More than 2,000 track athletes will converge on Carson High School for the annual Carson Invite today and Saturday at the Jim Frank Track & Field Complex.
On Friday, it will be the JV portion of the meet starting at 2:30 p.m. Individual winners from the JV meet will get to participate in the varsity meet on Saturday. The action on Saturday begins at 9 a.m.
“According to coach (Robert) Maw, this is the biggest meet we’ve had,” said Carson first-year head track coach Steve Nelms. “We have 30 schools, including Bishop Gorman. We also have a couple of California schools (Rocklin, Bishop) also coming.”
Nelms believes the fact the state meet being in Carson again could account for Gorman’s presence. He said it gives the Northern Nevada schools an opportunity to get another look at the Carson track, which is considered the best in the state.
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Carson High has never been a huge factor in the sprint game in recent years, but Ben Granados is out to change that.
Entering this weekend’s annual Carson Invite, Granados is ranked seventh in Northern Nevada in the 100 (11.35) and fourth in the 200 (23.29). Actually, Granados was No. 2 in the 200 until last weekend when Reed’s Jorge Moreno ran 22.97 and his teammate James Lara ran 23.28 at the Northwest Invite at McQueen.
Conditioning, according to Granados, has been a major factor in his success to this point.
“We still condition through the season, not just block starts,” Granados said. “We are doing a lot more conditioning; 1,000 repeats and 400 repeats.”
That was the brainchild of first-year head coach Steve Nelms, who coached the sprinters last season.
“I’m training everybody as a 400 runner,” Nelms said. “I want them to have more of a base. I want them to be able to start strong and finish strong.”
Nelms obviously is hopeful the increased base will keep his runners strong throughout the whole season.
Granados is hopeful he can get back up to the top couple of spots in both of his specialties.
“I want to get my 100 rank back up there,” Granados said. “I want to keep my spot in the 200 (by the end of the season). I’m pretty sure I can get to state in the 200. It’s all mental.”
The 100 has been an issue for Granados. He admitted he needs to run more relaxed.
“My start is usually pretty good,” he said. “When people start coming up on me, I start getting tight.”
Granados could also make state in the 800 relay. Carson is currently ranked third in the north. Granados, Darryll Heyward, Tucker Nichols and Chance Smith have a 1:34.43, a shade more than two seconds off Reed’s 1:32.01.
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On the girls side, Abigail Pradere is ranked second in the 800 behind Manogue’s Rosie Linkus (2:13.93 to 2:14.64). Pradere is also second in the 1600 to Manogue’s Hannah Covington (4:59.16 to 5:10.65). Pradere did run an impressive 1500 last weekend at the Oregon Relays.
Rheanna Jackson is ranked third in the 1600 (5:20.48), and seventh in the 800 (2:27.21) and 3200 (12:03.02).
Alyssa Rowe is currently fourth in the shot (33-9 1/2) and Amanda Schulz is fourth in the discus (104-3). Ashley Britt is ranked sixth in the 300 hurdles (49.11). The quartet of Pradere, Jackson, Annika Wick and Gabi Fernandez is ranked sixth in the 1600 relay.