The Battle Mountain High School girls track and field team earned a second-place finish with 125.50 points at Division III North Regional Championships this past Friday and Saturday in Yerington. It was the best girls finish since 2007.
The Boys team placed third, behind Yerington and Pershing County, with 115.50.
“The girls had a great team effort over the two days and the boys were led by the senior crew who earned 66.50 of the 115.50 team points,” said BMHS coach Stephanie Potter.
Senior Regan Knight had an amazing day in the triple jump, beating out teammates Andrew Cox and Blake Dorian as well as cousin and event favorite Marcus Nester from Pershing County to become the Longhorns regional champion. He had a winning leap of 40 feet, 10 inches and winning by .25 of an inch. The jump was a career best by two feet. Knight placed fifth in the discus at 111-3 and was on the fifth-place 4x100 relay.
“Regan just keep improving and gaining more confidence with each jump,” Potter said.
Senior DJ Potter had a career-best toss in the shot put of 439.75 to earn a silver medal in the event. In addition, he earned a qualifying spot in the discus with a fourth-place throw of 12112.
“We will see if he can defend his state shot put title from last year and well as medaling in the discus,” said the coach.
Freshman Liliana Chavez collected a silver medal in the triple jump with a career-best leap of 29-6.50, improving by 1.50 feet. She was third in the Long Jump with another career-best mark of 14-1. She also was on the fourth-place 4x100 relay and the fifth-pace 4x200 relay.
“It was great to see Liliana put all her steps together and perform so well at her first regional meet,” Potter said.
The girls 4x800 relay of Lizzi Sadler, Sammi Wilson, Skotti Torrence and Alexa Goddard earned a silver medal with a time of 13:12.42.
“They will need to beat one team at state next weekend to earn a medal,” Potter said.
Senior Blake Dorian captured medals and qualified for state in all four of his events to lead the Longhorns as the lone boy to medal in all four of his events. He placed third in the long jump with a season-best leap of 19-1.75, which was a .25 inch behind second and 1.25 inches behind the winning jump.
“It was one of the closest events this past weekend and we will see if he can break that 20-foot barrier,” Potter said.
In addition, Dorian was third in the triple jump with a distance of 40’2”. Blake was also third in the 100-meter dash with a prelim time of 11.91 seconds and a final time of 11.79. Dorian finished the meet finishing fourth in the 200 meters with season-best times in both his prelims (23.99) and finals (23.89).
Senior Lauren Avedician qualified in both the throwing events by earning bronze in the shot put with a career-best toss of 26-5.50 and third in the discus at 85-6.
“It was great to see her gain some confidence this weekend and throw well in both events,” added the coach.
Senior Sarah Mills qualified for the state meet in the 100-meter hurdles with a third-place time of 21.91. She also tied for sixth place with teammate Alexa Goddard in the High Jump at 4-2. Mills finished the day running the 400 meters in a career-best time of 1:17.43 for 12th place.
Wilson, a junior, earned a bronze in the triple jump with a career best leap of 28-10. She also ran in the second-place 4x800 relay, the fourth-place 4x100 relay, and the fifth-place 4x400 relay.
“Sammi has been battling an injury most of the season, so to qualify in the triple with only jumping at one other meet this season was impressive with her determination and hard work,” Potter said.
Sophomore Hania Amezcua notched a career-best mark in the pole vault at 5-9 to place third. She also had a career-best leap in the long jump of 12.00.25 for a foot improvement and a sixth-place finish.
Sophomore Cameron 9-6 in the pole vault for a career-best mark to qualify for state in the third spot. He ran a career-best time of 47.35 in the 300-meter hurdles to finish fourth.
“Cameron will have a chance to medal at state with two more career bests this weekend,” Potter said.
Freshman Cheyenne Brock led the Lady Longhorns this past weekend by qualifying in all four of her events. She tied her career best in the high jump with a height of 4-4 to place third. She finished in the third spot in the 300-meter hurdles with a career-best time of 60.37. Brock had another career best in the Long Jump with a leap of 13-0.75 to finish fourth. She finished her weekend by running in the third-place 4x400 relay. The coach added it was exciting to see her hard work pay off this weekend with her effort during the season.
The girls 4x400 relay of Torrence, Ripley, Goddard and Brock earned bronze with a season-best time of 5:23.27. The boys 4x400 relay of David Chavez, Fabian Castenada, DeAndre Powell and Daimean Diaz ran a season-best time of 3:55.47 to place third.
Senior Andrew Cox had a busy weekend and placed fourth in three of his four events. He had a career-best time of 53.05 in the 400 meters. Cox also had a season-best mark in the triple jump with a leap of 39-6.50. He tied for fourth place in the high jump with a height of 5-8. Cox finished the day earning eighth in the 200 meters with a prelim time of 24.39 and finals of 24.40.
