In a long day at Simplot with numerous preliminaries in the 3200 meters & 1600 Meter races for both boys and girls there was one especially noteworthy stat: Shelby Ashe of Throw1Deep Marietta broke her own record in the Girls' Weight Throw with a heave of 64-09.75. her previous mark from 2010 was 60' 5". Her team mate Dana Levy threw 59-07. The boys' event saw Andrew Dunkelberger win a close event with a toss of 69-09.85. Second went to Ben Glauser, who just missed with 69-08.25, while third went to Enrique Caitan with 67-09.75. All medalists were from the Marietta group.
The leading qualifiers in the young men’s 1600 meters included Brad Nye (4:27.82) & Dallin Farnsworth (4:28.19) plus Jacob Turner, who ran 4:28.27. The three leaders were all juniors but, of course, today’s goal was just to qualify. The other top qualifiers included Erik Harris Austin Neuner, Joe White, Caden Portela, Josiah Valenzuela, Jared Brewer & Rick Faure.
Alice Keller led the young ladies into the next round with her time of 5:15.92. Natalie Mathews & Rikki Gonzalez both were close behind with times of 5:16 & change. Idahoan Mackenzie Chojnacky ran 5:19.14 for the 4th best qualifier & was followed by Laura Young who ran 5:21.14. Jessica Lemaster (5:24.16 ) & Rachel Sorenson (5:24.41) earned the 56h & 7th top qualifying times & were followed by sophomore Avery Calton, who ran 5:25.42. McKenzie Snyder, ran 5:25.51 for the 9th qualifying berth & was followed by Sarah Feeney, a freshman, who ran 5:26.60.
Action in the 3200 Meters saw Kelse Braithwaite easily secure the top qualifying time with her 11:28.55 clocking. Emily Nist, Bishop Kelly’s XC star, ran 11:35.11 for the second best time & was followed by Susannah Hurst, who ran 11:38.92. Jamie Stokes & Summer Harper placed 4th & 5th while Natalie Shields finished sixth. Dylan Morin led the guys with his time of 9:45.30 to best Brayden Cromar by less than a second. Zach Perrin earned the third best time with his 9:47.18. Alex Sorenson, Wyoming’s cross country champion, ran 9:47.53 for 4th & Aaron Nelson came home with 9:48.18 for the fifth best qualifier. Fourteen guys qualified for the finals in all.
The prelims qualified fourteen runners for all of the distance races. They will all run for the Simplot championship on Saturday. Tomorrow will offer a full day with qualifier in the sprints and numerous field events.