High school track and field: Snow Canyon boys, Pine View girls win Region 10 titles

Written by Jeff Richards
May 12, 2023
Athletes compete in the Region 10 track and field championships at Dixie High School, St. George, Utah, May 10-11, 2023 | Photo by Jacqui Knighton, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — The Snow Canyon boys and the Pine View girls were the winners of the Region 10 track and field championship meet staged at Dixie High School on Wednesday and Thursday.

Athletes compete in the Region 10 track and field championships at Dixie High School, St. George, Utah, May 10-11, 2023 | Photo by Jacqui Knighton, St. George News

The Snow Canyon Warriors were the runaway winners of the boys meet, accumulating 197.5 team points to runner-up Cedar’s 112. Top point-earners for the Warriors included javelin thrower Bo Hickman; distance runners James Butterfield, Kaleb Graff and Aiden Gulbranson; hurdlers Trevor Gough, Semaj Thompson and Mac Maclennan; sprinters Will Warner and Kolter Stuart; plus high jumpers Nyken Bott, Matthew Leavitt, Oliver Larsen and Owen McKay. The Warriors also won both the 4×400 and 4×100 relays and took second in the 4×200.

“I’m really happy for the athletes that solidified a spot at state,” Snow Canyon head coach Justin Redfearn said afterward. “Grateful to several athletes who made sacrifices so that their teammates could qualify.”

Last year, Snow Canyon won its first-ever state title in boys track, which came one year after the Warrior girls took the 2021 state 4A championship.

Meanwhile, the Pine View girls captured their first region title in more than 20 years, according to head coach David Holt.

Athletes compete in the Region 10 track and field championships at Dixie High School, St. George, Utah, May 10-11, 2023 | Photo by Jacqui Knighton, St. George News

Among the highlights for Pine View were the Panthers taking the top four spots in the 1600-meter run, with Adri Baker winning the race in 5:17.74, followed closely by teammates Brooklyn Hill, Kate Jones and Emmalee Williams. 

“Our distance girls set the tone on Day 1, getting four of top six spots in the 3200 and then one-upping themselves to go 1-4 in the 1600 to start Day 2,” Holt said, adding, “Then, they put icing on the cake with three of the top five spots in the 800.”

Other top performers for Pine View included distance runners, Katie Finch, Elle Williams and Tori Conrad; sprinter Jade Reimer; shot putter Tea Wright; and hurdler and high jumper Tori Conrad.

Samiyah Jones of Crimson Cliffs and other hurdlers compete in the Region 10 track and field championships at Dixie High School, St. George, Utah, May 10-11, 2023 | Photo by Jacqui Knighton, St. George News

Conrad, a sophomore, won the high jump by clearing 5 feet, 6 inches, which was a full six inches higher than the second-place athlete; the mark set a new region meet record. Conrad also took fourth in the 300 hurdles and fifth in the 100 hurdles.

“Our region is definitely the top track and field region in all classifications in Utah and it makes for very good competition,” Holt said. “If you do well throughout the year and at region, you are setting yourself up for a good state meet.”

Agreed Redfearn: “Region 10 athletes are amazing, and state is going to be fun to watch as they all compete. It’s such an honor to be in this region with so many amazing coaches.”

Although some Region 10 schools kept a few of their top athletes out of the region meet in order to get more people qualified for state, there were still plenty of stellar performances, including the following:

Boys

Sprinter Caidan Cooper of Dixie competes in the Region 10 track and field championships at Dixie High School, St. George, Utah, May 10-11, 2023 | Photo by Jacqui Knighton, St. George News

Dixie senior Caidan Cooper won both the 100- and 200-meter dashes, setting personal bests in both events. Cooper’s 100 time was 10.65 seconds and his 200 time was 21.95 seconds. 

Hurricane junior Owen Iloa won the high jump by clearing 6 feet, 6 inches. Taking second was Snow Canyon’s Nyken Bott, who cleared 6 feet, 2 inches. Hurricane senior Seth Armstrong won the 3,200-meter run, breaking the 10-minute barrier with a time of 9:59.36.

