Track Update - April 3rd

Darts & Supporters -
Although it was not the most beautiful week as far as weather goes, it was a very strong week for our TEAM. I feel like we came a long way together this week. There was a lot of confusion and there were a lot of changes in plans, but no matter what we were faced with, we responded in a positive way. The District Championships were scheduled to go on Tuesday and Wednesday. We fought hard through the wind on Tuesday - it was the worst wind I have ever witnessed at a track meet - but Wednesday's meet was moved to Thursday then to Friday because of the weather. Even on Friday it was not ideal for competing in, but the TEAM came together and was very strong throughout the Championships. When all was said and done, the girls had scored 254 points (40 more than last year, and 148 more than 2nd place Viewmont) and the boys had scored 244 points (only 9 less than our dominating performance of 2009, and 135 more than 2nd place Syracuse). The boys and girls scored a combined 498.5 points (in 2009 we scored 468 and in 2008 we scored 467.5). The best part about all of those points was that it came from so many different people - not just from a few top athletes. We scored in every single event for both the girls and the boys. I am not sure how often that has happened, but I thought it was pretty darn impressive. 32 different girls scored points for us, and 33 boys scored points for us. Most impressive of all was the attitude of most of our TEAM. I was happy to see so many people cheering for each other and congratulating each other and so many people there at the end of the meet (especially since Spring Break had already officially started). Your coaches were also excited that so many of you stepped up and did whatever we asked you to do.
Top 5 finishes on the boys side came from: 3200m - Logan Petty, Austin Neuner, Joe White; Pole Vault - Keigunn Kunz, Ethan Hunsaker, Joe White; High Jump - Alec Pectol, Conrad Daley, Dalton Facer; Discus - Mark Lindstrom, Alex Swapp; 110 Hurdles - Kyler Sprague, Dalton Facer; 100 Dash - Tanner Hinds, Troy Hinds; 1600m Run - Austin Neuner, Joe White; 400m - Ben Poulson, Ben Keaton; 300 Hurdles - Kyler Sprague, Dalton Facer; 800m - Brad Nye, Logan Petty; 200m - Troy Hinds; Long Jump - Tyson Bullock; Shot Put - Mark Lindstrom, Alex Swapp, Landon Simonsen; Javelin - Spencer Betker; and all 4 of the relay teams - 4 x 100 was 1st (Keaton, Bullock, Hinds, Hinds); 4 x 400 was first (Nye, Sprague, White, Poulson); Medley was 2nd (Gibson, Bartelson, Rees, Mathias), and 4 x 800 was 1st (Alfaro, Poulson, Nye, Arnold). Big prs by the boys 1600m runners - we now have an all-time TEAM record 22 boys under 5:00 - breaking last year's record of 21. And we have 5 or 6 more guys on the verge of going under. Sweet!
On the Girls side we had top 5 from - High Jump - Lauren Stringham, Anni Andersen; Long Jump - Sarah Oldham; Discus - Amelia Jones, Bianca Guas; Javelin - Tara Timothy, Boston Workman; 100 Hurdles - Sylvia Harrison, Addy Jones; 300 Hurdles - Sarah Oldham, Brittany Beecher, Addy Jones; 100m - Dani Figgins, Sylvia Harrison; 200m - Dani Figgins, Sylvia Harrison; 400m - Jessie Wilding, Tara Anderson, Missy Lott; 800m - Anni Andersen, Becca Albrechtsen; 1600m - Meghan Hedquist, Emily Hansen, Anni Andersen; 3200m - Meghan Hedquist, Jessie Wilding, Emily Hansen, Abby Frodsham, Tessa Brown (we swept the top 7 places in the girls 3200m - scoring 38/39 points); and all 4 relay teams: 4 x 100 took 1st (Sagers, Figgins, Lott, Harrison); Medley took 1st (Beecher, MCleod, Taylor, Ward); 4 x 800 took 1st (Ward, Wilding, Hedquist, Andersen); and 4 x 400 took 2nd (Sagers, Lott, Harrison, Anderson). Full results can be found at www.darttrack.blogspot.com

Now we look forward to the second half of the season. We have the most intense weeks still to come. We have to continue to have the TEAM mentality that it is going to take to be champions. We have to have people continue to step up and perform in every event. We are looking for more prs and more teamwork. The sacrifices you make at this point are going to pay off at the end of the season. Keep working on being mentally tough and on having a lot of fun with what we are doing.

Athletes of the Week:
Spencer Betker - #5 on the all-time list with his 165' jav throw
Ben Poulson - looking strong in the sprints and the 800 - had 2 firsts in relays and a 2nd in the open 400.
Dani Figgins - Meet MVP - stepped up big for her TEAM with 3 first places - despite being pretty sick.
Emily Hansen - two 3rd place finishes - 1600m, 3200m

Coming Up:
1. Spring Break - We will practice at 9:00 am on Mon, Tues, Weds. I sent out the schedule yesterday - once again, it is important that we don't lose all that we have worked so hard for.
2. Alta Invite - Will be on April 10th - it is in replacement of the Timpanogos Invitational that we missed today (April 3rd). We will have information at practice on Monday - I will also email out more information next week.
3. TEAM Pictures - Will be on Tuesday, April 13th - after spring break - bring your uniforms
4. Tri-meet at Viewmont - Will be on Wednesday, April 14th - a great chance to compete in any event you would like - maybe to improve your marks in your primary events and try something new (not a qualifying meet).
5. Davis Invitational - Will be on Saturday, April 17th - possibly the biggest day of the season for our TEAM. Everyone will be involved either through competing or helping. More information to come on this as well. If anyone has any last minute sponsors for me to add to the t-shirts - please let me know. I will be emailing the names in on Monday.

Alumni News:
A bunch of our alumni were in action this week at the BYU Invitational on Friday. It is nice to see so many Davis kids still at it. It must have felt like a high school track reunion:
Loren Storey, Weber - 1st place - 3000m Steeplechase (my favorite race) - 11:21.91
Talya Kussee, BYU - 13th place - 1500m - 5:12.72 - great 1st race coming back from injury.
Josh Adams, BYU - 6th place - 1500m - 3:54.07
Jace Nye, Weber - 12th place 1500m - 4:00.97
Ashlee Cannon, Utah State - 1st place 100m Hurdles - 14.07; 6th place 200m - 25.23
Kristen Billings, Weber - 5th place 100m Dash - 12.37; 5th place 200m - 25.21
Camille Lott, Weber - 10th place 100m Dash - 12.66; 8th place 200m - 25.30
Ryan Avery, Weber - 5th place 100m dash - 11.03
Clayton Wilson, unattached - 100m Dash - 12.37; 12th place long jump - 19'04.00
Candace Eddy, BYU - 3rd place 800m - 2:14.51
Devin Lang, Utah State - 14th place 800m - 1:59.36
Chris Burnett, Weber - 1st place 5000m - 15:07.86
Seth Gutzwiller, UVU - 8th place 5000m - 16:10.61
Cam Simonsen, Unattached - 5th place Long Jump - 21'10.50
Tony Hill, Utah State - 7th place shot put - 47'03.25; 8th place discus - 149'01; 9th place hammer throw - 129'10
Shannon Prince, Utah State - 5th place shot put - 44'07.50
Spencer Hall, Utah State - 5th place discus - 153'05; 6th place hammer throw - 148'03
The meet results are listed on www.runnercard.com

Thanks for your dedication and individual sacrifices to make the TEAM better...
Coach Talley