Corona’s track and field teams competed in several meets in March with athletes from both the boys and girls team attempting to improve their times in the running events and heights or distances in the field events to qualify for the state meet in May.
Some of the athletes who emerged during this month as potential qualifiers in the track events for the boys team included seniors Adam Knuff, Lincoln Johnson, Dylan Waterhouse and Miles Allen; juniors Joel Wadsworth, Casey Barmore and Keb Summers; and sophomores Zachary Johnson, Tyson McLain and Dominic Arellano.
In the Elite division of 78th Nike Chandler Rotary Track Meet held on March 24 at Chandler High School, sophomore Tyson McLain was the top finisher for the Aztecs taking sixth place in the high jump finals with a leap of 6-02.00 while senior Adam Knuff placed ninth in the 100-meter dash and 13th in the 200 meters.
Junior Joel Wadsworth came in 11th in the 800-meter run in the Elite Division.
In the Seeded Division at the Nike Chandler Rotary Meet, Summers was the top finisher for the Corona boys team setting a personal record jump of 21-01.00 to take third place in the long jump and another personal record of 41-02.00 in the triple jump to take sixth place.
Allen placed 11th in the triple jump event.
At the 13th Annual Basha Co-Ed Relays, for instance, Knuff crossed the finish line in first place in the 100 meters and Barmore finished in eighth place.
At the same event, Wadsworth was seventh in the 800 meters while his teammate Waterhouse finished right behind him in eighth place.
Zachary Johnson finished third in the 1600 meters while his brother Lincoln Johnson was sixth and Allen was sixth in the 110m hurdles.
Barmore and Knuff were part of the 4×100 relay team, with Jean Boyd and Jack Farley, that cross the finish line in first place at the Basha Co-Ed relays and Wadsworth and Waterhouse were part of the 4×800 relay team, along with Benjamin Miller and Ramond Mendoza-Lopez who also finished first.
In the field events, Summers finished fifth in the long jump event and ninth in the triple jump while McLain was sixth in the high jump.
At the 15th Annual Hohokam Invitational held April 13, Lincoln Johnson, competing against runners from 37 high schools, finished fifth in the 3200 meters while Wadsworth was seventh in the 1600 meters.
Zachary Johnson came in 12th in the 1600 meters and Arellano was 12th in the 3200 meters while Tyson McLain was seventh in the high jump.
Corona’s relay teams ran well with the 4×400 relay team of Barmore, Joshua Holt, Boyd and David Keeney finishing in fourth place and the 4×100 team of Barmore, Boyd, Landon McFall and Holt finishing sixth out of 37 teams.
Standout athletes for the girls team include seniors Riley Wright, Kelsy Lum, Josephina Wright and Amber Burrell; juniors Meg Horvath, Lauryn White and Jolynn Fleming; sophomores Anisa McLain, Emily Rugg, Suzie Marshall and Olivia Nesky; and freshman Audrey Weidner and Kayla Cortez.
“Our girls team is doing a fantastic job training and competing this season,” said head coach Brian Crane. “We are really pleased with the season so far and the girls are doing better than expected.”
In the Elite division of 78th Nike Chandler Rotary Track Meet, Josephina Wright pole vaulted 12-00.00 to take third place.
In the Seeded Division field events, the top individual was Fleming who placed sixth in the pole vault event.
In the track events, Horvath and Riley Wright and Lum were the top finishers. Wright crossed the finish line in 13th place in the 1600 meters while Horvath was 14th in the 100 meters.
“Kelsy Lum is one of our most accomplished runners,” said Crane. “She’s been a leader all season as one of the top senior girls on the team.”
“Meg Horvath and Riley Wright are doing great as well,” said Crane.
In the field events, junior White competed for Corona in the high jump, long jump and triple jump events with her best finish an 18th place in the high jump.
At the Basha Co-Ed Relays, Lum was second and Nesky was seventh in the 100m hurdles, Horwath was fourth and Anisa McLain was seventh in the 100 meters while Riley Wright fifth and Weidner was ninth in the 800 meters.
In the field events, Josephina Wright took first place in the pole vault while Fleming was sixth. White set a personal record in the high jump of 5-00.00 to take first place while Cortez was third in the same event.
Burrell competed in the shot put and discus for Corona taking seventh and ninth place respectively. Marshall placed sixth in the triple jump and Lum was seventh in the long jump while Nesky took ninth place in the javelin, a new addition to the field events this season.
At the 15th Annual Hohokam Invitational, Burrell was the top finisher for Corona’s girls team setting a personal record of 112-09 in the discus to take fifth place. Fleming placed ninth in the pole vault with a personal record vault of 9-06.00.
Riley Wright also set a personal record with a 5:24.76 time in the 1600 meters to take eighth place competing against athletes from 37 high schools.
“As the season progresses, our athletes have been setting personal records every meet,” said Crane. “We have a lot to look forward to in these last few weeks. The state meet will definitely be fun.”
The track and field athletes from Corona have two last chances to qualify for the state track meet when they compete at the Tempe City Meet April 17 and 19 at Desert Vista and at the Desert Vista Last Chance Meet, April 25.
Corona is scheduled to participate at the Arizona Multis State Championships April 27-28 and at the AIA Division I Championships May 2-5 at Mesa Community College.
Marcos de Niza Track and Field
At the 39th Sun Angel Track Classic on April 5-6 in Tempe, Marcos senior Carlan Naisant was the top finisher for the Padres with a first-place finish in the javelin event and personal record in the shot put of 49-08.5 to take fourth place. Naisant also participated in the discus event.
