Distance @ Taylorsville and Riverton & Herriman Duel
This week started off well with our JV team against Herriman. The JV girls 1600 race started off really well with around ten girls setting personal bests. I was especially impressed with Brooklyn Gee-she ran a very controlled, intelligent race, setting a personal best in the mile by 20+ seconds. Brooklyn surprised me with how well she ran. It is always a good day as a coach when that happens. Brooke Austin also ran a huge personal record. Brooke has been so consistent since she starting and it has shown. Brooke's first mile of the season was an 8:25; she ran over a minute faster in this race with a time of 7:21!
The next race was the Boys 1600. This race did not disappoint. We had fourteen new personal bests and six new athletes who went under 5:00, making a total of eighteen boys that have gone under 5:00. That is the most in school history!!! There were a lot of very impressive races, but I want to highlight a few. Trevor Maxfield has been a great addition to the team and has far exceeded my expectations. He has been a great leader and example to the young athletes. At the start of the year, he said he wanted to run under a 4:51 in the mile. I wasn't sure that was going to be possible for him, but he has definitely made me a believer. The second person I want to highlight is Brock Hodges. Brock ran a great race. He ran very competitive and smart and hit a 30 second Personal best. I have been very impressed with his attitude and dedication since he has joined the team.
The highlight race of the day for me was Nancy Wang's 3200. It was her first time running it and the way things shook out, she was the only girl from Riverton vs 20 Herriman girls. It was a very exciting race. Nancy was smart and tucked in behind the leaders and stayed mentally tough and competitive throughout the whole race. With about 800m to go, she took over the lead and never relinquished it, running a great first 3200 with a time of 13:07.
Later that week was our varsity invite at Taylorsville High School. It was a very windy meet, but a lot of our athletes still set personal bests and both our boys and girls finished with some hardware. Girls finished 2nd out of 22 teams and the Boys were overall champions, edging out rival Herriman by only one point.
The girls 800 was extremely exciting. In almost every heat our girls were in the front. Rachel Rigby ran a really aggressive race, opening up a huge gap in the first 200m and only extended that lead. She ran a 2:40 and set a new personal best. The next heat Nancy Wang stayed with the pack until about 500m to go and put on a huge surge, opening up a ten meter gap in about thirty meters. Nancy ran a ten second personal best and ran a spectacular time of 2:34. Not far behind, finishing 2nd and 3rd in the heat were fellow teammates Holly Haymore and Kara Johansen. In the fast heat of the 800 Katie Christopherson ran an incredible race, taking 2nd overall and setting a new personal best of 2:23, even with the wind.
Jonny Roy had a great day on the boys side, setting a personal best by four seconds in the 1600 with a time of 4:36 with pretty brutal wind. Jonny took 3rd place overall. Jonny also anchored our medley team to a state qualifying mark and helped the team become 4th all-time in the medley.
Sam Jacobson won the girls 3200 with ease, leading about 3000m of the 3200m race. She ran a great time with the wind and all by herself the whole race.
The Boys 3200 was a very exciting race. Braden Robbins and Ty Davis finished 2nd and 4th respectively. Braden went out very aggressive with the leaders and ran a personal best time of 10:04. Ty Davis ran a great paced race and closed fast to run an amazing time for a freshman of 10:14, making him currently the second fastest freshman in the state in the 3200.
