HENDERSON — The Lowry High School girls track and field team turned in one of its best performances in recent memory with a fourth-place finish at the NIAA 3A State Track and Field Championships this past weekend at Foothill High School in Henderson.
The 4x400 relay of Kenadee Jeppsen, Hailey Fernandez, Hailey Hinkle and Shelby Garrison claimed the state crown with a time of 4 minutes, 10.63 seconds.
The Lady Bucks got strong legs from each of the four runners and Garrison held off Fernley’s Piper Crook in the final 30 meters to give Lowry the victory by less than a second. Dayton was a distant third with a time of 4:16.36.
Sophomore Rachel Garrison held the discus lead for a short time, but Sparks’ Senifa Po’oi came back to win with a throw of 124 feet, 8 inches. Garrison was second at 188-4, beating Cheyenne’s Ariel Washington by nine feet.
Garrison added a fifth-place finish in the shot put with a throw of 34-0. Po’oi claimed a double state title in the throwing events at 37-8.25. Sunrise Mountain’s Kapua Pulotu was second at 36-6.50.
Kenadee Jeppsen placed second in the high jump, clearing the bar at 5-0. Jeppsen came in as the defending state champion in the event. Truckee’s Heather Pendleton surpassed her at 5-2 to win the state title.
Before competing in the high jump, Jeppsen placed third in the long jump on Friday afternoon. She had a mark of 15-5.25. Churchill County’s Whitney Skabelund won with a jump of of 17-3.75 and Dayton’s Ashley was second at 35-2.75.
Junior Hailey Hinkle finished third in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 46.22. South Tahoe’s Maya Brosch broke the 3A state record by .01 seconds to win at 43.98. Brosch won four individual events on the weekend.
Hinkle was fourth in the 400 meters at 1:01.06. Brosch also won that event with a time of 57.97.
Senior Madison Montero finished fourth in the pole vault, clearing the bar at 9-0. Elko’s Marissa Richey won the state title at 11-5, while Boulder City’s Sara Stephenson (11-0) was second.
Montero also took part in the 100-meter dash and placed eighth in a time of 13.16. The eight runners were within .52 seconds of each other. The top four finishers were from the Southern 3A, Cheyenne’s Angela Hammond won with a time of 12.64.
The girls 4x200 relay of Audrey Snow, Shelby Garrison, Fernandez and Montero were third with a time of 1:47.15. The 4x100 relay of Snow, Shelby Garrison, Fernandez and Montero were fifth at 51.53.
Lowry finished with 63 points, just two points behind Virgin Valley for third. Truckee won the state championship in the final event, scoring 81 points. Cheyenne was second at 76.
On the boys side, junior Erick Lopez posted two third-place finishes in the sprinting events. Despite stumbling out of the starting blocks in the 100-meter dash, Lopez timed in at 11.12. Mojave’s Noah Thompson broke the state record to win at 10.87. Chaparral’s TyRay Collins was second at 10.99.
Lopez stopped the clock at 22.68 in the 200 meters, just .13 seconds behind Desert Pines’ Donjae’ Lyons for second. Thompson completed the sweep with a time of 22.02.
Senior Brandon Dowd was fourth in the pole vault in his final state meet at 12-0. Fernley’s Jadan Rotton won by clearing the bar at 14-1.
The 4x200 relay of Timur Krapvin, Jacob Frazier, Victor Rosas and Lopez were seventh with a time of 1:33.30. The 4x100 relay of Raymond Orzech, Frazier, Victor Rosas and Lopez were eighth at 45.18.
Lowry was eighth as a team with 40 points. Sunrise Mountain claimed the state title with 70 points. Mojave was second at 64. Pahrump Valley (59), Elko (57) and Fernley (54) rounded out the top five.
