Track Update - State Championships

Darts -
It is difficult to sum up all that happened over the 2 days of the state meet. There were a lot of ups and downs, moments of excitement, moments of disappointment, and moments of intensity. All together it was an experience our TEAM will never forget. A year ago we finished with a first for the boys and a second for the girls with a lot of seniors on both sides. We knew it would take an incredible amount of hard work and TEAM work for us to put ourselves in the position to go after the state titles again. After months of dedication, we came away with two 2nd place trophies - they are a sign of our commitment to being our very best. As I look at the points we earned for both the girls and the boys, every point came with sacrifice, sweat, tears, time, work, and passion. There was not a point we didn't deserve. The TEAM fought hard from the first event to the very last, and as coaches we are extremely proud of our kids and what they were able to accomplish at the state championships and through the season as a whole.
The boys championship began with a solid performance from our milers. Because of a deep field in the distance races, we weren't ranked to get many points, but Austin Neuner led the way and finished in 6th points to give us a good start. What an outstanding year it has been for our milers - with 27 boys going under 5:00 (a TEAM record). We then had our work cut out for us in the trials on the track. Our hurdlers, who have set the tone for us all year long, all qualified for the finals. Kyler, Dalton, and Alec each ran near their season bests to get 3 of the 9 finals spots. Troy ran solid in the 100m - he just missed finals, but finished as the top sophomore in the meet. Our 4 x 100 team of Ben Keaton, Tyson Bullock, Tanner Hinds, and Troy Hinds looked great as they got the job done, running our best time of the year in the trials and got us into the finals. I figured out the secret Tanner's speed. He sat down next to me during the pole vault (2 hours before his 4 x 100) and finished off a foot-long bratwurst. We also looked good in the 400m - Ben Poulson ran a season best 49.50 in the trials and made it into finals. Ben Keaton just missed, but has been a work horse for us all year in the 400, and would still be much needed in all 3 relays. The 300 hurdles was next, and both Kyler and Dalton made it through to the finals. It gave Coach West a perfect 9 out of 9 qualifying for the finals in the hurdles for the boys and the girls. Our medley team looked great running the fastest qualifying time of the day. It was nice to have CJ and Brandon step in and help us conserve some energy for the other sprinters - they definitely got their jobs done. Troy narrowly missed finals in the 200m, but was once again one of the top sophomores from any division. And we ended the day on the track with the 4 x 400. Our guys looked great and put us into finals ranked 2nd. On the two field event finals with our boys, we picked up 6.5 points on Friday. Gabe made some great clearances to finish up tied for 5th (if you were wondering how we got a 1/2 point, it was from Gabe's 3.5). Ethan just about made 13'00, and Keigunn also looked strong nearly clearing 13'00. He was also smart to take a shot at 13'06 when the official gave him the chance - even though it was a mistake on the part of the official - I like how Keigunn was living in the moment and enjoying the competition. I also liked how Coach Agnello was getting into it - demonstrating the jumps on the fence, throwing his hat on the ground, and pumping up the vaulters. I wish we had taken some video of Jeff. The high jumpers also picked up 3 needed points. Conrad and Alec tied for 7th with jumps of 6'02. Marcus was one of the only freshman to qualify for any events in the 5A division.
The second day began with the 3200m. Although Austin and Logan didn't quite get what we hoped, they stuck around and did everything they could to keep their TEAM fired up. 9:48 was a pr for Austin. While Logan and Austin were running the 3200, Tyson was wrapping up the long jump. It has been fun to watch Tyson improve all season long. He has a way of getting himself ready for the big meets - the state meet was no different. He finished with 4 jumps over 21'00, with a best of 21'06.50 on his last attempt which moved him from 4th to 3rd. Kyler, Dalton, and Alec scored 10 big points in the 110 hurdles - Kyler and Alec both with prs. But at that point we found ourselves a little down to Riverton. We were setting prs, and giving our all, but things really seemed to be going well for