REGION CHAMPIONS • For the third time in four years, the Wasps have won the Region 12 Track & Field Championships. Juab won the title with 118 points beating 2nd place Richfield by a comfortable 21 points at the two day meet (May 6-7) at Carbon High School. This win for the Wasps ended Richfield's 13 year reign (since 2002) of winning the Boys Region Championship. (Note: Richfield is not always in the same region as Juab). Photo Courtesy of Cheryl Carter.
By Nick LaBuda
JHS Track Coach
On Wednesday, May 6 and Thursday, May 7, the Region 12 Track & Field Championships were held at Carbon HS in Price. Five teams competed in 16 events (8 individual races, 3 relays, 3 throwing events, and 2 jumping events) for both boys and girls. The first day the weather was cooler and rainy for most of the meet. The second day was warmer but we still ended up with a 30-minute lighting delay and rain. However, despite the conditions, our athletes performed very well.
The Juab boys led the way with 118 pts., with Richfield 2nd (97 pts.), Payson 3rd (87 pts.), Carbon 4th (21 pts.), and North Sanpete 5th (10 pts.). Going into the meet, based on seeding Juab was favored to win by 7 pts., so to come away with a 21 pt. victory was tremendous. Richfield is not always in our Region, but when they are, they are nearly impossible to beat. Richfield had not lost a boys Region Track Championship since 2001, so the Wasps ended Richfield's 13-year winning streak when they won the title last week. Also, Juab is becoming a dynasty of their own, as we have now won 3 out of the last 4 boys Region Championships.
The Juab girls came in 2nd with 102 pts., just barely losing to Richfield who had 107 pts. Payson came in 3rd (49 pts.), Carbon 4th (46 pts.), and North Sanpete 5th (29 pts.). The 5 pt. margin that separated Richfield and Juab was closer than expected, since going into the meet Richfield was favored to win by 11.5 pts. based on seeding. So our girls, although somewhat sad to just barely miss out on the championship, should lift their heads up high because they closed the gap to make it a much tighter competition.
Juab had several athletes take home individual or relay region titles. Our boys Region Champions were: Spencer Eldridge who did phenomenal and won 4 individual events (110m Hurdles, 15.71; 400m, 49.34; 300m Hurdles, 39.43; 200m, 22.36), Jaxon Allred who won 2 individual events (Shot Put, 41-11; Javelin, 168-00), Kyler White who won the 800m (2:00.34) with a crazy last 50m kick, and Aaron Clark who won the High Jump (6-00). Our girls Region Champions were: Kashley Carter who won 2 individual events (1600m, 5:13.69; 3200m, 11:19.11), Taylor Cowan who won the Javelin (120-00), and the Medley Relay (Erika Stanley, Shanna Spencer, Krista Nielson, Kashley Carter, 4:22.73).
The other Lady Wasps that scored (Top 5) at Region were: 1600m (Nicole Anderson, 3rd, 5:46.20; Whitney Slater, 5th, 5:55.77), Long Jump (Autumn Kay, 3rd, 16-06; Bethni Jenson, 4th, 15-08.25), Shot Put (Katie Wickel, 3rd, 30-07.50), Javelin (Belle Allred, 5th, 103-11), 3200m (Nicole Anderson, 2nd, 12:27.27; Whitney Slater, 3rd, 12:40.00), 100m (Bethni Jenson, 3rd, 13.35), 4x100m Relay (Erika Stanley, Meadow Kay, Shanna Spencer, Chandley Allred, 2nd, 52.63), 400m (Bethni Jenson, 4th, 1:00.08), 800m (Kashley Carter, 2nd, 2:16.94), 200m (Autumn Kay, 3rd, 27.40; Meadow Kay, 5th, 27.80), 4x400m Relay (Autumn Kay, Meadow Kay, Krista Nielson, Bethni Jenson, 2nd, 4:11.33), High Jump (Autumn Kay, 2nd, 4-11; Kemri Buck, 3rd, 4-09), and Discus (Jessica Anderson, 3rd, 93-03; Katie Wickel, 5th, 93-00).
The other Wasps that scored (Top 5) at Region were: 1600m (Kyler White, 2nd, 4:37.31), Medley Relay (David Taylor, Diego Carmona, Blake Penrod, Kyler White, 2nd, 3:50.74), High Jump (Jake Norman, 5th, 5-08), Discus (Jaxon Allred, 2nd, 131-06), 3200m (Kyler White, 3rd, 10:26.52), 110m Hurdles (Jared Rowley, 4th, 17.13), 100m (Diego Carmona, 5th, 11.76), 4x100m Relay (Diego Carmona, Tim Covington, Jake Norman, David Taylor, 3rd, 45.43), 200m (Tim Covington, 5th, 23.69), 4x400m Relay (Tim Covington, Jaxon Allred, Jake Norman, Aaron Clark, 2nd, 3:34.57), Long Jump (Jake Norman, 3rd, 20-05; Aaron Clark, 5th, 19-06), Shot Put (Tyler Evans, 3rd, 37-06), and Javelin (Aaron Clark, 2nd, 157-01; Jackson Rowley, 4th, 133-10).
Anyone that finished in the Top 4 at Region will be competing at the UHSAA State Track & Field Championships at BYU on Friday, May 15 and Saturday,May 16. The meet starts at 8:00 a.m. each day. Please come out to support the team!
