Bronco track and field teams gather momentum as they head into home stretch of season

by Rhett Sifford
Sports Editor
The San Juan High School track and field teams kept a steady pace with two meets in the past two weeks: the Dixie Invitational in St. George April 11-12 and the Eastern Utah Championships in Price this past Friday, April 18.
The Broncos faced some very stiff competition in St. George but came away with some respectable performances. The boys scored 24 points to finish eighth among 15 teams.
An incomplete girls group was 13th with eight points and the teams combined for 32 points, which was good enough for 12th out of 16 total schools.
Tripp Palmer’s name has been become very common in San Juan High School track and field stories in the San Juan Record this season, and that won’t change in this story.
The Bronco junior continues to dominate every event he enters and he continues to appear on the Deseret News list of top high school track and field athletes every week.
Palmer accounted for 18 of San Juan’s 24 points at the Dixie Invite. His jump of six feet, five inches won the high jump and his javelin throw of 172-11 was the fourth-best throw in St. George.
He was also part of the Broncos’ 4x100 relay team that took sixth place in 46.18 along with Miken Keith, Stetson Black, and JD Palmer.
The San Juan boys sprint medley team of Austin Pincock, Andrew Nielson, Platte Lyman, and Abram Lyman collected the remaining six points on the weekend. They crossed the line in 4:13.12, taking third place.
The girls eight points in the Dixie Invitational were all scored in the 4x100 relay. The team of Keezie Flannery, Addison Helquist, Adison Ivins, and Aspyn Ivins finished in 53.81 seconds, half a second behind race winner Canyon View.
Both teams scored a lot more points at the Eastern Utah Championships in Price this past Friday, April 18. The boys took fourth place with 60.5 points and the girls were sixth with 43. San Juan was fourth as a combined team with 103.5 points.
Tripp Palmer led the boys once again with 26 points on the day. He won the high jump, clearing the bar at six feet, eight inches.
That jump moved him into a tie with Eli Connelly of Crimson Cliffs for the top high jump in the state among all classifications this season.
It also matches Palmer’s school record that he set in the 2024 state championships. He was second in the long jump with a 20-6.5 (fourth-best in school history) and second in the javelin with a throw of 161-9.
Andrew Nielson had a great day in Price also, accounting in part for 19.5 Bronco points. Individually he took fifth in the 300-meter hurdles, crossing the line in 43.42 seconds for four points. He was fifth in the 110 hurdles in 17.07, scoring 3.5 points.
Nielson was also part of the 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams that both took third place in their races. The team of Andrew Nielson, Miken Keith, Stetson Black, and JD Palmer crossed the line in 46.25 in the 100.
The team of Abram Lyman, Platte Lyman, Andrew Nielson, and Cooper Laws came home in 3:49.9 in the 400. Both teams scored six points in each of those races.
In addition to his run in the 4x400 Platte Lyman had a very nice run in the 1600, taking sixth place in 4:49.4. That performance earned him the fourth-best 1600 time in school history.
Miken Keith scored three points when he threw the javelin 137 feet, three inches, taking sixth place. Cooper Laws’s 43.86 in the 300-meter hurdles secured sixth place and three points also.
JD Palmer was sixth in the high jump with a 5-5. Brigg Palmer took seventh in the 110 hurdles in 17.1. And Abram Lyman was eighth in the 400-meter dash in 54.96, earning the final team point for the Broncos.
Savannah Richmond scored 11 individual points and Keezie Flannery collected ten to lead the girls attack in Price. They were also both part of the 4x100 relay team that scored an additional five points for the team.
Richmond took second in the girls discus with a throw of 100 feet even for eight points. She was sixth in the shot put with a 28-0.5 for three points.
Flannery was the girls high jump runner-up when she cleared the bar at 4-10, earning eight points. She was seventh in the 100 hurdles for two points.
Hayden Shumway collected five points for the Lady Broncos with a fifth-place result in the shot put at 29-3.5. She was eighth in the discus with a throw of 82-9.25.
Myra Zohnnie took fifth in the javelin for San Juan with her throw of 88-1, earning four individual points. Saraeya Mills was right behind in sixth place in the javelin with an 87-0. And Sincere Nez took eighth in the 3200, crossing the line in 13:03.31.
The girls 4x100 and sprint medley relay teams combined for nine points. Savannah Richmond, Aspyn Ivins, Adison Ivins, and Keezie Flannery crossed the line in 55.14 to take fourth in the 4x100.
The sprint medley team of Ada Lyman, Sincere Nez, Lucy Black, and Brittany Jensen was fifth. They finished the race in 5:05.81.
This week the San Juan track and field teams will get a bit of a reprieve from the road. They’ll take the very familiar short trip north to Monticello to compete in the Blue Mountain Invitational on Friday, April 25.