by James Tate
The Utah High School Activities Association (UHSAA) state track and field championship kicked off on Thursday, May 18, 2023. It ran through Saturday evening at the Clarence F. Robison Track and Field Stadium at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. Boys and girls from all six classifications in Utah and the new unified events, the UHSAA partnership with Special Olympics of Utah (SOUT), competed in various events over the past three days. Over 2,000 athletes displayed their years of hard work and exceptional talents for the state of Utah.
Corner Canyon High School won the state boy’s track and field championship, and Lone Peak High School was the girl’s winning team. Both teams are repeat champions after winning the titles in 2022.
Girl’s distance events
The girl’s 3200m event saw Westlake High School senior Shelby Jensen win in a time of 10:43.73. Second place finisher was Bingham High School senior Natalie Swain in a personal best time of 10:46.20. Finishing in third place was Layton High School senior Hailey Low in a personal best time of 10:50.29. Westlake impressed by placing three runners in the top eight, with Jensen in first, sophomore Millie Robinson finishing seventh in 11:02.89, and freshman Marci Havens placing eighth in 11:03.95.
Lone Peak junior Addie Meldrum won the 1600m event in 4:50.91. Meldrum’s teammate, sophomore Boston Bybee finished second in 4:51.98. Swain finished third in 4:55.62. Skyridge High School senior Kylie Olsen won the 800m event in 2:11.48. Meldrum was second in 2:13.50. West High School senior Emerald Kehr finished third in 2:13.78.
Boy’s distance events
The boy’s 3200m event was electrifying as American Fork High School junior Daniel Simmons won in 8:52.14. Second place finisher was Herriman High School senior Noah Jenkins in 8:56.18. Third place was Farmington High School senior Spencer Bradshaw in a personal best time of 8:57.06. Simmons is ranked number two nationally in this event, and Jenkins is number six. Bradshaw is also ranked in the top 100 nationally.
Simmons was a double winner by capturing the 1600m event title in 4:10.48. Herriman junior William Steadman finished second in 4:11.30. Third place went to Jenkins in 4:12.12. Herriman senior Kaden Allen won the 800m event in 1:52.68. Corner Canyon senior Connor Whatcott was second in 1:53.46. Steadman finished third in 1:54.38.
Girl’s field events
photo of girl’s 6A javelin medal winners
Skyridge High School senior Miley Richards won the javelin event with a throw of 116’08”. Placing second was Bingham High School senior Kate Sorensen with a personal best throw of 113’10.25″. Copper Hills High School senior Mia Midgley finished in third place with a throw of 104′.75″.
American Fork junior Clara Baker took first place in the shot-put event with a winning throw of 40′. Layton junior Anastasia Witte was second with a throw of 39’10.25″. Finishing in third place was Hunter High School senior Sariah Sotele with a throw of 39’1.25″. West High School freshman Atelaite Latu won the discus event with a personal best throw of 128’3.25″. Layton sophomore Burlie Burton finished second with a personal best throw of 126’0.5″. Baker of American Fork was third with a personal best throw of 118’6″.
The pole vault event saw Lone Peak senior Sabrina Fairbanks win with a vault of 12′. Lone Peak junior Lucy Jeppson was second with a vault of 11’5.75″. Herriman High School junior Aaleiah Porter-Gyll finished in third place with a vault of 11′.
photo of 6A long jump winner Fremont’s Amare Harlan
The long jump event saw Fremont High School senior Amare Harlan defend her title with a 19′ 2.25″ winning jump. Lone Peak High School sophomore Aubrey Galloway was second with a leap of 17’7.50″. Copper Hills sophomore Zoe Hein finished in third place with a jump of 17’5″.
Boy’s field events
Layton senior Tyler Poole pulled off the double in winning the state title in the shot-put and discus events. Poole’s winning throw in the shot-put was 58′ 1.75″ and 174’8″ in the discus event. Weber High School sensational freshman Josh Hamblin took home the long jump title with a personal best leap of 22’4″. West Jordan High School junior Dominic Overby was second with a leap of 21’11.75″. Finishing third was Copper Hills senior Joshua Pommerening, with a leap of 21’11”.
Pommerening captured the high jump title by clearing a personal best of 6’6″. Davis High School junior Cashe Bennett finished second by clearing 6’6″ on his third attempt. Pleasant Grove High School junior Kenadi Lee was third by clearing 6’4″. The pole vault event saw Riverton High School senior Kyle James win with a vault of 14’5.5″. James’ teammate, junior Wyatt Barker was second with a vault of 14’5.5″ on his second attempt. Mountain Ridge High School sophomore Adam Wightman finished in third place.
