Track and field leaves State meet with hardware4 min read

Scorpions senior Dawson Stevenson flies through the air during the long jump at the Arizona Interscholastic Association State Championships on Saturday, May 6. Daniel Hargis/Larson Newspapers

More than a handful of Scorpions runners, throwers and jumpers took home medals from the Arizona Interscholastic Association Division IV State Championships, held on Friday and Saturday, May 5 and 6, at Mesa Community College.

Nine individuals and one relay team took home medals by the end of the competition, which featured temperatures of 105 degrees or more on Friday and strong, gusting winds on Saturday.

Hannah Ringel, a Sedona Red Rock High School senior, throws the discus en route to a second-place finish at the AIA State Championship meet on Friday, May 5, at Mesa Community College.
“I think it went pretty well, it was a pretty good meet,” Scorpions head coach Harry Schneider said. “There’s always disappointments, but that’s track and field.”

Many of the Scorpions did not turn in season-best performances, but at this stage of the season, Schneider said, it is all about competition and not times and distances.

Senior Joe Glomski was a double winner while senior Hannah Ringel took home her third consecutive state title in the shot put, and second place in the discus.

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Glomski, senior Dawson Stevenson, senior Luke Doerner and junior Javi Pacheco combined to take third in the 4×100-meter relay. Stevenson also claimed a fourth-place medal in the high jump, reaching the 6-00 mark, and 19th in the long jump.

Glomski competed in the long jump right after the 4×100 relay, but still turned in a jump of 23-06, little more than three inches shy of his season best.

“It feels great, getting first in the triple and long jump, and getting third in our 4×100,” Glomski said. “I came here and got all medals in all events.”

While not reaching a personal best, Ringel still won the shot put by more than six feet at 39-11.5. Ringel is the only track and field athlete in Sedona Red Rock High School’s history to be a state champion three years running in a single event.

At 111-11, well under her season best of 124-08, she took second in the discus for a second year running. In both events, she had to make standard throws — without a spin — in the preliminaries to reach the finals.

“It’s always really tight when there’s close competition,” Ringel said. “Once you have one bad throw it gets to your head and goes downhill from there.”

Photo Gallery: SRRHS Track and Field State Championships

 

Perhaps the most surprising performance of the meet was senior Sophia Perry’s second place in the long jump [16-06.5], a personal best by 10 inches. Perry also took eighth in the high jump and 11th in the triple jump.

Junior Julia Koss took second in the pole vault [10-03] and senior Xan Hawes was right behind in third [10-0].

Junior Collier Trcic claimed her spot on the podium in the triple jump, taking fourth place with a leap of 33-11. Trcic, in her third state meet, said she had put her mind to it and worked out in the summer. She also took 12th in the long jump.

“It’s really, really exciting,” Trcic said. “I was looking forward to medaling but didn’t have my mind set on it. It’s nice having your name called.”

Sophomore Drake Ortiz was fourth in the pole vault [12-06].

“It’s nice to medal as a sophomore, it doesn’t usually happen,” Ortiz said. “I did better than I thought I would.”

The only individual runner to medal was junior Chenoa Crans, in the 300-meter hurdles. Crans claimed fourth in 49.07 seconds, her second straight fourth place finish in the event.

“I’m kind of disappointed with the time, but I was out for a while,” Crans said. “I’m still happy to get the medal.”

Crans had qualified for the meet in the 100-meter hurdles, but did not get past the preliminaries. Freshman Jacki King did qualify for the finals of that event, but fell as she leapt over the eighth hurdle, ultimately finishing in ninth. King was tied for 14th in the high jump.

The girls 4×100 relay claimed fifth in 53.19 seconds. Sophomore Abigail Stevenson, part of that team, took 16th in the long jump.

Overall, the girls took third place and the boys fifth. After day one of the meet, the girls were in first and the boys in second.

Sedona Red Rock junior Chenoa Crans races her way to a fourth place finish in the 300-meter hurdles on Saturday, May 6. Despite being injured for a large part of the season, Crans found the podium in the event for a second year running.

Larson Newspapers

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