LAS VEGAS — Riding the momentum of one of its most successful seasons in recent memory, the McDermitt High School boys track and field team made its way down to Las Vegas and Desert Oasis High School this past weekend for the NIAA State Championships.
“We had a pretty good year,” said MHS coach Richard Egan. “It was quite surprising for myself, the kids and other coaches. Other coaches spoke highly of us and I told the kids not to drop their heads if they had a bad day. We had a successful season. We came a long way from not even having a team last year.”
Junior Jagger Hinkey turned the best finish for the Bulldogs, placing third in the shot put with a toss of 40 feet, 11 inches. Eureka’s Tristan Birchim won the event with a throw of 42-8.25 and Tonopah’s Max Swanson was second at 42-2.
Hinkey placed eighth in the discus with a throw of 97 feet. Birchim completed the throwing sweep, winning with a toss of 130 feet.
Hinkey set a personal best in his third event, the triple jump, placing fourth with a leap of 37-10.25. Spring Mountain’s Zakari Tucker won the event with a leap of 41-7, barely beating out Mineral County’s Robert McFalls, who had a jump of 41-6.75.
Fellow junior Ben Draunidalo placed fourth in the 100-meter dash and 200 meters. Draunidalo stopped the clock at 11.67 seconds in the 100 meters. The top five finishers in the 100 meters were separated by .29 seconds. Brandon Scobee of Tonoaph won the race at 11.40, while Green Valley Christian’s Christian Nelson was second at 11.53.
Draunidalo set a personal best in the 200 meters with a time of 23.72. Nelson won the 200 meters at 23.12, as the top four spots were decided by .60 seconds.
The 4x100 relay of Draunidalo, Hinkey, Robert Pope and Alex Navarro were fifth in a time of 48.29. Spring Mountain took home the state title with a time of 46.58.
Navarro, a freshmen, placed fifth in the 800 meters with a time of 2:15.87. Beatty’s Jose Grandos won the race with a time of 2:00.62.
McDermitt finished eighth in the team standings with 30 points. Spring Mountain ran away with the team title with 170 points and Sierra Lutheran was second at 98.5.
“We had a lot of personal records and broke some school records this year,” Egan said. “We have a lot to be proud of. We have a lot to look forward to next year. We will be back next year.”
