Great Southwest

This weekend 6 of our athletes were invited to compete for team Utah at the 44th Annual Great Southwest Track and Field Classic in Albuquerque, New Mexico at the University of New Mexico. This is a very prestigious meet that Coach Taylor, Gary, & Jared competed at when they were in high school. The kids competed against some of the best Track and Field athletes in the nation and saw some record breaking performances.

Sadie Adams (SR) Heptathlon day 1:

Sadie Competed in her first ever Heptathlon (7 events) on Thursday & Friday. She found out she was invited with less than 2 weeks before the meet but she committed to giving it her all. She is one of the best all around athletes (hence why she got that award at the banquet) so we all knew she had it in her. She had to learn how to high jump, shot put, hurdle, and run the 800 in that short amount of time.

We traveled up on Wednesday and she competed the next day at 10 am.

Thursday events/results:

▪️100H: 18.62 (426 points)

▪️High Jump: 4-8.25 ft-(544 pts)

▪️Shot Put: 31-5.25 ft (502 pts)-5th place

▪️200m: 27.46 (674 pts)

Sadie Adams (SR) Heptathlon day 2:

Sadie entered the day in 17th place. We knew she had to do very well in these last three events if we wanted to move up in the rankings.

Friday events/results:

▪️Long Jump: 15-10.5 ft (516 pts)

▪️Javelin: 105-05 ft (517 pts)-3rd place

▪️800m: 2:32.88 (657 pts)-5th place

She ended with in 12th place out of 25 girls with a total score 3836 points, and 2nd place for team Utah.

She won her heat in the 800 (she had never raced this event before) which moved her up a ton!

Super proud of Sadie for being able to toughen out that 90 degree temperature! We cannot wait to see what the future has in store for her in this event!

Onesi Ngalo (SR) Discus & Shot Put:

Discus was the first event. Onesi threw a 130-02, putting him into 24th place.

Shot Put was next. Onesi made it into the best flight and had some impressive throws. His best was 49-6.25. That throw put him in 9th place. As we anxiously waited for the rest of the competitors to throw we were relieved when we found out he had secured his spot to the finals. In the finals Onesi was able to throw another 49 but sadly on the last throw he scratched. That throw would have almost tired his school record. He ended with an impressive 9th place out of 25 competitors, and first for Utah.

One of the most impressive things for us as coaches to see was all the athletes from Utah that knew Onesi. They would all come stand around him and talk to him. He had developed friendships with these competitors throughout the season and it was cool they could at last be on the same team.

All in all it was a great experience for Onesi to throw against some of the best athletes in the nation. We are excited to see what he is going to do in college!

Cody Canard (SR) Javelin:

Cody was the only athlete out of our group that came to this meet last year. He placed 9th last year in a stacked field.

This year he returned with more experience. He was in the first flight. He threw 160, then a 175-07! Placing him in first for flight one. He advanced to finals after flight 2 was over. On his last attempt in finals he had an awesome throw but unfortunately it went out of sector. He ended in 8th place (less than 2 feet away from 6th) and with a season best of 175-07!

Cody has big things in store for him in college and we can’t wait for the time when he gets to come back and coach!

Mason Baker (SOPH) High Jump:

This was Mason first season ever high jumping. He started off only being able to jump 5-8 to 5-9. By the end of March he was jumping 6-2 and then won region with a PR of 6-3.

The opening height was 6-0 and he cleared it on his second attempt. At 6-2 Mason barley missed it because his calves hit the bar. We are proud of this sophomore for ending in a tie for 14th place and cannot wait to see what he will do when he returns to this meet next year!

Austin Klingler (SOPH) 400, 200, 4x200, 4x400:

Austin entered this meet as one of the best 400 runners for team Utah. When he showed up to the track to workout on Friday he found out last minute he was running on the B 4x2 team. He started off as the first leg for the team, splitting a high 21! The next day he ran the 400 in the blazing 90 degree heat and ran his second best 400 time ever (49.87). He then ran a 23.23 in the 200, his 4th best 200. Last but not least he got to start of the 4x4 A team under the lights and split a high 50. We are super proud of everything he accomplished this season. This was a great experience for him to get exposure of what a national meet was like and we know he is going to do some crazy things next season.

Sherry Nima (JR) 400, 200, 4x2, 4x4, HJ:

Sherry entered the meet as one of the top sprinters for team UT. Like Austin, she did not know she was on a 4x2 until about an hour before the race. She was put on the C team. She anchored, holding off Missouri, winning her heat, and split a 25.3!

The next day she ran the 400 and got a 57.3, her 3rd fastest time ever. In the 200 she was seeded at a 25.8. She won her heat and got a new open 200 PR of 25.63, tying the JR 200 school record. Finally was the 4x4. She was put as the first leg. She got Utah off to a great start in second place and split a high 55! The girls ended up getting 4th place with a time of 3:48.

Sherry ended the meet being the 2nd best Utah girl in the 200 & 400. She learned a lot at this meet and will use what she gained to help her in her final season next year.