The Sierra Lutheran High School track and field team poses with both the Class 1A boys and girls regional championship plaques at Reed High School on Saturday.
Last season, the Sierra Lutheran boys track and field team won the Class 1A North regional team title.
This spring, the boys backed it up with another first-place finish and were joined by the Falcon girls, who matched them with a team regional title of their own.
“I am so impressed with the teams’ willingness to uplift and support each other throughout this season. They did a great job on both Friday and Saturday,” said Sierra Lutheran head coach Hannah Krenz. “The hard work and dedication throughout the season got them the regional championships."
The Falcon boys scored 151 points, besting second-place Mineral County (107). The girls weren’t quite as dominating, but still earned a 1A North regional crown with 120 points to Whittell’s 116.5.
Falcon boys dominate
Flynn Schiebe, David Luhr Immen and Hunter Rowlatt went 1-2-3 in the 100-meter dash, finishing within three-tenths of a second from each other.
The 200 wasn’t much different as Rowlatt was second, Schiebe took third, Nathan Tack finished fourth and Charles Miles took fifth.
Tack and Miles didn’t qualify for state in that event as only the top three from each event make the state meet.
However, Tack and Shiebe will both be competing at state in the 400 with a second- and third-place finish, respectively.
Joshua Fox is headed to state with a third-place finish in the 1,600 in 5:11.51.
Though Fox was fourth in the 3,200, teammate Max Woefel finished third (11:32.16) to make it to state.
The Falcons’ 4x100, 4x200 and 4x800 relay teams were all good enough over the weekend to qualify for state, as well.
Immen was second in the high jump, clearing 5-10 in order to punch another ticket for an event at state.
Rowlatt won the discus throw, measuring a best toss of 117-9.
(Sierra Lutheran’s David Luhr Immen clears the bar during the Class 1A high jump at Reed. Immen finished second and qualified for state with a clearance of 5-10. Carter Eckl / Nevada Appeal)
Falcon girls take regional crown
On the girls side, sophomore Kayla Carpenter will be heading to state in the 400-meter run, taking first in 1:04.09.
Saige Gregory powered through the distance events to punch her ticket in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200.
Lydia Carpenter and Riley McHenry will both make the trip to Las Vegas for the 300-meter hurdles, qualifying in second and third, respectively.
Lydia Carpenter also qualified in the pole vault for Sierra Lutheran.
All four of the Falcons’ relay teams — 4x1, 4x2, 4x4 and 4x8 — were exceptional and all will be running at this coming weekend’s state meet.
Those teams:
4x800: Riley McHenry, Faith Phillips, Kailey Fitzpatrick and Saige Gregory.
4x200: Chloe Friend, Vanessa James, Francesca Antonucci and Lydia Carpenter.
4x100: Sydney Sufka, Chloe Friend, Riley McHenry and Kayla Carpenter.
4x400: Kailey Fitzpatrick, Faith Phillips, Vanessa James and Riley McHenry.
Carson and Dayton
Carson High was seventh in the girls and ninth in the boys team scores for the Class 5A regional meet.
Dayton finished similarly with an eighth-place mark on the girls team side and a 10th-place finish for the boys.
Freshman Hannah Budd was one of Carson’s state qualifiers in the 800-meter run, where she took fourth in 2:23.34. Budd just missed the mark in the 1,600, taking fifth.
Kaylynn Bloomfield’s time of 49.95 in the 300-meter hurdles gave the Senator junior a third-place finish and a spot in the state meet.
Carson’s girls 4x800 relay team will also be heading to state, as the squad of Jinnie Ponczoch, Vea Miner, Brianna Rodriguez-Nunez and Budd took second in 9:55.92.
In Class 3A, Dayton will be sending several athletes to the state meet.
In the boys 100 meter dash, Daniel Newby was fourth, qualifying with a time of 11.6.
Rhys Evans took fourth in the pole vault with a clearance of 11-6, to make it to state.
For the Dust Devil girls, Molly McGrew will be heading back to the state meet for the second year in a row in the 400-meter dash.
Dayton’s 4x200 relay team, consisting of Elysia Torres, Gwyneth Binkier, Macy Lieb and McGrew, was fourth in 1:51.76 to secure a spot at state.
Rachel Ply won the high jump with a clearance of 5-0 to earn a regional title and a spot in the Class 3A state meet. Ply was also fourth in the discus with a throw of 91-3.
(Carson High’s Rachel Bush comes down into the landing zone during the triple jump at Reed this past weekend. Carter Eckl / Nevada Appeal)