Jeremy Gray, Tsuyoshi Curtis, Tilor Smith and Matt Moore will have a common goal when they step on the Reed High School track in Sparks at about 3:30 Saturday afternoon.
The four Carson High School runners will all be searching to find a new gear, one they hope will be fast enough to bring home a gold medal in the boys 4x400 relay at the NIAA State Track and Field Championships, presented by the Las Vegas Review Journal.
You see, winning the 4x4 relay at the end of any meet is always a big deal to the Senators, according to sprints coach Shane Quilling.
"It's something we've been building a lot of pride in for four years," Quilling said. "It's like the heart and soul of your team. It's the premiere event that people like to watch, and now, our kids take a lot of pride in it."
Win or lose, the race should be a fitting climax to the two-day state meet which features athletes from the 1A, 2A, 3A and 4A classes starting at 3 p.m. today.
Carson comes in as the North's top seed in the 4x400 after winning in a season-best and Northern 4A Regional record time of 3 minutes, 23.71 seconds last Saturday at Reed. Eight teams qualified for state with times ranging from 3:20 to 3:25, so look for a competitive race.
The Senators have already dropped their time from 3:31.91 at the Carson Invitational on April 24, and they're looking for a new gear they can shift into and improve even more.
"That's the thing about the last couple of weeks of the season. Two years ago when we had our real good team, we dropped from 3:25 to 3:19 in two weeks," Quilling said, referring to a Carson team that ran a school record 3:19.73 to place second at state in 2002. "So you can really find that next gear, that next level, when you're faced with some competition.
"We're at 3:23 and two of our guys didn't run their best last week, so we can run better. How much better? I don't know. I think we can run high-3:20. It's one race and anything can happen, but I'm sure it's going to be fast."
Curtis, the only senior on the Carson relay team, echoed that.
"It's going to be fast. Cimarron ran 3:20 and Bonanza ran 3:21 (at the Sunset Regional), so hopefully we can be neck-and-neck with those guys," he said. "I think we can run around 3:20, 3:19, if we all run our best times."
Curtis ran for Cimarron-Memorial last year, but then returned to Carson for his senior year. Running against his former teammates does give him some added incentive - to a point.
"Yeah, a little bit," Curtis said when asked about running against his former teammates. "Every time we run, I go look on the computer because I'm wondering how they did. Of course it's going to help me a little bit, but if you're not ready to run this race, this time of year, then you shouldn't be running at all."
Gray, a sophomore, leads off for the Senators. Curtis runs second, while Smith and Moore, juniors who have both run in the 49-second range this season, run the last two legs. The team has received contributions from others this season, including Adam Houghton, Nick Brothers and Doug Holderman.
"Jeremy's been a nice surprise," Quilling said. "He wasn't on it until two weeks ago. He got his chance at Yerington and ran a great leg (53.41), he's dropped his time 2 1/2 seconds since then, and I think he can run even faster."
Curtis has been hobbled by an ankle sprain for much of the season.
"I thought Tsuyoshi would run a little better, but he's had a bad ankle for a month," Quilling said. "I'd like to see what he could have run if he'd been healthy. I think he could have run right with Tilor and Matt, and he still might do that yet."
Smith also comes into state as a title contender in the long jump with his season best of 22-2-1/2 set earlier this season at the Carson Invitational (three Southern jumpers surpassed 22 feet at their regional meets last weekend). And Moore is a medal hopeful in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles, having run a personal best 39.56 at the regional trials last week.
Junior Stephen Waicul has a shot at gold in the boys discus after winning last Saturday with a distance of 154-feet, 8-inches (he threw a personal best 156-10-1/2 in the trials) that ranks as the best among all state qualifiers. Another thrower, senior Shay Tom, will be looking to earn medals in the state girls shot put and discus for the third year in a row.
Lastly, but not least, there's that 4x400 relay.
"It's a great race. I ran it in high school," Quilling said. "I always hated the open 400, but the 4-by-4, now that was fun because you were running with the other guys, and that was always cool."
Dave Price can be reached at 881-1220 or at dprice@nevadaappeal.com
