Region 9’s top track and field athletes gearing up for state 4A meet at Davis High

Runners compete at the Region 9 track and field championships, Desert Hills High School, St. George, Utah, May 12-13, 2021 | Photo courtesy of Pine View Athletics, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — Region 9’s top track and field athletes will be wrapping up their season by competing in the state 4A track meet this weekend.

Runners compete at the Region 9 track and field championships, Desert Hills High School, St. George, Utah, May 12-13, 2021 | Photo courtesy of Pine View Athletics, St. George News

Instead of being held at Brigham Young University in Provo as it has been for many years, this year’s event is being staged at Davis High School in Kaysville. The 5A and 6A classifications already held their state meet at Davis High on Tuesday and Wednesday; the other four classifications will compete on Friday and Saturday. For a complete schedule of events, click here.

Since there was no track season in the spring of 2020 due to COVID-19, Cedar High is still the reigning girls 4A state champion, with the Reds edging region rival Desert Hills for the state title in 2019 by a single point, 107-106. Meanwhile, the Desert Hills boys have won seven state titles in a row.

Cedar senior Logann Laws, who won the javelin throw as a sophomore that year, will be looking to defend her individual state title. Laws’ best throw at state in 2019 measured 140 feet, 2 inches. This year, the BYU signee has already surpassed that more than once, including a throw of 143 feet, 7 inches to win the Region 9 championship meet at Desert Hills High on May 12-13. Laws also recorded a personal-best throw of 146 feet, 8.5 inches at the Dixie Invitational on May 1, breaking a Cedar High School record that had stood since 1989.

Cedar High senior Logann Laws after winning javelin throw at Dixie Invitational, St. George, Utah, May 1, 2021 | Photo courtesy of Laura Laws, St. George News / Cedar City News

Laws is one of four Cedar High javelin throwers who’ve qualified for state, joining fellow seniors Kelsi Oldroyd and Grace Morales and junior McKelle Kerns. 

Almost every other state champion from Region 9 in 2019 has already graduated by now, but one other returning individual winner is Spencer Carlile of Dixie, who won the 300 hurdles as a sophomore in 2019. Carlile, now a senior, didn’t run the 300-meter race at the recent region meet, but he did win the 110 hurdles against stiff competition from Hurricane senior Kenneth Moore. Moore ended up placing second in that event, in addition to winning the 300 hurdles at region. Carlile does have the state’s fastest time this year in the 300, posting a 37.73 on March 19 at Snow Canyon.

Hurricane distance runners Josh Armstrong, a senior, and Caila Odekirk, a junior, are expected to earn the Tigers some points in their specialty events, the 800-, 1600- and 3200-meter races

Meanwhile in the faster races, Snow Canyon sprinter Kristin Cook, a junior, won both the 100- and 200-meter dashes at the region championships. Cook is the only 4A sprinter with a qualifying time of under 12 seconds in the 100, having clocked an 11.92 at the BYU Invitational on May 8.

In the boys events, Pine View juniors Dominique and Marcus Mackenzie have posted some blazing times over the course of the season. Dominique Mackenzie set a state record in the 200-meter dash with a time of 20.96 at the BYU Invitational on May 8 (he later ran a wind-aided 20.73 that’s not eligible for the record books). Both twins are expected to be top contenders in the long jump as well.

Desert Hills senior Peyton Williams throws 59 feet, 7 inches in the shot put, Herriman, Utah, May 7, 2021 | Photo courtesy of Desert Hills Athletics, St. George News

Desert Hills senior Peyton Williams has dominated in both the discus and shot put events this season. At the region championships, Williams won the discus with a throw of 162 feet, 6.5 inches, beating his nearest competitor by some 33 feet. In the shot put, Williams’ winning throw of 60 feet broke his previous school record of 59 feet 7 inches set the previous week on May 7, and was nearly 10 feet farther than the runner-up’s best mark.

Shailee Bundy, also a senior at Desert Hills, is expected to be a top contender in the shot put. She won the Region 9 title with a throw of 36 feet, 7 inches, which was just under two feet shy of her season-best effort of 38 feet, 6 inches, set in Herriman on May 7.

Desert Hills ended up winning both the boys and girls Region 9 titles on their home turf on May 12-13. For complete results of that meet, click here. Cedar finished second in the girls and third in the boys, while the Pine View boys placed second.

To see the entries for the state meet, including qualifying athletes and their times, click here.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2021, all rights reserved.

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