The Battle Mountain track and field team traveled to Elko on April 11 to compete at the Kiwanis Invitational. The Longhorns had 14 career-bests and four-season bests.
The boys ended up in sixth place with 36 points and the girls earned nine points for eighth place.
“Due to spring break, only about half of the team was able to compete,” said BMHS coach Stephanie Potter. “But, those that made the meet gave their best efforts in a meet that had the worst weather conditions we have seen so far this season.”
Marco Vallejo was the lone medalist for the Longhorns, earning a bronze in the shot put with a career-best throw of 39 feet, 11.5 inches. The throw is just a .25 inch off the top throw in the Division III North this season. He earned fifth-place honors in the discus with a toss of 106-11.50. Vallejo is currently in the Top 10 in the state for both the shot put and discus.
The junior finished the day running the anchor leg in the eighth-place boys 4x100 relay.
Andrew Cox helped lead the Longhorns by placing in all four of his individual events. His best finish was in the high jump, where he has been consistent all season at 5-4, where he earned fourth-place honors. Cox finished fifth in the triple jump at 35-2.50 and had a career-best time in the 400 meters at 54.72 to place sixth and he was sixth in the long jump at 16-10. “Andrew’s hard work and leadership is paying off on the weekends,” Potter said.
Ren Avedician had a strong day in the throwing events to lead the Lady Longhorns. She had a career-best throw in the discus at 82-0.50 to finish fifth. She added another career best toss in the shot put of 23-10.50.
Justin Berumen continues to improve in the hurdles, with a sixth-place finish in the 110-meter hurdles with a career-best time of 20.72 seconds. He also ran the 100 meters in 13.24, and the 200 in 27.72.
The girls 4x100 relay of Wayne Piramide, LaRae Tomera, Justine Jury and Alexa Goddard ran a season-best time of 60.00 to place sixth. The girls 4x200 relay of Tomera, Jury, Hania Amezcua and Goddard ran a season-best time of 2:12 to place seventh.
DJ Potter continues to be solid in the throwing events with three eighth-place performances. He had a career best toss in the shot put with a heave of 36-6. He next threw the discus at 103-9 and finished the day by having the fastest split in the boys 4x100 relay. Potter is currently third in the Division III North in both throwing events.
Ryan Bettany continues to work hard in the hurdles and placed eighth with a time of 23.09 in the 110-meter hurdles. He also had a career-best time of 68.08 in the 400 meters and he ran the 200 meters at 29.17. He closed out the day, running in the eighth-place place 4x800 relay.
DeAndre Powell was solid in the high jump, clearing 5-0 to finish eighth. He also had a career-best time of 26.60 in the 200 meters. In his final event, Powell jumped 15-0.75 in the long jump.
The boys 4x100 relay of Noah Burkhart, Potter, Vallejo and Mason Chopp finished eighth with a time of time of 54.76. The boys 4x200 relay of Berumen, Victor Garcia, Alex Ruelas and Ryan Bettany earned an eighth-place at 1:56.27.
In other performances: Caitlin Book ran the 400 meters in 80.00 and had a mark of 11-8 in the long jump, while Burkhart had throws of 29-11.25 in the shot put and 59-2 in the discus.
Piramide ran the 100 meters in a time of 15.50 to go with marks of 12-8 in the long jump and 28-11 in the triple jump and Olivia Price ran a career-best in the 400 meters at 73.37 to go with a leap of 12-7.50 in the long jump, also a career-best.
Victor Garcia ran 14.40 in the 100 meters, 2:51 in the 800 meters and a mark of 13-9 in the long jump, while Alex Ruelas set career-bests in the 100 meters (14.52), 200 meters (29.97) and long jump (14-3).
Jury had a time of 15.61 in the 100 meters and a mark of 10-6.50 in the long jump, Sammi Wilson had leaps of 12-5.50 in the long jump and 26-5 in the triple and Amezcua had a time of 16.25 in the 100 meters and a leap of 10-6.50 in the long jump.
Chopp had a career-best toss of 100-3 in the discus to go with a throw of 28-3.50 in the shot put and Morfin had throws of 27-9 in the shot put and 90-7.5 in the discus.
The Longhorns were back in action last Friday in Wells and travel to Ely for a meet at White Pine High School on Friday.