“Andrew is the only four-year state qualifier and we are hoping to add to his fourth-place state medal from last year in the triple jump,” Potter said.
Junior Justine Jury tied for fourth-place in the high jump with a leap of 4-2. She was also 10th in the 100 meters with a time of 15.36 and finished the day running in the fourth-place 4x100 relay.
Torrence was fourth in the pole vault at 5-6’ to tie a career best. She also ran a career best in the 800 with a time of 3:15.84 for 13th place. Torrence finished the meet running in the second-place 4x800 relay and the third-place 4x400 relay.
Castenada had a career best mark of 9-0 in the pole vault to improve by a foot and earn the fourth spot. He also ran in the third-place 4x400 relay and the fifth-place 4x800 relay.
Sophomore Esma Cheno had a career day in the shot put with a fourth-place medal and improving by a foot with a distance of 25-11.25. She also made finals in the discus and finished eighth with a throw of 67-4. “Esma is less than a foot away from medaling at state this next weekend with another good day, “Potter said.
The girls 4x100 Relay of LaRae Tomera, Jury and Wilson and Liliana Chavez ran a season-best time of 57.40 to qualify in the fourth spot
Senior Alec Liebhardt just missed qualifying in the long jump with a career-best leap of 18-11 for fifth place. In addition, he placed eighth in the 100 meters with a prelim time of 12.54 and finals of 12.39. Sadler saved her best day of the year for this past weekend. She had a career best in the 1,600 at 7:38.95, improving by 21 seconds, for fifth place. She had another career best (by 15 seconds) in the 800 meters of 3:13.83 for 12th place. She also was part of the second-place 4x800 relay.
“This is the best I have seen Lizzi run in her career and will see what she can do to help the relay this weekend,” said the coach.
Junior Samantha Broadway made finals in both of the throwing events. She placed in fifth in the shot put with a throw of 25-7.25 to earn a career best by 1.5 feet. She was seventh in the discus at 68-0 and a time of 16.78 in the 100 meters. Sophomore Eddie Morfin improved his career best by a foot in the shot put at 39-5.75 for fifth place. He was 11th in the discus with a throw of 93-6.
Freshman Tristin Cordingley placed fifth in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 22.83 after losing his shoe partway through the race. He also finished ninth in the 300-meter hurdles at 55.44.
The girls 4x200 relay of Tomera, Wilson, Ripley, and Liliana Chavez ran close to a season-best time of 2:03.84 for fifth-place. The boys 4x100 relay of Liebhardt, Knight, David Chavez and Austin Wilkins ran a time of 49.38 to finish fifth. The boys 4x800 relay of Saul Miramontes, Castenada, Powell and Diaz ran a time of 9:40.30 to also finish fifth.
Junior Jackie Martin had a career-best throw of over 10 feet in the discus to place sixth with a distance of 72-0. Sophomore Kandise Baird placed sixth in the 1,600 meters with a career-best time of 7:45.36, improving by 20 seconds. She finished eighth in the long jump with a career-best mark of 11-1.75. She finished the meet earning her third career best in the 800 meters at 3:23.15 to improve by 14 seconds. The coach noted It was great to see Baird finish her season with three career bests.
Goddard tied for sixth in the High Jump at 4’2” with teammate Mills. She had another career best in the 800 meters in a time of 3:13.42 for 11th place. She finished the meet running in the second-place 4x800 relay and the third-place 4x400 relay.
Wilkins placed sixth in the 100 meters with a 12.37 prelim time and a 12.21 final time. He ran 25.15 in the 200 meters for a career best of 12th. He ended the meet running in the fifth-place 4x100 relay.
“Austin gained some valuable experience as most sprinters in the 100 and 200 are graduating seniors,”Potter said.
Freshman Ryan Manning recorded a sixth-place finish in the pole vault at 7-0. He had a career-best time in the 1,600 meters at 6:41.54 to improve by nine seconds and place 16th. He finished the meet running the 800 meters in 3:02.14 to finish 14th. The coach added that Manning worked hard this season and gained some valuable experience for next year.
Tomera qualified for the finals in the 100 meters for the third year in a row and finished in eight place by running a season-best in the prelims of 14.63 and 14.76 in the finals. She was also part of the fourth-place 4x100 relay and the fifth-place 4x200 relay.
In other performances, Daniel Tovar had throws of 96-3 in the discus and 30-3.25 in the shot put. David Chavez and Hailey Goodman had times of 24.81 and 35.63 in the 200 meters. Saul Miramontes had a time of 2:53.86 in the 800 meters and Ripley ran the 400 at 71.91.
Jasmine Lopez had a toss of 20-1 in the shot put and Schelbe Hall had time of 16.36 in the 100 meters and 34.47 in the 200 meters.
Battle Mountain travels to Carson City this weekend for the NIAA State Championships. Action begins on Friday at 3 p.m.