Riverton. I like how we kept our intensity and we kept our composure even when we were getting a little down. The 4 x 100m team really fired us up with their 3rd place finish. There time of 43.39 was our best all season long by half a second. That 1/2 a second moved us from 7th to 3rd, and more importantly got our TEAM going - it put us right back in the meet. Tanner's 2nd breakfast of bratwurst had him flying around the final turn, and then troy passed 3 teams in the final 50m to hold on for the 3rd. I loved the excitement our TEAM showed as they watched the 4 x 100 finish. After the relay, we got a sweet performance from Ben in the 400m. He ran an outstanding pr of 49.12 to finish 3rd. He took his pr down from 50.19 just during the 2 state races. The 49.12 is Davis's 3rd fastest all time, and the fastest by a Dart since 1997. The best part of it was that it was hard work paying off when it counted. At the same time, Landon Simonsen was throwing the shot put. He was not ranked in the top 9 going into the meet, but just snuck into finals with the 9th best throw in the trials. He took advantage of the opportunity to pr by over a foot, throwing his best mark of 47'11. It makes Landon the 5th returning thrower in the state. His 8th place finish picked up 1 point which we later saw would prove to be important. Kyler and Dalton once again came out with energy and strength in the 300 hurdles, they picked up another 12 points, and both ran lifetime bests (what more can you ask for?) Kyler's 38.69 was just .06 off of the win. He gave all he had and should be satisfied with a great high school hurdling career. He has been a stud for us all 3 years, and is going to tear it up in college. It was the Davis #8 all-time mark. We showed toughness once again in the 800m. Ben came back from his 400m to finish 3rd in the 800 as well. He nearly caught Costley at the line - it was so close we even asked for a review of the image. Ben's 800 time was 1:55.38 - his 2nd Davis #3 mark of the day. It was quite an impressive meet for Ben. Brad Nye came back after a rough 1600 on Friday, and he stuck himself right in the 800 race from start to finish. He also ran a pr of 1:57.34 and picked us up some valuable points with his 7th place finish. The medley grabbed us 8 more points. All legs did their job - Ben and Troy in the 200s, Tyson in the 400, and Joe White in the 800 (1:58 split). We also got a much needed lift from Spencer Betker as he threw 167'06 on his 2nd to last throw in the javelin to move from 7th to 3rd. It is the #5 all-time mark at Davis. At this point we had fought our way back into the hunt for the title. After the 200m dash, we were down to Riverton by 5.5 points with only the 4 x 400 to go. Our boys knew what they had to do, and it is a lot of pressure to get the win when you are worn out from 2 long days of racing and being in the sun. Ben, Kyler, Brad, and Ben went and ran one of the most courageous races I have seen. They gave their very best for their TEAM. It was awesome to watch them each fight through their legs of the relay knowing they had to do everything they could, and then watching Ben dig deep and hold off the compeition at the line to pick up the win was incredible. The Riverton athletes also stepped up to finish 3rd - knowing they needed at top 4 finish to get us. Our time of 3:21.81 was our best 4 x 400 relay in 10 years, and the 4th fastest in school history. It was hard to celebrate a phenomenal race because they knew the TEAM title had just slipped away by 1.5 points, but the boys had fought as hard as they could, and they walked away with their heads held high.
I am satisfied with the 2nd place because I felt like every point was earned. I saw a lot of character from our kids. I felt like we gave our all as a TEAM right through to the end. We make look at it for some time and think "if only . . . " There were some cases where the shortest distance or the smallest fraction of a second would have changed the outcome, but the effort was there, and we have to realize that we gave our all. It is difficult to swallow, especially in a year of 2nds for Davis High, but it is a 2nd place that I will always be proud of. It was a fun meet, it was an intense meet, and I think we learned a lot and grew a lot as a TEAM. Plus, we are going to be back next year fighting with all that we have to bring the championship back to the Darts.
All 2010 results can be found at www.runnercard.com.
Updated performance lists and all-time lists will be posted at www.darttrack.blogspot.com
We will also post links to the state videos once they are uploaded

