High school track and field: Hurricane Invitational attracts 600 athletes from 21 schools

Written by Jeff Richards
April 7, 2024
Crimson Cliffs athletes captured the top six spots in the boys 110-meter hurdles at the Hurricane Invitational, Hurricane, Utah, April 5-6, 2024 | Photo by Jacqui Knighton, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — More than 600 athletes from 21 high schools took part in the Hurricane Pizza Hut Invitational track meet Friday and Saturday at Hurricane High School.

Athletes compete at the Hurricane Invitational track meet, Hurricane, Utah, April 5-6, 2024 | Photo by Jacqui Knighton, St. George News

All seven Region 9 high schools participated, along with a number of other schools from Southern Utah and other parts of the state.

Crimson Cliffs won the boys meet with a team score of 130 points. Pine View placed second with 105.5, while Desert Hills took third with 100.

In the girls meet, Desert Hills captured first place with 109 points, with host team Hurricane taking second with 98 and third-place Cedar scoring 85. See list at bottom of story for the rest of the top 10 team scores.

Following are selected highlights from the two-day meet, with emphasis on top finishes by Southern Utah athletes:

Girls

Junior Lucy Harris of Desert Hills won three individual events at the meet. Harris won the 100-meter dash in a time of 12.69 seconds, as well as the 200-meter dash in 26.28 seconds. Harris also placed first in the 100 hurdles with a time of 14.79, with Alexa Basile of Crimson Cliffs placing second in the 100 hurdles with a time of 15.29.

Taking second in the 100-meter dash was Pine View sophomore Ashley Leavitt with 12.85, while freshman Macey Woolley of Crimson Cliffs placed third in 12.93.

Freshman Abigail Illian of Cedar placed third in the 200 with a time of 26.64.

Athletes compete at the Hurricane Invitational track meet, Hurricane, Utah, April 5-6, 2024 | Photo by Jacqui Knighton, St. George News

In the 300 hurdles, Dixie senior Ilenia DeHart took third with a time of 47.08.

In the 400-meter run, Grace Anderson of Hurricane placed second with a time of 1:01.68, which was 2.4 seconds behind winner Trey Torgerson of North Sevier. Freshman Jaylin York of Cedar placed fourth in the 400 with a time of 1:02.54.

Region 9 athletes swept the top five spots in the girls 800-meter run, which was won by Hurricane junior Sophie Robinson with a time of 2:27.90. The next four placers, in order, were Mckenzie Jepson of Crimson Cliffs, Brooklyn Knighton of Dixie, Maggie Crosby of Snow Canyon and Skyla Finlinson of Crimson Cliffs.

Desert Hills junior Oliva Lay won the 1,600-meter run in a time of 5:24.07. Joining her in the top six were Thunder teammates Talia Skinner and Kylee McKinlay, who placed fourth and sixth, respectively. Lay also won the 3,200-meter run in 11:35.40, with Skinner placing second and Cedar’s Samantha Heaton taking third.

In field events, Hurricane senior Matilyn Dotson won the discus with a throw of 110 feet, 11.5 inches, a little more than three feet farther than senior Kiara Hansen of Cedar’s top mark of 107 feet, 8.25 inches. Aivalyn Moore of Dixie placed third with a throw of 95 feet, 0.5 inches.

Cedar’s Kiara Hansen won the shot put with a top mark of 36 feet, 6 inches. Lexi Hermandson of Desert Hills placed second in that same event, while Hurricane’s Matilyn Dotson took third.

Kate Carter of Hurricane won the javelin with a throw measuring 121 feet, 4 inches, while Cedar’s Ella Feilding placed second and Hurricane’s Hannah Prete took third.

Ashley Leavitt of Pine View won the long jump with a leap of 16 feet, 7.5 inches, beating North Sevier’s Trey Torgerson by 1.25 inches. Josie Carter of Enterprise placed third at 16 feet, 3 inches.

Trey Torgerson’s twin sister Cale, who had placed second in the 200-meter dash for North Sevier, won the high jump by clearing 5 feet, 4 inches. The twins are the younger sisters of former Cedar High School standout athlete Mayci Torgerson Taylor.

The girls relay events saw different winners, with Desert Hills, Crimson Cliffs, Cedar and Hurricane each winning one of the relay races.

