 and Brynlee Shults finished sixth in the long jump at 15-4. Cassidy East took eighth in both jumps at 14-11 and 32-7.25. The fourth-place marks in the long and triple jumps were 16-1.5 and 33-8.75.

Beyer jumped 4-10 in the high jump to represent Fallon in all three jump events. Beyer came in 2 inches shy of Lowry’s Kenadee Jeppsen’s mark while East scored a mark of 4-4 to take ninth, falling 4 inches shy of qualifying.

“She just learned, like everything else,” Orong said of Beyer just recently learning how to high jump. “For her to qualify for state is a great surprise for us and her. At the beginning of the season, we would have never pictured Jordan in the high jump. I was a little surprised she didn’t get in the 100. It was a fast group.”

Stands fell one spot shy of qualifying in the shot put but she took second in the discus at 103-1. Stands threw for 32-2 in the shot put to finish fifth, 1 inch shy of qualifying for state.

“It was kind of surprising that she didn’t qualify,” Orong said about missing out in the shot put. “Her bouncing back and qualifying in the discus shows me what kind of competitor she is.”

Missing out on shot put, though, could be a blessing in disguise for Stands. Focusing on only one event for state, Orong is optimistic that Stands will rise this week.

“Her best throws are going to be coming at state,” he said. “She has a good chance at winning state. She knows it. I think the best throws of her life are going to be at state.”

The 4x200 relay team of Shelby Hickox, Emily Evett, Skabelund and Beyer finished the race in 1 minute, 50.47 seconds to take thirdplace. The 4x100, comprised of Hickox, Evett, Shults and Beyer, finished in 52.10 to take fourth. Spring Creek won the 4x100 in 50.81 and Lowry won the 4x200 in 1:49.73.

“That was a great, pleasant surprise. The girls worked real hard,” Orong said about the relays.

What made the day a big surprise was the 4x100 group never ran the race together this season while it was the second time for the 4x200. Trust and believing in each other helped both teams qualify for state.

“That whole group of girls, there a real close-knit group,” Orong said. “They’ve got a lot of trust for each other and they believe in each other. That’s what makes them a good team. Those girls are part of that core we’ve been talking about all year, and they’re really good friends.”

In the remaining track events, Beyer was Fallon’s best chance at placing for the girls.

After taking fifth in the 100 prelims, Beyer finished the final race in sixth at 13.30, just 0.16 seconds shy of fourth. Hickox came close in the hurdle events after finishing eighth in the 300 in 51.62 and 11th in the 100 hurdles prelims in 18.81. Hickox needed to erase 2.46 seconds off her 300 time.