Lehi Sports
Lehi-area tracksters compete at BYU Invite
Megan Wallgren | Lehi Free Press
Personal bests and state qualifying marks were the order of the day for Lehi and Skyridge High School track and field athletes at the PACS BYU Invitational May 3 and 4. More than 3,000 athletes participated at the two-day meet where 11 new state records were set.
Field events were a highlight of the Skyridge team’s performance. Senior Whit Slack placed third in the javelin with a throw of 180-feet, 7”-inches.
Other top-10 finishes for Skyridge came from junior Isaac Richards,who finished seventh in pole vault by clearing 13 feet, and sophomore Ty Baird, who finished 10th in high jump with a mark of 6-1.
The Skyridge boys 4×800 relay team ran to a fifth-place finish with a state-qualifying time of 8:03.75. Team members included seniors Devan Greene, Grant Welsh, Aaron Caldwell and Ezra Nelson.
“In what I expected to be a building year, we had an amazing meet accomplishing one of my biggest goals, lots of amazing PRs(personal records),” said Skyridge coach Ronda Hansen.
“It was so fun to watch more of our individual athletes qualify for State. We also qualified most of our relay teams at this meet, which proves an easily overlooked part of track and field, teamwork, is awesome and crucial.”
A standout performance for Lehi came from senior Liesel Ford, whobroke her own school pole vault record with a 10-6 jump. The attempt earned her an eighth-place finish and a No. 5 ranking among Utah athletes heading towards the state championships on May 16.
Other top 10 finishers for Lehi included senior Jensen Somerville,who took eighth in the shot put with a throw of 50-0.25 and junior Toby Mealer who took ninth in shot put with a throw of 49-11.
“Two-thirds of our athletes had all-time bests,” said Lehi High School coach Emily King. “The hard work that these athletes have put in is starting to show at the perfect time with championship season right around the corner.
“We have an incredibly hard-working group of kids this year; having as many PRs as we did at a high-performance meet is a testament to the mental and physical strength of all of them. The entire coaching staff is incredibly proud,” she added.
