Region 9 track and field: Host team Pine View wins boys and girls region titles

Written by Jeff Richards
May 11, 2024
Jade Reimer of Pine View wins the 100-meter dash at the Region 9 championship meet at Pine View High School, St. George, Utah, May 9, 2024 | Photo by Jacqui Knighton, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — Host team Pine View captured first place in both the girls and boys divisions at the Region 9 track and field championships held on Wednesday and Thursday.

Athletes compete in a race during the Region 9 championship meet at Pine View High School, St. George, Utah, May 9, 2024 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News

“Region 9 is just so competitive. I believe it is the best track region in all of Utah,” Pine View head coach Dave Holt told St. George News afterward. “So, to have these amazing kids earn both region titles is really meaningful. It’s something we haven’t done at Pine View since I was on the team back in 1995.”

The Pine View girls ended up with a total of 175.5 team points, more than double the total of second-place Cedar, which finished with 92.5.

“The girls really ran away by scoring points through all the disciplines,” Holt said.

On the boys’ side, the scores were much closer, with the Panthers scoring 152 points to edge runner-up Crimson Cliffs, which finished with 145.

“After counting up the remaining points after Day 1, I wasn’t sure the boys would hold on,” Holt said. “But we kept getting enough points here and there to seal it on the last event with an exciting 4×400 win.”

Following are selected highlights from the meet, with emphasis on top-three finishes:

Girls

Pine View junior Jade Reimer won the 100-meter dash in 12.28 seconds, edging sophomore teammate Ashley Leavitt, who placed second in 12.38 and Desert Hills senior Drew Schwartz, who took third in 12.55.

Athletes compete in a relay race at the Region 9 championship track meet at Pine View High School, St. George, Utah, May 8-9, 2024 | Photo by Jacqui Knighton, St. George News

Leavitt won the 200-meter dash with a time of 25.19, with Desert Hills sophomore Emery Simister (who’d also placed fourth in the 100) taking second in 25.59. Cedar freshman Abigail Illian was third in the 200 with a time of 25.92.

Leavitt also won the long jump with a leap of 17 feet, 2.25 inches, with junior teammate Claire LeFevre taking second with a mark of 16 feet, 1 inch and senior Katie Nichols of Crimson Cliffs placing a close third at 16 feet, 0.75 inches.

“Ashley Leavitt really had a tremendous meet,” Holt noted, adding that Leavitt also helped the team to a second-place finish in the 4×100 relay.

Desert Hills junior Lucy Harris won both hurdles races. Harris took first in the 100 hurdles in a time of 14.71, with Crimson Cliffs senior Alexa Basile taking second in 15.40 and Pine View junior Toni Conrad taking third in 15.41. Harris’s winning time in the 300 hurdles was 44.00 seconds, with freshmen Brecke Boyer of Crimson Cliffs (46.66) and Kenzlie Stuart of Snow Canyon (46.73) taking a respective second and third.

The 400-meter run featured a tight finish, with Hurricane sophomore Grace Anderson taking first in 59.00, closely followed by Cedar freshman Jaylin York (59.09) and Dixie senior Ilenia DeHart (59.14).

Pine View captured three of the top five spots in the 800, with sophomore Emmalee Williams winning the event in 2:18.44. Hurricane junior Sophie Robinson placed second in 2:19.71, while Kate Jones of Pine View placed third in 2:19.75. Snow Canyon’s Maggie Crosby took third, while Pine View senior Elle Williams placed fifth.

In the 1600-meter run, it was Pine View’s Jones who took first, posting a time of 5:07.23, with teammate Emmalee Williams finishing second in 5:08.76. Cedar sophomore Samantha Heaton took third in 5:11.98, while Pine View’s Elle Williams placed fourth.

Jones and Emmalee Williams also finished the 3200-meter run in the same order, with Jones winning in 11:39.06 and Williams taking second in 11:39.22. Elle Williams was right behind her younger sister, taking third with a time of 11:40.58.

L-R: Dixie’s Ilenia DeHart, Cedar’s Jaylin York and winner Grace Anderson of Hurricane cross the finish line of the 400-meter run at the Region 9 championship meet at Pine View High School, St. George, Utah, May 9, 2024 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News

Cedar senior Kiara Hansen won the discus with a throw of 123 feet, 4 inches, while Hurricane senior Matilyn Dotson placed second with a mark of 118 feet, 1 inch. Taking third was Dixie senior Tava Lutui, whose top throw measured 110 feet, 11 inches.

Snow Canyon junior Kennedy Scott won the shot put with a mark of 39 feet, 1 inch. Cedar’s Hansen was second at 38-5.5, while Pine View junior Ulukilupetea Wright took third at 35-10.5. Hurricane’s Dotson placed fourth.

Kate Carter, a junior at Hurricane, won the javelin with a throw of 125 feet, 2 inches, with Cedar senior Ella Fielding placing second with a throw of 122 feet, 10 inches and Hurricane senior Katie Ellison placing third at 117 feet, 5 inches.

Pine View junior Tori Conrad won the high jump, clearing 5 feet 2 inches. Taking a respective second and third with marks of 5 feet even were Crimson Cliffs freshman Eden Shaffer and Crimson Cliffs senior Alexa Basile, who’d also placed second in the 100 hurdles.

Desert Hills won both the 4×100 and 4×200 relay races. The Thunder’s time of 1:41.25 in the 4×200 broke the old 4A state record of 1:42.33, set by Desert Hills in last year’s state meet. Emery Simister and anchor Drew Schwartz ran in both record-setting races; they were joined this year by Adelyn Telford and Lucy Harris.

