Pershing County's Khole Montes runs the 400 meters at the Don and Lynda Walton Invitational at Lowry High School on Saturday.
The Pershing County track team continues to shave seconds off their running times, while adding height to their leaps and distance to their throws.
They earn about 20 personal records (PRs) at each meet they attend.
Last Saturday’s Don and Lynda Walton Invitational at Lowry High School in Winnemucca was no exception.
The boys 4x100 relay team outran seven other teams, finishing at 46.33 seconds. Their closest competitors was Lowry (46.70).
Coach Ben Halverson notes that Luis Sanchez, Denzel Zaldivar, Izayuh McGlothin and Josiah Hunt run faster than any PCHS 4x100 relay team since 1999.
Pershing County's Izayuh McGlothin nears the finish line in the 100-meter dash.
Maybe longer. That’s as far back as Pershing’s records go and years before any of them were born.
Sanchez, Zaldivar, McGlothin and Hunt also placed first in the 4x200 (1:34.47), ahead of Lowry, Battle Mountain, Carlin and White Pine.
It was up to Ashton Jimenez, Sanchez, Zaldivar and Angelo Gibson to go for the gold in the 4x400. They finished at 3:50.44 against Battle Mountain (5:07.73).
Jimenez, Sanchez, Fitch and Gibson placed second in the 4X800 relay (9:19.42), behind Elko and ahead of Battle Mountain.
Hunt, a sophomore, is top ranked in the State in the 100 meters and second in the 200m. On Saturday he placed fourth in the 100-meter race and second in the 200 meters.
Angelo Gibson takes off from the starting blocks in the 400 meters.
Angelo Gibson ranks second in the State in the 400 meters.
He placed third in the 400 meters and fourth in the 800m race. Jorden Fitch finished third in the 1,600-meter race.
On the girls side, freshman Khloe Montes ranks third in the State in the 400 meters. She finished fourth at the Lowry meet (1:05.76).
Both of the girls relay teams placed second. Khloe Montes, Elizabeth Nava Gonzalez, Kenya Vaughan and Hayley Montes finished at 55.13 in the 4x100. Khloe Montes, Chelsea Woodard, Vaughan and Hayley Montes finished in 1:57.32 in the 4x200.
Meanwhile, Sugeily Valtierra, Ariana Garcia, and Magdalena Ramirez represented Lovelock in the shot put and discus. Woodard and Nava Gonzalez competed in the long jump.
“Our program is positioned well going into the regionals,” says Halverson. “With our throwers, Brian Kauvaka and Tyrn Sam are both in the mix in a highly competitive league. Aaron Zelaya has shown dramatic late season improvement in the high jump making him someone to watch as we move into the regionals.”
“The success of our season will depend on whether we continue to work hard and finish as strong as we started. I think we’re up to the task but we have to put our best times on the track in the next few weeks.”
On Friday, the team heads to Reed High School in Sparks for the regional trials. The regional championships are May 10-11 at Carson High School.