Boys

Corner Canyon High in Draper dominated the boys 100-meter dash, with four of the top five finishers. The only exception was Crimson Cliffs junior Malakai Alofipo, who placed second with a time of 11.12.

Athletes compete at the Hurricane Invitational track meet, Hurricane, Utah, April 5-6, 2024 | Photo by Jacqui Knighton, St. George News

In the 200, Desert Hills junior Kyler Helt placed third in 23.51 (behind two sprinters from Corner Canyon), while Cedar’s Rueben Vinson and Desert Hills’ Cyrus Polu took fourth and fifth, respectively.

All eight finalists in the boys 400-meter run were from Region 9, led by Dixie junior Ethan Jepsen, who finished in 51.63. Snow Canyon sophomore Benjamin Judd took second in 51.94 and Hunter Clark of Desert Hills placed third.

In the 800-meter run, Chase Hansen of Desert Hills won with a time of 2:00.41, just ahead of a pair of Pine View sophomores, Carter Rimmasch and Jake Saari, who finished in second and third with respective times of 2:00.51 and 2:00.99.

Desert Hills captured three of the top five spots in the 1600-meter run, led by winner Logan Boyer, who finished in 4:30.37. Chase Hansen finished second, while Pine View’s Talmage Wright took third.

In the 3,200-meter run, Jarren Ence of Hurricane was the winner, posting a time of 9:45.55. Walker Brinkerhoff and George Watkins, both of Desert Hills, placed a respective second and third in that event.

Crimson Cliffs dominated the 110-meter hurdles, capturing the top six spots in that event. Winner Kaden Haight crossed the finish line in 14.71, just one-hundredth of a second ahead of fellow senior Austin Eaton’s 14.72. Ty Ottenschot placed third in 15.67.

Additionally, Eaton won the 300 hurdles in a time of 39.87, while Ottenschot placed third in 41.33.

In field events, Pine View placed four of the top five finishers in the discus, led by sophomore Ethan Sam Fong, whose top mark was 132 feet, 3 inches. Runner-up Brodie Swensen threw 129 feet, 4 inches, while Hurricane senior Garrett Trump placed third.

Ethan Sam Fong also won the shot put. His winning toss of 46 feet, 8 inches went two inches farther than runner Kingson Bailey of Dixie’s. Cael Carter of Hurricane placed third in the shot, while Pine View’s Brodie Swensen took fourth.

Austin Crosby of Snow Canyon won the javelin with a top throw measuring 168 feet, 5 inches. Coming in second place was Hurricane senior Kellan Pledger, who threw 164 feet, 4 inches.

Athletes compete at the Hurricane Invitational track meet, Hurricane, Utah, April 5-6, 2024 | Photo by Jacqui Knighton, St. George News

Austin Eaton of Crimson Cliffs also won the long jump, with his winning mark of 23 feet, 6.25 inches landing more than two feet ahead of runner-up Matthew Davison of Dixie’s 21 feet, 0.25 inches.

Crimson Cliffs had the top three finishers in the high jump, with winner Kayden Lister clearing 6 feet, 2 inches, runner-up Eli Connely clearing 6 feet, 0 inches and third-place Ty Ottenschot clearing 5 feet, 10 inches. Teammate Austin Eaton placed fifth, also clearing 5-10.

In relay events, Crimson Cliffs won the 4×200 in 1:36.31, while Snow Canyon won the 4×800 in 8:50.70.

The next major track and field event hosted by a Region 9 school will be the Crimson Invitational at Crimson Cliffs High next Saturday, April 13.

Hurricane Pizza Hut Invitational

April 5-6, 2024

Top 10 girls team scores

  1. Desert Hills , 109
  2. Hurricane, 98
  3. Cedar, 85
  4. Crimson Cliffs, 74
  5. North Sevier, 71
  6. (tie) Dixie, 35
  7. (tie) Rich, 35
  8. Pine View, 34
  9. Millard, 33
  10. Snow Canyon, 19

Top 10 boys team scores

  1. Crimson Cliffs, 130
  2. Pine View, 105.5
  3. Desert Hills, 100
  4. Corner Canyon, 68
  5. Hurricane, 58
  6. Dixie, 39.5
  7. Cedar, 35
  8. Snow Canyon, 31
  9. North Sevier, 24
  10. Millard, 20

Photo Gallery

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. Jeff and his family enjoy swimming, camping, sightseeing, reading, and taking pictures.

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

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