Fourteen gold medals were awarded to the Lowry High School track and field team last Saturday when they hosted 1A-3A teams in the last meet of the regular season.
"It was a really good meet with 12 teams here — some small, some big," said LHS coach Grant Beatty. "A lot of teams like to come here because it is an efficient meet and we get it done quick. The community, the teachers, and the coaches all work together to put on a good meet, like they have for the past fifty-one years here.”
Lowry freshman Emily Backus ran to gold in the 100 meters with a time of 13.37 seconds, again in the 200 meters (27.09), and she leapt to first in the long jump with a personal record of 15 feet, 11 inches. She also finished fifth (7-0) in the pole vault.
Lowry also saw senior Rachel Garrison continue to dominate the shot put (33-5) and discus (121-9) competitions
“I got close to my PR (personal record) in the discus," Garrison said. "I didn’t do as well as I wanted to in the shot put, I threw kind of average.”
Heather Hall (114-1) had a personal-best throw to finish second in the discus and she was fifth (30-4) in the shot put.
“Heather and I compete against each other," Garrison said. "But we really just try to push each other in practice and the meets to throw better. I know that I can throw in the 130’s,” Garrison said. I have gotten some long throws out in meets, but they have always been fouls. I am hoping to throw as good as I do in practice, I think my nerves get to me sometimes at the meets, but I am getting better each track meet. I like the shot and the discus events equally, because if I am having a bad day at one I can take my anger out in the other.”
Adia Bengochea won the 800 meters (2:31.77) and Becca Kuskie (5:31.62) took the 1,600 meters title. They teamed up with Kinsey Albisu and Jovi Kuskie to win the 4x800 meter relay at 10:26.34.
MacKenzi Petersen won the high jump with a personal-best jump of 5-2 and Julianna Gonzalez was fourth (13.61) with a personal record in the 100 meters, and fourth in the 200 meters (27.75).
The boys didn’t have as much success as the girls, but they still had many gold medal efforts.
Brandon Lee (2:14.96) took the 800 meters title, Will Kracaw (4:47.97) came out on top in the 1,600 meters, and Jace Mentaberry (43.44) won the 300 meter hurdles.
Colby Terry (12-3) had a personal record with his victory in the pole vault and Anthony Peterson (20-6) leapt to a personal record to win a gold medal in the long jump.
Jeremy Walker (5:00.51) had a thrilling second place finish in the 1600 meters, and he teamed up with Kracaw, Lee, and Samuel Roth for a second place run in the 4x800 meter relay. Silver was also found by Jasper Glasgow (123-8) in the discus, Eduardo Aguilar (11-0) in the pole vault, Kevin Warren (39-6) in the triple jump.
“We are focused on qualifying for zone and state with the kids to be the most successful and put our best foot forward,” Beatty said. “Our throwers and our distance kids keep improving, so we are looking forward to what they can do now.”
The Northern 1A/2A/3A Regional Championships will be held this weekend at Churchill County High School in Fallon,
The top four finishers in each event advance to the state tournament will be held in Las Vegas on May 17-18 at Desert Oasis High School.
