Competing in an odd format with new combinations on two different squads, the Douglas High School track and field team made a strong statement last week that it will be very difficult to contend with in the relays throughout the rest of the year.
Douglas took victories in the boys' 4x100 and 4x800 and the girls 4x400 relays at the Outer Relays in Fallon Thursday.
"The whole format of the relay meet is very different than anything they'll have to do during the rest of the season," Douglas boys' coach Rick Brown said. "It's a fun meet. I think we really had an excellent showing."
The Tigers came within 16 hundreths of a second of the school record in the boys' 4x800 as Derrick Jenkins, Spencer Lewis, Brad Boyd and Seth White teamed to run the event in 8:32.16.
"They put it all together and had a great run," Brown said. "It's still early in the season, so we're hoping it will only get better."
The boys' 4x100 team blistered off a 44.34-second time to take first. Varsity football running backs Tyler Tinstman, Julius Bailey and Will Sheerin teamed with Michael Banks for the win.
"That was the first time we had those four together as a team this season," Brown said. "Needless to say, they'll stay there. They knocked over a second and a half from our previous best this year, and that put them in the top three in the Northern 4A this season."
Sheerin, Jenkins, Tinstman and Lewis ran a 3:34.5 in the 4x400, a full eight seconds faster than the previous best time this year, but just missed winning the race as Spring Creek ran it in 3:34.2 in a seperate heat.
"They want it bad now," Brown said. "As a group, they are going about it with the approach now that the only team who can beat us is ourselves through the remainder of the league season."
Sheerin and his younger brother, Johnny, Banks and Heidt won the triple jump relay even though Banks and Heidt had not previously competed in the triple jump this season.
The girls won the 4x400 with a time of 4:10.7.
"We were running with Alicia Sturgess, Nicole Mehrer, Skylar Young and we threw Jessica Gorton in there," Brown said. "When Jessica's leg came up, we were not winning, but she ran a strong third leg and passed a Carson girl down the stretch.
"It was a very good leg for a kid who's not used to running with that team."
Young, Mehrer, Sturgess and Sarah Allen team to take second in the distance medley relay. Mehrer ran a personal best of 2:33.
The girls also won the high jump realy and took second in the long jump and triple jump relays.
Douglas will be mixing and matching relay squads over the next two weeks as the school is on spring break.
"It's always a little tough, figuring out who will be here and who won't," Brown said. "We'll have the boys' 4x100 and 4x200 teams intact for both weeks and we'll have the girls' 4x400 team intact for both weeks.
"Outside of that, it will give us an opportunity to look at some other kids too. We've got 10 guys in the 4x400 running 56 seconds or lower right now. They'll only get better and a lot of these kids are underclassmen. It really says a lot for our future."
-- Joey Crandall can be reached at jcrandall@recordcourier.com or at (775) 782-5121, ext. 212.
