Pirates Excel At State Track

By DAVE BELCHER

Moapa Valley Progress

Last week the Moapa Valley High School Track and Field teams travelled into chilly Carson City weather to attend the the state track and field championships.
The Pirates took four athletes to the tournament and came away with two state championships, two second place finishes, and a third and a fourth place.

Pirate senior, RJ Hubert defended his 110 meter hurdle championship with a new school record. The previous record was held by current track coach Shane Hickman. RJ’s new record is 14.62.
Hubert also defended his long jump title with a jump of 22-10.00 where he came away with another state championship.
He place second in the high jump with a height of 6-04.00.

In his final event of his high school career, Hubert finished second in the 300 meter hurdles just .07 seconds behind the defending state champion Nick Van Patten. Van Patten ran a 39.20 while RJ ran a 39.27.

Pirate senior, Hunter Soderquist finished his high school career with a third place finish in the shotput. He had a throw of 50 feet 10 inches. Samuel Gomez of Boulder City took second and Zachary Hawley of Dayton threw for a new state record with a throw of 60 feet 1 inch.

The discus event was unbelievable. Three throwers threw for 180 plus in the division IA. Samuel Gomez threw for 189 feet 11 inches. TJ Mauga of Fallon threw for 181 feet 11 inches while Hawley of Dayton threw for 180 feet 1 inch. All three throws beat the state record.
Moapa sophomore, Josh Lee placed eighth in the pole vault clearing a height of 11 feet.

Then there is Ashlyn Western, a freshman, who ran in two events for the Pirates. She placed fifth in the 800 meters with a personal record time of 2:26.09. She also ran in the 1600 meter run where she medaled with a fourth place finish and a time of 5:30.97 another personal record.
The Moapa Valley boys team finished in fourth place in the tournament.