By DAVE BELCHER
Moapa Valley Progress
Members of the Moapa Valley High School track and field teams travel to Foothill High School last week to participate in the Nevada State Championship Track and Field meet. In this meet, 89 schools had representatives competing for individual championships in fourteen different events.
Moapa Valley sent junior Josh Lee in the Pole Vault event where he placed second in the state with a vault of 13-06. The winning vault was 14-01 by Jadan Rotton from Fernley.
The Boys’ 4X800-relay team also qualified Moapa Valley and placed fifth with a time of 8:27.09. That team consisted of Jerrick Stastny, Grady Call, Isaah Fairchild and Nathaniel Brill. The number 1 spot was Sunrise Mountain with a time of 8:23.19. Truckee was second with a time of 8:25.84. Pahrump Valley took third with a time of 8:26.46. And fourth place went to Desert Pines with a time of 8:26.73.
On the girls’ side, Ashlyn Western competed in the girl’s 800 meters placing fourth with a time of 2:28.11. Western also placed fourth in the 1600 meters with a time of 5:41.15. The three top finishers were from the northern region with Brenna Wapstra-Scot of Truckee first, Piper Crook of Fernley second and Taylor Richardson, also of Fernley third. Bailey Bunker place sixth in the event with a time of 2:34.91.
Moapa Valley qualified three of the four relay teams in the girls’ competition as well, including 4X800, 4X400 and the 4X200 teams.
The 4X800 team placed fourth with a time of 10:30.65. The team consisted of Andi Hillstead, Shelby Olsen, Bailey Bunker and Ashlyn Western. They finished behind state champion Fernley with a time 9:45.66, runner-up Truckee 9:51.10 and third place Spring Creek 9:54.46.
The 4X400 team also finished fourth with a time of 4:22.29. The team consisted of Erika Baldwin, Bailey Bunker, Hannah Williams and Natalie Mills. They finished behind state champions Lowry 4:10.63, Fernley 4:11.36 and Dayton 4:16.36.
The Moapa 4X200 team finished eighth with a time of 1:52.71. It consisted of Luisa Thielmann, Erika Baldwin, Natalie Mills and Cambree Pulsipher. Cheyenne won the event with a time of 49.29, Chaparral was second with a time of 50.17, Virgin Valley placed third with a time of 50.89 and Elko finished fourth with a time of 51.40.
Shelby Olsen ran the 3200 meters where she placed fourth with a time of 12:40.54. She also placed fifth in the 1600 with a time of 5:45.10.
Natalie Mills placed fifth in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 16.86. She placed seventh in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 50.64.
The Sunrise Mountain team won the Boy’s state title with 70 points, Mojave was second with 64 points, Pahrump Valley finished third with 59 points. Moapa Valley finished 17th with 12 points while Virgin Valley finished 16th with 14 points. Truckee repeated as the state champion on the girl’s side with 81 points, Cheyenne finished second with 76 points and Virgin Valley finished third with 65 points. Moapa Valley finished seventh with 39 points.
