Lehi Sports
Lehi, Skyridge track teams hitting stride at midseason
Megan Wallgren / Lehi Free Press
Track and field athletes from Lehi and Skyridge pushed to improve their standings and hit state qualifying marks at the Caveman Classic Invitational on April 17 at American Fork High School.
The Pioneer team was runner-up all around with Lehi finishing second in both the Varsity Boys and Varsity Girls standings and second in the Varsity combined standings as well. There were 18 programs competing at the meet.
The Falcons placed seventh in the boys division, sixth in the girls standings, and fourth in the Varsity Combined competition.
District rivals Lone Peak won the Varsity Boys competition and American Fork won the Varsity Girls competition. The defending state champion Cavemen also took the Varsity Combined title.
Lehi athletes put in several podium-topping performances both on the track and in the field events for a balanced team performance.
Leading the way for the Pioneers was senior Carson Howard, earning team points in multiple events. Carson took first in the 300-meter Hurdle race, crossing in 41.28 seconds.
He placed third in the 110-meter hurdles in 14.95 seconds, a personal best and state-qualifying time. He also added field-event points by tying for sixth in the high jump at 5-feet-9-inches.
Another standout performance came from Lehi senior Gracie Tait, who scored in multiple girls events. Tait won the gold medal in the Girls Javelin competition with a state-qualifying throw of 199-4 feet.
She also took fourth in the 100m Dash, crossing in a personal-best 12.37 seconds. She finished fifth in the 400m race in 1:00.25, another personal record.
In the girls distance events, Lehi sophomore Laney Martin captured the 3200-meter gold in 11:25.09, a personal best. Junior Remy McAdams claimed silver in the 1600m in 5:14.84.
Lehi junior Preslie Clover contributed points in the throwing events, finishing second in girls discus at 99-10 feet, a personal record, and third in the girls shot put at 31-7.75 feet.
Pioneer senior Ryan Hemingway added a silver medal in the long jump with a state-qualifying mark of 21-2.5 feet.
Lehi’s relay teams also delivered strong finishes. The Girls 4×800 relay team garnered the gold medal by finishing in 10:05.76. The Pioneer squad included junior Remy McAdams, sophomores Laney Martin and Maggie Peterson, and senior Alyssa Shaw.
The boys 4×200 relay team earned silver in 1:28.65, a state-qualifying effort. Running were seniors Carter Cutler, Ryan Hemingway and Matthew Heap plus junior Cameron Wren.
Skyridge’s freshman phenom Abbegale Mehr produced one of the top individual performances of the meet. She won the Girls 400 Meters with a state-qualifying time of 57.63 seconds and got bronze in the 200m Dash, crossing in 26.47 seconds, a personal record.
Mehr also contributed points as a member of the Girls 4×400 relay team, which earned gold in their event with a time of 4:07.08. Rounding out the relay team were freshman Madeline Birkeland, junior Eva Lewis and senior Clara Madsen.
Falcon senior Ty Baird also contributed in multiple events. Baird topped the podium in the High Jump with a state-qualifying clearance of 6-5 feet. He took eighth place in the 200m, crossing the line in 22.87 seconds.
In the field, senior Abigail Dotson also scored in two events, claiming the silver medal in the high jump with a personal record and state-qualifying jump of 5-3 feet. She added a seventh-place finish in the long jump at 16-0.5 feet.
A strong performance also came from senior Briggs Parker, who captured silver in the Boys 200m with a personal best and state-qualifying time of 21.44 seconds.
In the distance events, senior Ian Greene finished second in the 1600m with a time of 4:23.12. He was followed closely by junior teammate Jack Grossen, earning the bronze in 4:24.37.
Finishing the meet on a high note was the Falcon Girls Pole Vault crew, which took four of the top 10 spots. Senior Emily Lewis tied for the bronze, clearing 10-3 feet and punching her ticket to the state meet. Her teammates senior Ashley Rollins, junior Ava Richards and senior Callen Leininger, finished fifth, sixth and seventh respectively, all clearing a height of 8-9.0 feet.
Both teams now head into the end-of-season stretch, preparing for the Region 3 meet and the mid-May state championships.
Photos by Sam Penrod.