Syracuse High School senior Brevin Hamblin won the boy’s javelin throw with a winning throw of 187’4.75″. The throw was a personal best for the Utah Tech University football commit. Layton junior Davis Cox finished second with a personal best throw of 174’1.75″. Skyridge junior Jack Burke finished third with a personal best throw of 167’11.75″.
Girl’s sprint events
Fremont High School, senior and University of Michigan, commit Amare Harlan closed out her remarkable high school career with a state record in the 100m event. Harlan’s record winning time was 11.43. Finishing second was Bingham High School junior Andrea Amoah with a personal best time of 11.92. Amoah’s teammate, junior Angelina Appel, finished third in 12.41. Continuing her dominating performance, Harlan won the 200m event in another state record with a time of 23.30. Amoah was second in 24.53. American Fork sophomore Desirae Riehle was third in 25.20.
Riehle won the 400m event in a time of 56.40. Kylie Olsen of Skyridge was second in 57.38. Weber junior Annalise Ririe finished third in 57.90.
Girl’s hurdle events
photo of Weber’s Eden DeVries
New state record holder Weber senior Eden DeVries won the 100mh event in 14.03. DeVries record time is the best over all classifications, shattering the mark of 14.08 by Sue DeVries of East High School held in 1983. DeVries has committed to Weber State University, and currently is ranked 64th in the 100mh event. Lone Peak junior Nadia Chiara finished second in a personal best time of 14.71. Westlake High School sophomore Sariah Gerald crossed the line in third place in a personal best time of 14.85.
Chiara captured the 300mh title by winning the event in 43.64. Corner Canyon senior Madelynne Taggart finished second in 43.80. Skyridge senior Mia Kauffman finished third in 44.28.
Boy’s sprint events
photo of boy’s 100m final
Smith Snowden of Skyridge, a University of Utah football commit, blazed to a double victory in the 100m and 200m events. In a photo finish, Snowden out leaned West Jordan senior Gabe Remy in the 100m. Snowden’s time was 10.581, and Remy’s time was 10.595. In the 2022 100m final, Snowden finished second to Roy High’s Parker Kingston, with Kingston winning in 10.533 and Snowden in 10.535. Bingham senior and Snow College football commit Cameron Mamalis captured third with a time of 10.90. Mamalis joined Snowden, Remy, and Corner Canyon senior Aiden McDonald as returning finalists from the 2022 100m finals.
Snowden and Remy battled to another photo finish in the 200m event, and Snowden again won. Snowden’s time was 21.392, and Remy’s time was 21.394. McDonald finished in third place in 21.64. The boy’s 400m event saw a come from behind victory for Roy High School senior Colby Anderson. Anderson passed Lone Peak senior Ethan Valetta over the last 20 meters to claim the title in a personal and state best time of 47.53. Anderson, a Weber State University commit, claims his state title after being a finalist the last two seasons. Third place finisher was Corner Canyon junior Tate Kjar in a personal best time of 48.04.
Boy’s hurdle events
The 110mh hurdles saw Weber freshman Josh Hamblin win in another photo finish over Corner Canyon senior Spencer Kirkham. Both hurdlers finished in 14.52, and Hamblin was declared the winner by 1/100th of a second. Herriman senior Forest Mead crossed the line in third place in 14.94.
Kirkham left no doubt in the 300m hurdles event by winning in 38.09. Lone Peak senior Caleb Doman was second in 38.94. West Jordan senior Adam Goetz finished third in 39.15. The event saw seven hurdlers run under 40 seconds (Kirkham, Doman, Goetz, Hamblin in 39.32, Farmington High School senior Tanner Crosland in 39.38, American Fork senior Erik Youngberg in 39.79 and Mead in 39.96).
Relay event-winning teams
photo of girl’s 4×100 winning relay teams
Girl’s
4×100 Fremont 47.83
4×200 Bingham 1:41.20
4×400 American Fork 3:52.72
4×800 Lone Peak 9:11.91
Boy’s
4×100 Corner Canyon 41.92
4×200 Corner Canyon 1:26.41
4×400 Corner Canyon 3:16.55
4×800 Herriman 7:39.63
photos courtesy James Tate