A select group of Moapa Valley High School’s track and field teams made the trip to Brigham Young University for the PACS BYU Invitational on Friday, May 1. The Pirates excelled in the hurdles, with junior Ryker Katich finishing the 110-meter hurdles in a personal best 15.11 seconds to place 18th, and sophomore Ashton Hickman just missing out on a top-10 finish in the 300-meter hurdles with a personal best time of 39.34 seconds. Hickman also ran a personal best 50.47 in the 400 meters to place 33rd. 

“Ashton’s open 400 and 300 intermediate hurdles broke the MVHS sophomore record. Ryker Katich broke the MVHS 11th-grade record with his 300 intermediate hurdles performance,” Moapa Valley head coach Shane Hickman informed. “Our boys 4×800 team broke the school record by two seconds!”

Seniors Hal Thompson and Grant Conger, and juniors BJ Robison and Colton Morgan took 16th in the 4×800-meter relay with their record-breaking time of 8:14.88.

Other top finishers for the boys include Steele Meeks’ personal best discus throw of nearly 149 feet to place 14th. Fellow seniors Dakota Bush took 13th in the pole vault, and Tony Corillo took 20th in the shot put.

For the girls, sophomore Anna Winward ran a personal best in the 200 meters (27.32), and Irelynn Lewis (2:29.69), Charlotte Kynaston (2:34.74) and Madilyn Thompson (2:37.43) all ran personal bests in the 800. Kynaston also ran a personal best in the mile (5:47.83), and fellow sophomore Phoebe Leavitt ran a personal best 48.5 seconds in the 300-meter hurdles.

The rest of the Moapa Valley track and field athletes competed at the Boulder City Invitational on Friday, where the boys finished fourth behind Pahrump Valley, Virgin Valley and GV Christian.

Senior Eric Lee led the Pirates with a first-place finish in the pole vault, and junior Marcus Anderson took second in the high jump with a personal best leap of five feet, four inches. Sophomore King Walker was also second in the 3,200-meter race and fifth in the mile, setting a new personal record of just over five minutes. 

The boys also got top-10 finishes from sprinters Austin Thornton and Benjamin Washburn in the 100-meter dash, and Michael Leavitt and Brayden Grow in the 400-meter dash. Sophomore Jayden George was ninth in the 800, and senior Devon Campbell took ninth in the shot put with a personal best throw of 37.25 feet. Sophomore Jaxyn Frederick also had a personal best discus throw of 107.25 feet to take 11th.

The Lady Pirates were led by McKayla Western’s fastest ever 800-meter time of 2:39.9, which was good for fifth place. Freshman Rylee Newson took sixth in the 3,200 meters with a personal best time of 14:08.13. Sophomores Sadie Nelson and Harleigh Taron each cleared six feet to tie for eighth place in the pole vault. 

The 2026 NIAA 3A Southern Region Boys and Girls Track and Field Championships are scheduled to start on Friday, May 8 at Pahrump Valley High School.