Junior Orion Hunter jumped 12-03.00 to take eighth place in the pole vault event.
Junior Maureen Juarez competed in the 3200 meters while senior Alohna Taylor ran the 300m hurdles for the Marcos de Niza girls team.
At the 15th Annual Hohokam Invitational, Naisant again took first place in the javelin throw and fourth place in the shot put competing against athletes from 37 high school, many of them Division I schools.
Melahni Washington placed tenth in the high jump for the girls team from Marcos.
The Padres will be competing at the Tempe City Meet April 17-19 at Desert Vista and at the Desert Vista Last Chance Meet April 25 in the hopes of qualifying more athletes for the AIA Division II Championships scheduled May 2-5 at Mesa Community College.
Tempe Track and Field
Tempe High School had several athletes from the girls team compete at the 39th Sun Angel Track Classic including senior Danyella Miranda who has been burning up the track in the 3200 meters her entire high school career.
Miranda set a personal record of 11:52.47 to finish in seventh place in a race with athletes from 36 other schools.
Junior Kenya Coburn, though, was the top finisher for the girls team with a fifth-place finish in the 100 meters setting a personal record time of 12.51.
Coburn placed sixth in the long jump event with a leap of 16-07.25.
Tempe’s 4×100 relay team of Jada Ruff, Coburn, Zaniya Mays and Alisha Crockett took fourth place out of 31 teams.
Other athletes who competed for the Tempe girls team included senior Keanah Bailey in the shot put, junior Crockett in the high jump, sophomore Mays in the triple jump and sophomore Maria Gore in the 300m hurdles.
At the 15th Annual Hohokam Invitational, Tempe’s girls 4×800 relay team of Karely Flores Garcia, Jasmine Neal, Miranda and Symantha Ramos came in 9th, Coburn was 14th in the 100m hurdles and Crockett was 19th in the 200 meters.
The Buffaloes boys team top finisher at the 39th Sun Angel Track Classic was junior Emmanuel Gore who finished fifth in the 110m hurdles followed by senior Cameron Peters who placed sixth in the triple jump with a personal record jump of 41-11.25. Peters also placed 11th in the long jump event.
Senior Stevie Maddox placed 12th in the 300m hurdles with a personal record of 42.03. Gore competed in the same event placing 34th.
Junior Joshua Dean competed for the Buffaloes in the shot put finishing 22nd with personal record of 41-09.00 as did junior Jacques Brown who competed in the triple jump taking 22nd place.
At the 15th Annual Hohokam Invitational, the top finisher was Omari Rogers who finished in fifth place in the triple jump while Maddox was ninth in the 300m hurdles.
The Buffaloes 4×100 relay team of Leo Bond, Rogers, Peters and Everard Taylor placed eighth out of 37 teams.
Tempe will be competing at the Tempe City Meet April 17-19 at Desert Vista and at the Desert Vista Last Chance Meet April 25 in the hopes of qualifying more athletes for the AIA Division II Championships scheduled May 2-5 at Mesa Community College.
McClintock Track and Field
The McClintock boys 4×400 and 4×100 relay teams had a great outing at the 39th Sun Angel Track Classic.
The 4×400 team of Stacey Boyd, Adam Torregrossa, Jack White and Jonathan Warner placed first in the high school division against 33 other high school teams while the 4×100 relay team of Boyd, Jeremy Huckaby, Sergio Medina and White crossed the finish line in second place.
The top individual finisher was senior Boyd who finished third in the 200 meters with a time of 21.99 while senior Torren Baker was next with a fourth place in the 800 meters where he set a personal record time of 1:59.41.
Junior William Roberts jumped 20-07.75 in the long jump field event to take sixth place and junior White crossed the finish line in eighth place in the 200 meters.
Sophomore Bryce Tate set a personal record of 39-00.00 in the triple jump while junior Tristin King competed in the shot put event.
At the 15th Annual Hohokam Invitational, King was the top finishers for the Chargers where he set a personal record with a javelin throw of 154-04 for third place.
White also set a personal record running the 400 meters in 50.61 to take fifth place. Boyd was eighth in the same race.
Freshman Selema Ortiz continues to impress in the 800 meters setting another personal record time of 2:20.85 to cross the finish line in second place for McClintock’s girls team at the 39th Sun Angel Track Classic.
The Chargers 4×400 girls relay team of Navaria Ortiz, Amelie Land, Kennedy Nichols and Selema Ortiz also had a good day with a fourth place finish out of 31 teams.
Another freshman with lots of potential is Rachel Early who set a personal record time of 5:23.29 to take 12th place in the 1600 meters.
Other members of McClintock’s girls team who competed at the 39th Sun Angel Track Classic included freshman Ella Zeiders in the 3200 meters, freshman Anje Hamilton in the long jump and junior Areana Hamilton in the high jump.
At the 15th Annual Hohokam Invitational, the 4×800 relay team of Early, Land, Mariska Bogaard and Selema Ortiz crossed the finish line in third place out of 37 teams while the 4×100 relay team of Ileen Echols, Nichols, Navaria Ortiz and Land finished in fifth place.
Early set a personal record time of 12:10.72 in the 3200 meters to take seventh place and Land was 14th in the 400 meters.
McClintock will be competing at the Tempe City Meet April 17-19 and at the Desert Vista Last Chance Meet April 25 in the hopes of qualifying more athletes for the AIA Division II Championships scheduled May 2-5 at Mesa Community College.