Austin Eaton of Crimson Cliffs won the long jump with a leap of 21 feet, 3.5 inches, with Snow Canyon’s Robinson Christensen taking second with a mark of 20 feet, 5.5 inches. Eaton also placed second in the 110 hurdles and fourth in the 300 hurdles.

Snow Canyon’s first-place medalists at the meet included Trevor Gough, who won both the 110 hurdles in 14.62 and the 300 hurdles in 37.86; Bo Hickman, who won the javelin with a throw of 192 feet, 1 inch; James Butterfield, who won the 800 in 1:59.05; and Aiden Gulbranson, who won the 1,600 in a time of 4:27.58.

Cedar senior Dallan DeMille won the discus with a throw of 142 feet, 3 inches. DeMille also won the shot put with a throw of 49 feet, 7.5 inches. His teammate Trent Durbin placed second in both events.

Also from Cedar, junior Ammon York won the 400 in a time of 50.51, with senior teammate Tel Hirschi placing second in that same race with a time of 51.66.

Girls

Top three finishers in the girls discus (L-R): second-place finisher Mattie Dotson of Hurricane, winner Quincy Esplin of Cedar, and third-place finisher Kiara Hansen of Cedar, Region 10 track and field championships at Dixie High School, St. George, Utah, May 10-11, 2023 | Photo courtesy of Lindsay Esplin, St. George News

Cedar’s Quincy Esplin won the discus with a top throw of 129 feet, 0.5 inches. She also placed third in the shot put and sixth in the javelin. Cedar’s Kiara Hansen won the shot put with a mark of 36 feet, 7 inches. Hansen also took third in the discus.

Hurricane’s Kate Carter won the javelin with a top mark of 110 feet, 6 inches.

Crimson Cliffs senior Samiyah Jones won the 100 hurdles in 14.91 seconds, edging her two teammates Briley Campbell and Alexa Basile, who placed second and third in the same race with respective times of 14.96 and 15.62.

Snow Canyon junior Lilly Wittwer won the 300 hurdles in a time of 45.633 seconds, edging Cedar sophomore Leah Albrecht (14.638) by .005 of a second. Wittwer also placed sixth in the 100 hurdles. Fellow Snow Canyon junior Aspen Kenworthy won the 3200-meter run with a time of 11:38.14. 

Snow Canyon’s Amelia Nadauld, a freshman, won the 400 with a time of 58.38 seconds and also won the long jump with a mark of 16 feet, 0.75 inches. Jones won the 100-meter dash in a time of 12.34 seconds, with Drew Schwartz (12.42) and Kooper Dennison (12.56), both of Desert Hills, took second and third in that event. Dennison was the winner of the 200-meter dash in 25.69, with Jones taking second in 25.74.

Also from Desert Hills, senior Addison Pettingill won the 800 with a time of 2:20.26.

To see full meet results on runnercard.com, click here.

Next up for all the athletes will be the Utah High School Activities Association’s state meet for all classifications 1A-6A, which is scheduled for May 19-20 at Brigham Young University in Provo.

Region 10 track and field championships

Dixie High School, May 10-11, 2023

Boys team results

  1. Snow Canyon, 197.5.
  2. Cedar, 112.
  3. Crimson Cliffs, 89.
  4. Hurricane, 68.5.
  5. Desert Hills. 56.
  6. Pine View, 55.
  7. Dixie, 46.

Girls team results

  1. Pine View, 138.
  2. Cedar, 115.
  3. Crimson Cliffs, 110.
  4. Snow Canyon, 102.
  5. Desert Hills, 93.
  6. Hurricane, 51.
  7. Dixie, 18.

Photo Gallery


Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2023, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jeff Richards, a native of Salt Lake City with family roots in Panguitch, lived in Moab for 20 years before joining St. George News in 2017. Jeff is a longtime journalist and secondary school teacher. He and his wife Penny are the parents of five daughters. They also have three young grandsons and one granddaughter. Jeff and his family enjoy swimming, camping, sightseeing, reading, and taking pictures.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @stgnews@moabjeff@stgnewssports

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