In first two years at the helm of the Douglas High track program, Rick Brown would take his team to the prestigious Chico Invitational and come away in the bottom third of about 70 teams.
If Friday's results were any indication, the program is well on its way up.
"The best part of the day was the way our kids are moving up the ladder," Brown said. "We wanted to get them into big competition and see how they performed to prepare for league championships and eventually the state meet. They responded very well."
The Douglas girls' team took ninth out of 62 teams Friday, and the boys took 22nd.
"It was a great experience for the kids to run against that kind of competition," Douglas girls' coach Jim Abbott said. "It was a long day but it was a very rewarding day."
Douglas athletes had a number of personal records set on the day, but perhaps the biggest surprise came from sophomore Taylor Biaggi who won the girls' open 3,200, knocking nearly 40 seconds off her previous best with a time of 12:28.
"When we told her on Thursday that she'd be running that event she said she didn't even like the 3,200," Brown said. "We convinced her to give it a shot and she went out and won the thing."
The win marked Biaggi's first as a varsity track athlete.
It was a bittersweet day for the boys' relay teams as the 4x100 squad of Tyler Tinstman, Michael Banks, Julius Bailey and Will Sheerin won its qualifying heat, posted the third best qualifying time and took fourth overall out of all the schools there with a time of 44.57.
During qualifying, the team clocked in under 44 seconds.
"It was really nice to see us out in the lead," Brown said. "It was a very good effort all the way around by those boys."
The bad news was that Sheerin tweaked his hamstring on the anchor leg, which should put him out for at least a week.
"He's seeing the trainer and going through some therapy," Brown said. "We'll throw him in the pool and keep him on the exercise bike to keep his legs working."
Another highlight for the boys was Derrick Jenkins taking fifth out of 77 runners in the 800 with a time of 2:03. Spencer Lewis was right on his heels with a 2:04 and Seth White ran a 2:09.
White turned in a 4:51 mile, beating his previous best by 10 seconds. It also marked the first time in quite a number of years a Douglas boys came in under five minutes.
"Six of our seven distance runners had personal records at the meet," Abbott said. "It was really a strong performance for them."
Alicia Sturgess took ninth in the 1,600 with a time of 5:20, which was nearly 11 seconds better than her previous best.
Cory Trujillo knocked 21 seconds off his PR in the two mile with and 11:10.
"It was just a combination of elevation, perfect weather, a fast track and no wind," Abbott said. "It was just a gorgeous time and place to have a meet."
Other impressive performances from the field events included Sturgess tying for second in the high jump with a leap of 5-2 and Nicole Mehrer taking second in the triple jump after leading the event up until the last jump. She turned in a jump of 35-5.
Kyle Heidt took fifth out of 51 jumpers in the long jump and Jessica Gorton had a PR in the long jump.
Skylar Young had a strong day in the 400, finishing fifth overall out of 52 runners.
The 4x400 team of Gorton, Young, Sturgess and Mehrer took third with a relatively slower time of 4:14.6.
"It was the end of a long day and that event didn't even start until 9 p.m.," Brown said. "A lot of those girls had been sick all week and they'd been running all day. It was just a case of being exhausted, which gives us a good reference for the regional and state meets coming up."
Without Sheerin, the boys' 4x400 team was dealt a severe blow, but Tinstman still turned in a 52-second leg.
"It was a really fast run," Abbott said. "He took the baton and just shot out like a rocket. He almost passed the entire pack and did a really good job."
Douglas has a conference meet today at Damonte Ranch and will be at Manogue Saturday for the Silver State Inviational.
-- Joey Crandall can be reached at jcrandall@recordcourier.com or at (775) 782-5121, ext. 212.
