Saturday events at the Simplot Games had barely gotten underway, when Ryan Crouser of Sam Barlow High School in Gresham, Oregon provided national fireworks by heaving the shot 75-3.50 to establish a new National Record on his second toss of the morning. That mark lasted all of two throws, when Ryan obliterated his mark with a whopping heave of 77-2.75. In some ways the record was not a surprise, as he had already recorded a mark of 74-11but his a bit of a stunner. The throw in fact was so far that the officials had to get another measuring tape that could record the toss. Crouser had such a strong day that his series may be the best of all-time as well. He started with a “safe’ toss of 72-1.50 and ended with a heave of 75’ 11”, which would have been a record - save the monster toss.
Not long after that piece of history Hannah Cunliffe authored a bit of her own history. The freshman from Federal Way, who also had been knocking at the door of a record, when she raced home second in the 60 Meter Dash in a time if 7.47. She placed second in the event to Kylie Price, who is a senior & ran 7.45, but the story in many ways was the mark of Cunliffe of 7.47, which topped the old mark of 7.49. Hannah had approached the mark twice before with one time narrowly missing, when she ran 7.51 at the University of Washington but the third time was the charm and it certainly helped marked the day of the Simplot staff. Mary Beth Sant, a sophomore, finished third with 7.50. Noteworthy as well was Chyna Ries’ clocking of 7.74 in the previous heat. Ries, like Cunliffe, is a freshman.
Darian Brooks of Kent, Wa. topped everyone in the Triple Jump, when he leaped 47-10.00. Trey Richardson jumped 47-02.50 to take second & Allen Williams of Oakland was measured in 47-00.00, which was good for third. Darian corralled a second triumph, when he claimed the 60M with his 6.85.3.
Trailing him were Marcus Harris (6.88.3) & Dan Summers (6.92) plus Darius Smith (6.96).
Kylie Price became a double winner, when she added the Long Jump title to her collection. Her leap of 19-06.00 was easily the best. Kari Heck (18-09.00) & Brittany Lewis (18-07.50) placed 2nd & 3rd. The boys long jump went to Oklahoma's Gunnar Nixon, whose jump measured 23-03.25. . Alec Fellows (23-00.25) of Edmonds-Woodway & Blake Selig (22-11.25) secured 2nd & 3rd. Fellows had a solid day, as he added a sixth place effort in the high jump with 6-03..00 and, of course, he was the top American from the Northwest in the Long Jump.. Skyline’s Ryan Scott won the high jump with 6-09.00 topping Gunnar Nixon, who cleared the same height but had more misses, while Ryan Carlson placed third with a leap of 6-05.00. Nixon & Fellows faced each other in the 60 Meter Hurdles, as well, but this time the vitory went to Ken Walker, who ran 7.92. Nixon earned second with 7.98. Allen Williams ran 8.01, while fellows took fourth with 8.32.
In other action Avery Calton of Ogden followed Mackenzie Chojnacki & Rikki Gonzalez early before pulling away at the end to claim victory in 5:08.3. Alice Keller made a late move to nab second with a clocking of 5:09.03 catching Rikki Gonzalez at the line. Natalie Matthews ran 5;09 to take 4th & Mackenzie Chojnacki of Idaho placed fifth (5:10). Idaho runners dominated the guys’ 1600 as best friends Erik Harris & Dallin Farnsworth controlled the pace. The pair of juniors raced away from the pack, but only after Farnsworth had held off two challenges, & then Harris zipped past Farnsworth to claim victory in a time of 4:16.89. Farnsworth, happy knowing that he ran to his best this day, earned second with 4:19.72. Brad Nye of Davis placed third with 4;22.27, while Jacob Turner & Austin Neuner secured the next two places.
Susannah Hurst of Utah took the lead early in the 3200M and rolled to a dominant victory. Her winning time of 10:50.54 was a PR and so clear-cut that one fan yelled out after the race: “Are you human?” Hurst left the race for second between Summer Harper Jamie Stokes, Emily Nist & Natalie Shields. Harper moved during the last few laps to claim second in 11:11.08 & Jamie Stokes earned third in 11:18. Kelse Braithwaite finished 4th (11;20) & Idahoan Emily Nist placed 5th with 11:25, while Natalie Shields took sixth. The mens’ 3200 proved most successful for Austin West, who broke away and finished alone with a time of 9:16.17. Dylan Morin scored second with his 9:24 clocking & Clayton Young garnered third (9:27.37). Steve Morris edged Spencer Hanson for 4th as both were timed in versions of 9:31.
Canadians dominated the girls’ 800 Meter when Jenna Westaway of Calgary raced to victory in a fine time of 2:21.77. Nicole Bauer, yet another Calgary runner, finished second in 2;13.96 but Hannah McInturff made the locals proud as the sophomore took third in a time of 2:14.87. The male version of the 800 was claimed by Tyler Smith, who ran 1:56.06. The race proved a bit unique, as the preliminary time of 1:55 had been faster. Sam Davis took second with 1:57.20 & Connor Winter ’s 1:58.64 was good for third. Neil Sam (1:58) & Haven Shelton was fifth in 1:59.77.
Andy Rounds led the way in the men’s 400M when he was timed in a time of 48.49. Landon Watts placed second only three-tenths of a second later & Pete Lauderdale came home next in 49.07. Cam Lambourne was the first junior with his time of 49.12. Three young ladies’ version of the 400 witnessed a collection of times, which were only about a second off the Simplot record. Sandra Farquarson blitzed home first in a fine 54.45.3, yet she was less than a second ahead of Sage Watson. Nyanka Joseph took third with 55.95. Ashele Bamberg & Shakele Seaton deserve mention too after their quality times of 56.24 & 56.69.
Chandra Scott annexed the 200M for women with 24.73 & Sarah Cline took second with 25.05. The men’s race witnessed a large posse with times in the 22 second range but Darius smith led the way with a time of 21.72. John Arslanian (22.11) & Vin Sheety (22.32) had the next best times.
At day’s end there was much to be said for the 2011 Simplot Games: wonderful competition, a meet, which stayed on schedule & had little lag time. There was a great spirit exhibited by runners from numerous states and from as far away as New York and New Hampshire plus at least two Canadian provinces. It offered a wonderful opportunity to face new & quality challengers. Possibly more important is the fact that the Games are presented with the young runners in mind. Someone asking for direction does not face a less than helpful stare, that is followed by even a less than cordial pointing: ‘over there.’ Rather the staff leads the way to the intended destination in a friendly manner. There were around 1,800 high school athletes on hand & many of them marched in Saturday’s ‘Parade of Champions’, which was pleasant & impressive in many respects. On hand too were a number of Olympians: Stacy Dragila, Willie Banks, Andre Phillips, Ian Waltz and even winter Olympian Joey Cheek. Dick Fosbury, the Honorary Chairman of the Games was a crowd favorite, yet probably the most revered Olympian was Jim Ryun, who was signing seemingly everyone’s Bib Number. The final day offered two national records and one bonafide newly minted hero in Ryan Crouser, who was busy after his event signing even the shoes of his competitors. I stopped off at a local Subway franchise after the meet & overhead one proud shot put athlete proudly display his newly autographed shoe. Present day America is in need of heroes and the Simplot Games even provided that this weekend. It was a great time to be a track fan!