Coach West was wrote up a great girls' state summary:

Wow, what a state meet! Every single year I end up loving state for the way it brings our TEAM together, the performances it brings out in the kids, and for the wonderful memories that are made. This State Meet was no exception to the rule! I am so proud of the girls for their hard-work, their will to compete and give it their all, and last, to do all they could for their TEAM. Going into the meet I knew that Riverton girls on paper would win by over 50 points. I didn't want to tell the girls this because I didn't want them to be discouraged. So I told them it would be tough to beat Riverton and that we just needed to stay focused on what we could do. Friday morning began with Jessica Wilding, Meghan Hedquist, and Abby Frodsham in the mile. All of them started off strong in the race and were very optimistic about what they could do. As the race got to the last lap Jessie was leading, then on the back stretch Hannah from Syracuse tried to pull in the lead. Then I saw something that was one of my favorite moments of the whole meet. Jessie's look on her face was like, ?this is mine and I am going to get it" Jessie then picked it up a gear and passed Hannah on the back stretch. The last 100 meters it was a sprint for the finish with an American Fork runner right on Jessie?s tail. Jessie crossed the line with an outdoor PR of 5:10.98 and a State Championship title. Meghan and Abby both ran with all they had and ended up 13th and 17th. It was a great start to a great day. Next up were the 100 meter hurdles. Sylvia Harrison and Addie Jones, who are both sophomores, ended up making it to finals. We then had the 100 dash with Sylvia and Dani Figgins. Sylvia was able to get qualified through to the next day, and I was proud of Dani for doing all she could for her TEAM after battling sickness for the last 1-2 months. Things were starting to really go well for us. Next up was the 4x100 TEAM of Kayla Sagars, Dani Figgins, Missy Lott, and Sylvia Harrison. This event always makes me and Parish really nervous - not because we are worried about our girls, but because anything can happen in this race to any school. Our girls ended up running great, they ran the fastest time they had run all year 49.15 and ended up qualifying through 2nd. Our next event up was the 300m Hurdles, with Sarah Oldham and Brittany Beecher. Both of these girls have worked so hard all year and neither one of them was picked to do very well, in fact the highest either one was picked to get was 8th. Well, both of them ran huge PR?s Sarah 46.40 and Brittany 46.97, which qualified them through at 4th and 7th. The day could not get better, and then it did. Right after that Tara Timothy had thrown in Javelin trials and qualified through to finals. It is always fun to watch Javelin because it is right in front of where we sit. Tara had thrown a 109, and all throwers were up for their last throws. One of the Riverton throwers got up and threw a 111?03 which put her in 2nd and bumped Tara to 3rd. Well Tara got up and threw her last throw and landed a 112?05 to earn her 2nd place. She just kept the momentum of the day rolling. Next up on the track was the Medley. Our TEAM of Kayla Sagars, Missy Lott, Tara Anderson, and Becca Albrechtsen ran a great race. They ran the fastest time we have run all year, 4:16.36 and qualified through 1st. They all looked so strong and confident. Sylvia Harrison was then up again in the 200 meter dash in which she qualified through in her 4th event. The last even for us was the 4x400, our TEAM of Kayla Sagars, Tara Anderson, Madi Holt, and Missy Lott did a fantastic job getting us qualified through and ended up once again running the fastest time we had run all year 4:01.99. We ended the first day doing so much better then anyone had thought. That night I counted up points and instead of being 55 points behind Riverton we were only 30; we had closed the gap by almost 25points! I was so excited and proud of the girls already.
Saturday morning started with the 3200, Jessie Wilding, Meghan Hedquist, and Emily Hansen were up. They all ran strong races, Emily who was sick ended up running a season PR of 11:43.50 and taking 11th, Meghan ran 11:36.85 and ended up 7th. And then Jessie brought in another State Championship title winning the event with the time of 11:20.24, which is 5th all time list. What another great start to the day. After that we had the 100 hurdles, Sylvia Harrison ended up 4th, and Addie Jones 9th. Then Sylvia had the 100 dash, she ran a very good race and ended up 3rd with the time of 12.32. Our 4x100 then had the misfortune of a dropped baton. Kayla came out and did exactly what Parish and I have been asking ? she drove out of her blocks like crazy ? and ended up accidently hitting the baton on her leg and it fell to the ground. Kayla then did something that made me more proud of her then if she would have run the fastest split of her life, she picked the baton up and kept running. Kayla ran faster than I have ever seen her run. I was