San Juan boys, Monticello girls finish second in SJC Invite

by Rhett Sifford
Sports Editor
The San Juan High School track and field team hosted the annual San Juan County Invitational this past Friday, March 21. Six schools paid a visit to Blanding, including Carbon and all the 1A Region 19 teams.
The Dinos spoiled the San Juan County party a bit, as they scored 287 points to win the boys team title and 263 points to win the girls division.
The San Juan boys were second with 209 points, Monticello was third with 62, Whitehorse was fourth with ten team points, and Monument Valley scored seven points to take fifth.
In the girls competition Monticello took second place with 161 points, San Juan was third with 120, Whitehorse was fifth with 15, and Monument Valley scored two points to finish sixth.
San Juan junior Tripp Palmer, on the weekend he was named a Utah All-State basketball player, showed why he’s one of the premier athletes in the area when he dominated the day, winning three individual championships and scoring 36 points for his team.
Palmer captured gold medals in the boys 110-meter hurdles with a 16.96, the javelin with a 168.8, and the high jump with a 6-5. He also finished third in the long jump with a 19-2.25.
Andrew Nielson won the boys 300 hurdles for San Juan when he crossed the line in 44.36 seconds. He finished fifth in the 110 hurdles in 18.07 for a total of 14 points on the day.
Abram Lyman picked up an individual win in the 3200-meter for San Juan, finishing in 10:59.01. And Cash Palmer won the boys shot put with his effort of 46 feet, 1.5 inches.
The Broncos also had seven second-place finishes on the afternoon, including Brody Bilbao in the 100-meter dash in 11.78, Miken Keith in the 200 in 24.20, Stetson Black in the discus with a 104-11, and Remy Whatcott in the shot put with a 38-9.
All three of the San Juan relay teams earned second-place finishes. The 4x100 team of Miken Keith, JD Palmer, Stetson Black, and Cole Duke crossed the line in 46.23 seconds.
The 4x400 team of Andrew Nielson, Cooper Laws, Danny Price, and Trace Bilbao finished in 4:09.83. And the sprint medley team mad up of Abram Lyman, Oren Bradford, Andrew Nielson, and Cooper Laws came across in 4:11.05.
Third-place finishers for the Bronco boys included Austin Pincock in the 3200 with his solid 11:23.7 run, JD Palmer in the discus with a throw of 103-10.5, and Miken Keith in the javelin with a lengthy 136-11.
Fourteen additional boys scored points for San Juan, including Miken Keith who was seventh in the 100. His 16 points on the day was second only to Tripp Palmer for the team.
Branten Bethea was fifth in the high jump, seventh in the 200, and eighth in the 100. Brigg Palmer took fourth in the 110 hurdles and eighth in the javelin.
Cooper Laws was fourth in the 300 hurdles. Oren Bradford and Trace Bilbao were seventh and eighth in the 400 respectively. Austin Pincock took fourth in the 1600 and sixth in the 800. Rosendo Martine was fifth in the 800 and seventh in the 1600.
JD Palmer finished fourth in the javelin while Thomas Hardin took fourth in the shot put, sixth in the javelin, and eighth in the discus.
Trey Bradford was fifth in the shot put, while Platte Lyman was fifth in the 3200 and sixth in the 1600. Stetson Black was eighth in the long jump, and Jeraden Hurst took eighth in both the 800 and 3200.
The Monticello boys earned one individual gold medal at the San Juan County Invite when Tavon Black crossed the line in 23.79 in the 200 meter. Black also secured a third-place finish in the 100 to lead the MHS boys with 16 points on the day.
Eli Carling took second in the boys 800 and fifth in the 1600, collecting 12 points for the Buckaroos. Carter Rogers was fourth in the 100 and sixth in the 200, scoring eight points.
Carling and Rogers were part of the Monticello sprint medley team that took third place and also included Tavon Black and Kooper Nielson.
The 4x100 team of Jaeden Camacho, Carter Rogers, Miles Coleman, and Tavon Black also took third, as did the 4x400 team of Dalton Adams, Anson Kendrick, Ronnie Harris, and Kooper Nielson.
Other Monticello point-scorers included Kooper Nielson who was fourth in the 400 meter, and Seth Taylor who took seventh in the 300 hurdles and eighth in the 110 hurdles.
The Whitehorse boys scored ten points in Blanding, entirely in relay races. The Raider 4x100 team of Riley Benallie, Asa Hot, Dillion Lee, and Hunter Tsinigine finished fourth in 53.33. And the sprint medley team of Benallie, Hot, Lee, and Ethan Chee was also fourth in 5:04.39.