In the other relay events, Snow Canyon won the 4×400 and Hurricane captured first in the 4×800.

Boys

Crimson Cliffs swept the top three spots in the 100-meter dash, with senior Tyler West winning in 10.54 seconds, junior Easton Lott taking second in 10.59 and junior Malakai Alofipo placing third in 10.76. West’s winning time tied the official state 4A record set by Pine View’s Marcus McKenzie in 2022.

Tyler West (center) wins the 100-meter dash with a 4A state record-tying time of 10.54 seconds, with teammate Easton Lott (left side of photo) taking second in 10.59, at the Region 9 championship meet at Pine View High School, St. George, Utah, May 9, 2024 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News

Crimson’s Lott won the 200 with a time of 21.34, with Cedar senior McKoy Smith taking second in 21.83 and Pine View sophomore Kwade Sorensen placing third in 22.45.

Snow Canyon seniors Matt Maclennan and Semaj Thompson both posted blazing times in the 110-meter hurdles, with Maclennan edging Thompson at the finish line by nine hundredths of a second, 14.00 to 14.09. Both times were faster than the previous 4A state record of 14.13.

Although Maclennan had also posted a time of 13.97 in the 110 hurdles at the BYU Invitational just five days earlier, that mark was wind-aided and does not count as an official record.

Crimson Cliffs’ Eaton (14.61) and Cedar’s Smith (14.80) placed third and fourth in the 110 hurdles at the Region 9 meet.

Meanwhile, in the 300 hurdles, Caiden Garcia-Casey, a junior at Crimson Cliffs, was the winner with a time of 39.11, with teammate Eaton taking second in 39.33. Snow Canyon sophomore Cameron Hills placed third, while Crimson senior Ty Ottenschot took fourth.

In the 400-meter run, Dixie senior Aiddin Wilson edged Cedar senior Ammon York by three hundredths of a second. Wilson’s winning time was 50.10, while runner-up York finished in 50.13. Coming in third was Desert Hills senior Hunter Clark with a time of 51.75.

Athletes compete in the shot put during the Region 9 championship meet at Pine View High School, St. George, Utah, May 9, 2024 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News

Pine View sophomore Kyle Rimmasch won the 800 with a time of 1:59.34, while Dixie junior Ethan Jepsen placed second in 2:00.37 and Crimson Cliffs senior Benjamin Behunin placed third in 2:01.13.

Pine View junior Bridger Jaggi won the 1600 with a time of 4:12.38, with Snow Canyon senior James Butterfield taking second in 4:16.40. Pine View senior Porter Calico took third in 4:24.76.

Winning the 3200 was Tucker Larsen, a junior at Desert Hills, who posted a time of 9:40.32. Coming in second was junior Jarren Ence of Hurricane, who finished in 9:44.86. Desert Hills junior Logan Boyer took third in 9:54.50.

Pine View swept the top four spots in the discus, led by senior Teancum “TJ” Jensen, whose winning throw measured 166 feet, 8 inches. Fellow senior Brodie Swensen placed second with a mark of 155 feet exactly, while senior Colton Sam Fong (153-11) and his sophomore brother Ethan Sam Fong (140-5) finished third and fourth, respectively.

The Panthers dominated the shot put in similar fashion, with Jensen and Colton Sam Fong tying for first place with identical marks of 55 feet, 10.5 inches. Ethan Sam Fong placed third with 49 feet, 11 inches.

Snow Canyon junior Joseph Smith won the javelin with a top throw of 174 feet, 3 inches. Coming in second was senior Cael Carter of Hurricane, who threw 158 feet, 7 inches. Pine View’s Swensen, who’d also placed fifth in the shot put, took third in javelin with a mark of exactly 155 feet.

L-R: Matt Maclennan of Snow Canyon edges teammate Semaj Thompson at the finish line of the 110-meter hurdles. Both Maclennan (14.00) and Thompson (14.09) eclipsed the former 4A state record of 14.13. Pine View High School, St. George, Utah, May 9, 2024 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News

Austin Eaton of Crimson Cliffs won the long jump with a top mark of 23 feet, 7.5 inches, with Cyrus Polu, a junior at Desert Hills, taking second with a jump measuring 22 feet, 3.5 inches. Snow Canyon’s Thompson and Maclennan place third and fourth, respectively, seemingly finishing as close to one another as they did in the 110 hurdles (21-8.5 for Thompson vs. 21-8.25 for Maclennan).

Crimson Cliffs teammates Kaden Lister and Eli Connelly placed first and second in the high jump, both clearing 6 feet, 4 inches. Coming in third was Cedar junior Nathan Briggs, who cleared 6 feet, 2 inches.

In relay events, Crimson Cliffs won the 4×100, Cedar won the 4×200 and Pine View won both the 4×400 and the 4×800.

Next up for the athletes will be the Utah High School Activities Association’s state championship meet for all classifications (1A through 6A), which is scheduled to take place at Brigham Young University in Provo on May 16-18. To see complete schedules, click here.

“State will be exciting,” Holt said, adding that Snow Canyon’s boys are a projected favorite, with Crimson Cliffs not far behind, based on the Mustangs’ strength in hurdles and sprints.

“In the 4A girls, it looks to be a four- or five-team race that might be too close to call right now,” Holt added.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2024, 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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