then hoping the rest of the TEAM would do the same. Dani, Missy, and Sylvia all gave it their best and we still ended up 7th even with a dropped baton. I think these are one of those great learning moments of track and field. We all have times we mess up or things don?t go quite as planned. But we can?t change what happened we can only choose how we will handle it. I couldn?t be more proud of the way these girls handed it. I then hoped the rest of the TEAM would stay focused and keep doing what they could do. It was then back to the field events with Boston Workman and Amelia Jones in the Discus. Boston had a good last throw of 97 which ended up just barley not making finals, and Amelia ended up making it to finals. Amelia was not happy with her performance but ended up 8th with a throw of 99?07.25. I am proud of her for being such a leader and example of hard work ? not just at State but all year long. So a few things had not gone as well as hoped but the girls stayed positive and focused on what they could do. Next up was the 300m Hurdles. Sarah ended up with another huge PR, 45.57 which puts her 5th on the All Time List and Brittany ended up 9th. The 800 was one event I will never forget, it was such a battle for every single runner who ran it. Jessie went out with a strong lead, but after winning two tough events was not able to hold it. She ended up 6th with another great time just short of her season PR. Anna Ward and Anni Anderson had huge PR?s and came in 7th 2:20.81 and 8th 2:21.36. I was so proud of these girls, they have also worked so hard all season long. The medley was up next and our same TEAM ran. They again ran an incredible race of 4:16.79 and ended up just short of 1st. Sylvia ran her last race of the two days. I was so proud ofher for all she had done for her TEAM, not just competing in 4 events both daysand placing in all. But, Sylvia was out cheering on all her TEAMmates even though she should have been resting and getting off of her legs. Sylvia ended up placing 4th in the 200 with a time of 25:81. It was then time for our last event and these girls that have been consistent and constant for us once again came out and competed. All year Kayla Sagars, Missy Lott, and Tara Anderson have been our ?relay gals? They have done so much and earned their TEAM so many points throughout the year. Our TEAM for the finals was Kayla Sagars, Missy Lott, Jessie Wilding, and Tara Anderson. All of them had run multiple events and done an amazing job at all. It was the perfect way to end our season and the State Meet. They truly ran their hearts out, and ended up 3rd both on the all time list and in the state with a time of 3:59.74. As a TEAM we ended up taking 2nd and it is a 2nd we can be proud of. Not many TEAM?s are ever a consistent competitor year after year. And it is because of the work ethic and drive of these young girls that we are year after year competing for the top 2 spots. All in all this will be a State Championship I remember for the girls that were a part of it. I was so proud of all they have done all season, especially the seniors, who have put in so much sweat, heart, and tears into what they love. Thank you girls and to all the parents who support them and us. And a big thanks to Coach Agnello, Hayward, Richardsen, Anderson, Armstorng, and Petty for all the time they give to the girls and how much they care for them. And last but not least Coach Talley ? who is kinda the Co-Head Girls Coach. He does so much for the program and is so willing to give whatever it takes for the girls. He is a hero to the whole TEAM!


I want to echo Coach Wests congratulations to all of the TEAM for their great season and for their solid state championship performances. We will be in the hunt for the title every year because we have great kids to work with. It shows our program is solid because we are always fighting for the 1st place finish. Thanks to all of the parents and the coaches who sacrificed time and energy to help us out this season. Thanks to all of the kids who gave of themselves to make our program great. It has been an honor and a privelege to work with the athletes and coaches we have. It will be a season I will always remember.

- Coach Talley


Coming up:
Monday - Uniform Turn-in. If you miss Monday, we want them on Tuesday. Please don't make us put in fines at the office. If we don't get the uniform, the fine will be $40.
Tuesday - Time Trials and Hurdle Shuttle Relay - the teams will be posted in the hall tomorrow. If you would like to get a mark in any event that we can use for this year's performance list, we will be out on the track after school on Tuesday.
Thursday/Friday - Tentative Decathlon - depending on the amount of interest shown.
Wednesday, May 26 - TEAM barbecue and banquet. Everyone is invited. We will have burgers and hot dogs and a short awards banquet. (Changed from Tuesday because of scholarship night).

Tuesday, June 1 - Cross Country TEAM meeting - anyone interested should meet in Coach Talley's room (2512) at 3:00pm on the 1st of June.