Twenty-five Battle Mountain High School tracksters traveled to Spring Creek on Saturday, March 12, to compete in the first track meet of the season.
The team earned 25 career-bests. The Lady Longhorns ended the day in sixth place with 23 points and the boys had 22 points for seventh-place honors.
Senior DJ Potter earned half (11) of the team’s 22 points to lead the Longhorns. Potter earned a third-place finish in the shot put with a toss of 40 feet, 2 inches. He also placed fourth in the discus with a throw of 115-11.
“DJ is working hard to defend his state title in the shot put and also return to state in the discus, where he was a fourth-place medalist last season,” said BMHS coach Stephanie Potter.
Freshman Cheyenne Brock was the surprise of the day. After being cut from the softball team, Brock earned a fourth-place finish in the high jump after clearing the bar at 4-4. She also was the lead-off runner in the fifth-place 4x800 relay. In addition, she had jump of 10-8 and a time of 1:21.60 in the 400 meters.
“She comes to practice and works hard every day, and we are excited to see what Cheyenne can do this season,” said the coach.
The girls 4x400 relay of Sophomores Paige Ripley and Hailey Goodman along with Alexa Goddard and Skotti Torrence were fourth with a time of 5:33.
Sophomore DeAndre Powell had a strong start to the year with a mark of 5-4 in the high jump to place fifth. He also earned eighth-place honors in the long jump with a leap of 16-0. Powell started the day running in the sixth-place 4x800 relay to help the Longhorns.
“DeAndre was a zone finalists in the jumps last season and was a state qualifier in the relays so he is working hard on improving on those results from last year,” Potter said.
Sophomore Alexa Goddard started the season with a fifth-place finish in the high jump, as she cleared 4-4. She also ran in the fourth-place 4x400 relay and the fifth-place 4x800 relay.
“Alexa was a state qualifier for the relays last season, and with her experience she will help our relays hopefully get back to the state meet this year,” added the coach.
The girls 4x800 relay of Brock, Ripley, Goddard and Maddie Wahrenburg were fifth with a time of 13:23. The boys 4x800 relay of Tristin Cordingley, Fabian Castaneda, Powell and Cameron Thompson were sixth at 10:29.
Senior Alec Liebhardt shined in his first track and field meet, placing seventh in the triple jump at 32-1. He had a mark of 15-3 in the long jump and finished the day running 61.0 in the 400 meters.
“Alec comes to practice with a great attitude,” potter said. “He has been a great addition to the team. We will try him at a variety of events the next few weeks to see which events are the best fit for his talents.”
Junior Justine Jury was seventh in the high jump with a career-best mark of 4-2. She also ran in the 4x100 relay. Jury was a state-qualifier in the relays last season and will help lead the relays this season.
Freshman Nestor Miramontes surprised the coaches with an eighth-place finish in the triple jump with a leap of 30-5. He also had a career-best mark in the long jump with distance of 14-7.
“Nestor has a great competitive spirit and is willing to try various events at practice so we are excited to see what he can do this season,” Potter said.
In other performances, Lauren Avedician had a throw of 22-11 in the shot put and 70-11, while Cooper Burkhart had tosses of 33-1 in the hot and 84-10 in the discus. Daniel Tovar had a throw of 81-5 in the discus and 31-3 in the shot put and Shylo Burkhart 26-2 (shot put) and 56-3 discus. Esma Cheno had a throw of 70-3 in the discus and 19-011 in the shot put and Cassie Eusebio threw the shot put 18-8 and the discus 34-8.
LaRae Tomera ran the 100-meter dash in 14.97, Fabian Castaneda had a time of 60.0 in the 400 meters and Austin Wilkins had times of 12.65 (100 meters) and 27.65 (200 meters).
Torrence had a time of 82.35 in the 400 meters, Dakota Chadwick ran the 100 meters at 13.18 and the 200 meters at 27.90 and Maddie Wahrenburg had a time of 35.15 in the 200 meters. Tristen Cordingley finished the 400 meters with a time of 68 and Ryan Manning stopped the clock at 3:21 in the 800 meters and 7:49 in the 1,600 meters.
The Longhorns were in Elko this past Saturday and results were not available at press time.
