Carson's Dakota Baker advanced to the state meet in the 300 hurdles.
When Carson High track coach Robert Maw started the Carson Invitational six years ago, he had just six schools.
When the annual event gets under way Saturday morning, 29 schools and more than 1,100 athletes will be at the Jim Frank Track & Field Complex on Saturday morning. Talk about growth.
“This is the largest amount of schools we’ve ever had,” Maw said Thursday afternoon. “It certainly helped that we are hosting the state (and regional) meet(s) this year, and people wanted to compete here. This is the largest meet in the state of Nevada. We’re excited. I’m sure we’ll see a lot of good competition.”
And, for fans who can’t be there in person, Maw said that live results can be obtained through carsonhightrack.com as soon as the runners cross the finish line in the running events. He said that service will be available at all home track meets from now on.
Discus highlights boys events
One of the most hotly contested events is expected to be the boys discus. Of the 72 entrants in the six flights, six throwers have thrown more than 150 feet. Douglas’ Marshall McKown leads the field with a best of 171-feet 10-inches, Dayton’s Josh Koch is next at 170-6 followed by Douglas’ Colton Waggoner at 165-6. Dayton’s Zach Hawley is at 156-2, Fallon’s Randol McLean is at 153-1 and Carson’s Ian Schulz is coming off a 152-foot effort last week.
“There should be some great competition out there,” Maw said.
The boys’ shot put is also expected to be tight. McKown leads the way at 54-4 1/2 followed by Koch at 52-3. Reed’s Jordan DeLeon is at 49-11 3/4 and Hawley is at 49-1 1/2.
Dayton’s Benji Ply and Carson’s Corey Reid are expected to go 1-2 in the high jump. Ply has a best of 6-5 this year while Reid’s best is 6-3. Galena’s Quentin Mills, Carson’s Greg Wallace and Damonte’s David Nicholas have all gone 6-2.
Reid will also be in the 800, 800 relay and the pole vault. He will run into Ply in the pole vault. Reid has a best of 13-1 and Ply has cleared 13-feet. Reid leads all qualifiers in the open 800 with a 1:58.00. His main competition was two McQueen runners, and both of them have elected to go to California to compete. Dayton’s Aaron Elissa is a darkhorse with a best of 2:05.70.
Maw is also expecting big things from Dakota Baker, who leads qualifiers in the 110 high hurdles (15.24) and is No. 2 in the 300 hurdles (41.44). Ply is seeded No. 2 at 16.11.
“I think he’s going to qualify for state in both events this year,” Maw said. “He is looking really good, and he cleared 6 feet in the high jump recently.”
Maw also believes that triple jumpers Asa Carter and Aaron Woodbury are primed for success. Carter enters as the No. 2 seed (41-2) and Woodbury as the No. 5 seed (40-7 3/4). Woodbury is seventh in the pole vault at 12-7.
“I’m looking for Asa to have a big day,” Maw said. “He’s been hurt. We have worked with his steps. He was jumping 43 in practice. I’d like to see him get 43 or 44. I’d like to see Aaron get to 42 or 43 this week.”
Maw has put Reid, Baker, Joey Thurman and Anthony Estrada in the 800 relay. Carson comes in at 1:33 in what is expected to be a tight battle with Damonte, Spanish Springs and Dayton’s quartet of Skyler Berntson, Dallon Mendoza, Tobias Tapley and Andrew Goodman.
Hurdles race big for girls
Maw expects both hurdle races to be competitive between his two athletes, Josi Daggs and Athena Favero, and Damonte’s Gabriella Jacobs, who is seeded first in both events. Jacobs has a 15.63 in the 100 hurdles, while Daggs comes in at 16.37 and Favero is at 17.14. In the 300 race, Jacobs is at 47.47, Favero is at 47.78 and Daggs is at 48.64. South Tahoe’s Maya Bosch could crack the top three at 47.84.
In the jumping events, Carson’s Madison Preston is a clear favorite with bests of 17-1 and 36-11, respectively.
“Anything can happen, but Madi has nobody within a couple of feet of her,” Maw said.
Douglas’ Jessa Gansberg and Kyle Memro are at 33-4 1/2 and 32-5, respectively, in the triple jump, In the long jump, Reed’s Emilie Braun is 11 inches away from Preston. Gansberg is seeded third at 15-11.
In the weight events, Dayton’s Kaylee Turner is seeded No. 1 in the shot (36 feet) and second in the discus at 124-11.
Carson’s Eveline Delgado is seeded No. 4 in the 3200, while Lindsay Adams is seeded first in the 1600.
Dayton’s Lettie Lynch is seeded third in the 100 and fifth in the 200.
