The first big meet of the year did not disappoint.
The 45th annual Elks Invitational saw records fall on Saturday at Edward Arciniega Athletic Complex as 39 teams from the region convened in the Lahontan Valley. The Lady Wave track and field team finished 10th overall and fourth among the 3A schools, while the Greenwave boys struggled for points with an 18th-place finish.
“The minimum marks in the field events were tough and a lot of the kids couldn’t hit them,” Fallon boys coach Steve Heck said. “That doesn’t mean they didn’t compete well and several came close. In the running events, we had a bunch of season records and even a lot of all-time bests. Looking over the results it looks like everyone, with only a couple of exceptions, had at least their best time this season if not their all-time best time. That is what is really important — improvement. As long as the kids get better each week, then we are heading in the right direction.”
Fallon will be in action on Friday and Saturday at the Reed-Sparks Rotary Invitational.
Whitney Skabelund notched a pair of second-place finishes in the long and triple jumps. She leaped 35-1 in the triple and 16-10 in the long, both marks were season highs. Skabelund also took third in the 300 hurdles at 49.33. Brynlee Shults finished fifth in the long at 15-7.5 and seventh in the triple at 33-3.75, both season highs. Sierra Hickox finished eighth in the long jump at 15-1.75, a personal best.
“I thought we did well. We had a lot of PRs (personal records),” Fallon coach Paul Orong said. “The jumping was really good for being this early. For the 4A, it was their first invitational. Jumping, as a whole, was really good.”
Alie Lister finished ninth in the pole vault at 8 feet, a season high, and Cassidy East was ninth in the high jump with a mark of 4-6. Misaki Clare just missed the top 10 in the throwing events, landing a 93-foot throw for 11 in the discus and 29-4.5 toss for 14th in the shot put.
Kyndal Collins finished 12th and 16th in the 100 and 200 after recording a personal best 13.67 and 28.61, respectively, to lead the sprinters. Savannah Robinson finished 40th in the 400 at 1:13.81 and Corin Ramos was 39th in the 800 at 2:54.81. Amanda Pursley finished 22 in the 3200 at 15:22.81 and Mayla Dahl was 18th in the 100 hurdles with a personal best 19.53.
The 4x400 relay team finished ninth (4:31.13) and 4x800 team was 10th (11:42.75).
Drake Copley (19th) and Broder Thurston (13th) placed highest among the sprinters but did not qualify for the final round. Copley ran a season best 11.93 and Thurston ran a flat 24, a season best. Drake Copley finished 48th in the 400 at 1:00.16, a personal best, and Joseph Terry took 13th in the 800 at 2:10.64 and 22nd in the 1600 at 4:50.39. Garrett Tognazzini finished 39th in the 3200 at 11:55.30.
Trevor Brown finished 16th in the 110 hurdles preliminary while Trevor East was 11th in the 300 hurdle at 44.01.
The 4x400 relay team finished the highest (ninth) among the three relay teams. The 4x200 was 14th and the 4x100 was 12th.
T.J. Mauga was the highest finisher for the boys after throwing 150 feet, 5 inches in the discus to finish fourth. Mauga also took eighth in the shot put with a toss of 44-09.5 with both of his throws second best among the 3A. Ben Dooley was 13th in the discus at 117-02.
Trevor East finished eighth in the triple jump with a personal best 39-4, while Bryan Duenas was 16th at 37-1 and 17th in the long jump at 18-1.75.
“Trevor stepped up in the triple jump with a huge personal record,” Heck said of East. “He PR’d last week by about a foot, and this week went another foot and a half further. He also set a personal record in the 300 hurdles. He is really becoming one of our stronger athletes.”
Outside of Fallon, Reed stole the show with the records. Makayla Linebarger (pole vault) and the 4x100 and 4x200 relay teams broke the meet and facility record, while Spanish Springs’ Jessica Ozoude tied the facility record in the 100 at 12.34. Linebarger broke the record by a foot at 13-6.
“The meet itself went really well,” Heck said. “Perfect weather and lots of wonderful volunteers. Thanks to all the parents, volunteers, coaches and athletes who helped out and participated.”
