Thanks to an assist from Nike and the YES Foundation, about five dozen Carson High School athletes will be able to put their best foot forward today when the Senators host their sixth annual Carson Kiwanis Invitational track and field meet.
The meet, which will bring together a field of 20 teams from around Northern Nevada, is scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. with the field events at the Jim Frank Complex. The first running event will be the 4x800 relay at 9:15.
"I think it should be a good meet," Carson coach Todd Ackerman said. "The weather should be nice, we have a new timing system and we have some good athletes coming."
The Carson track and field team also received a shipment of 60-plus Nike track shoes this week, donated by Youth, Education, Sports (YES) Foundation as part of its program to provide equipment and other means of support to youth sports programs nation-wide. YES is sponsored by Nike.
"That was a nice surprise," Ackerman said of the donation. "We have a lot of kids who don't have spikes at all and need them and now we're going to be able to take care of them."
The Senators also come into the invitational with some athletes who rank among the best in the Nevada, including junior Tilor Smith, whose season-best of 21-feet, 11-1/2 inches in the long jump set at the Reed Invitational earlier this month is the best in Nevada so far this season.
The girls discus will feature two familiar rivals who currently stand among the state's best: Carson junior Shaylyn Tom and Reed's Jennifer Onyeagbako, who has thrown 124-0. Tom threw a season best 128 feet during a conference meet at home on Wednesday. Last year, Onyeagbako won the girls discus at the Northern 4A Regionals, but Tom got the upper hand a week later when she placed fourth at the state meet.
Carson's Matt Moore is No. 2 in the state with his best of 40.53 seconds in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles and is expected to face Reed's Mitch Whalen in a duel between Northern Nevada front-runners. Moore came from behind to edge Whalen for first-place at the Reed Invitational, then came back to win a rematch the 400 intermediate hurdles this past Saturday with a 56.56 effort at the Woody Wilson Relays in Davis, Calif.
"That was a great race down at Davis," Ackerman said. "Matt's in good shape and it showed because his last 100 meters in that race was outstanding."
Lowry's Jacob Keller is No. 1 statewide in the high jump with his 6-9 at the Reed Invitational and his brother, Levi Keller, is No. 3 at 6-7. The presence of the Lowry jumpers could bring out the best from Carson senior Mike Dittenber, who is coming off a season-best 6-3 on Wednesday.
Other athletes who are No. 1 in Nevada will be competing today:
- Dayton senior Bridgette Galles is one of the state co-leaders in the girls high jump with her season-best 5-4. Galles is the defending 3A state champion.
- Smith Valley junior Jordan Savidge is tops among the boys pole vaulters with his best of 15-7 at the Reed Invitational, in addition to a solid fourth-place performance (15-1) at the Arcadia Invitational in Southern California two weeks ago. Another Smith Valley junior, Sam Marsheck, has a season best of 13-6 and has raised the bar to 15 feet for his practice jumps this past week.
- The girls pole vault has yet another state leader, Hug's Jessica Lippert, who has cleared 10-6.
- The boys 400 meters will feature two sprinters who rank 1-2: David Smith of McQueen (49.06) and Matt Virden of Bishop Manogue (49.45).
- Megan Olivetti of Wooster is the defending 4A state champion in the girls 300 low hurdles and is the current state leader with her season best time of 45.71.
Fallon's Kara Tolzmann is part of a talented pack of Northern Nevada distance runners that has competed well in California and Nevada all season. Tolzmann ran 5:03.55 in the 1,600 at the Arcadia Invitational and she has run 2:20.1 in the 800.
Another Fallon standout, Josh Mauga, ranks among the best of the state's 4A boys discus throwers with his season-best distance of 163-7. Carson's Stephen Waicul threw a season-best 149-feet to earn first-place on Wednesday.