Josiah Gipe was the only Monument Valley athlete to earn points in the boys competition. He finished the 800-meter race in 2:31.11, good enough for fourth place and five points. He was seventh in the 3200, collecting two points in that race.
In the girls competition Monticello led the way among the teams representing San Juan County with 161 points. Despite the tally they were a distant second place to Carbon, who scored 263 points in a dominating effort.
Marlee Mack put on an impressive show for the Lady Bucks in Blanding, however, outscoring everybody on the day – to include Tripp Palmer.
She amassed 40 points, winning all four of the events in which she competed. She snagged gold medals in the 100-meter dash, 100-meter hurdles, 300 hurdles, and the long jump.
Maron Freestone had an outstanding day as well, collecting 25 points for the Monticello girls. She was second in the high jump, third in the 300 hurdles, third in the 400, and fourth in the 100 hurdles.
Marah Long was next in line for the Lady Buckaroos with 18 points on the day. She won the 1600 meter in 5:58.52, 22 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher. She was second in the 800 meter.
Long was also part of the relay teams that won the sprint medley and took second in the 4x400. Her teammates in the medley were Grace Coleman, Myah Lewis, and Lilli Burton. Racing with her in the 4x400 were Lewis, Ayla Carling, and Makenna Peterson.
Carling had a good day also, scoring 11 points for the MHS girls. She was third in the 1600 and fourth in the 800. Kyleigh Adair picked up a third-place individual performance in the shot put with her effort of 31-3.
The Lady Buckaroo 4x100 team of Madison Adair, Jane Burton, Lilli Burton, and Aubrey Black took third place, crossing the line in 58.4.
Eleven additional girls scored points for Monticello, including Madison Adair, Kyleigh Adair, and Braylee Freestone who finished fourth, fifth, and sixth in the discus.
Josie Mack was sixth in both the 100 hurdles and 300 hurdles. Olivia Plemons finished sixth in the 400. Allie Carling came home sixth in the 800 and seventh in the 1600.
Mikaylah Gillette was seventh in the 800 and eighth in the 400. Coral Delorenzis took seventh in the javelin while Lay Petersen was eighth in the 100 hurdles, 300 hurdles, and long jump. Myah Lewis finished eighth in the 100 and 200, and Alexis Bailey was eighth in the 3200.
The San Juan girls scored 120 points as a team, led by the 16-point performance of Hayden Shumway. She came home second in both the discus and shot put with distances of 92-1.75 and 31-9 respectively.
Savannah Richmond crushed the competition in the discus, hurling a throw of 113 feet, 5.5 inches, which would have placed her second among the boys behind Carbon senior Stetson Holden. Richmond took fifth in the shot put to finish the day with 14 points for the Lady Broncos.
Sincere Nez was right behind Richmond with 12 points as a result of her second-place finish in the 1600 and a fifth-place performance in the 3200. Sadie Palmer took second in the javelin.
The San Juan girls 4x100 relay team of Keezie Flannery, Addison Helquist, Adison Ivins, and Aspyn Ivins and the sprint medley relay team of Brinley Jones, Havoc Laws, Ada Lyman, and Sincere Nez both finished second with times of 54.50 and 5:14.47 respectively.
Flannery secured a third-place individual finish in the high jump and took sixth in the long jump. Lyvanna Benn rounded out the top-three finishes for the Lady Broncos with a third-place performance in the javelin.
San Juan wasn’t finished though as eight more girls collected points for their team. Saraeya Mills was fourth in the javelin and eighth in both the discus and shot put. Adison Ivins was fourth in the high jump and fifth in the 100 hurdles.
Addison Helquist took fifth in the 100-meter dash for the Lady Broncos. Aspyn Ivins was fifth in the long jump and sixth in the 200.
Ada Lyman finished sixth in the 3200 and Havoc Laws was sixth in the javelin. Myra Zohnnie was sixth in the shot put and eighth in the javelin. And Sloane Middleton came home seventh in the shot put.
The Whitehorse girls got four points on Shandiin Roberts’s fifth-place throw in the javelin. The sprint medley team of LaKayra Begay, Rayauna Lee, Katie Whitehair, and Maria Yellowman took third place, earning six points.
And the Lady Raiders’ 4x100 team of Lee, Whitehair, Begay, and Laylah Benally was fourth, earning five points for a total of 15.
The Monument Valley girls earned two points in Blanding when Summer Atene crossed the line in 1:16.09 to finish seventh in the 400-meter dash.
All four of the track and field teams representing San Juan County are back in action this week, but they’re heading in different directions.
Whitehorse will compete in Shiprock on Friday, March 28 before joining Monument Valley for the Lake Powell Invitational in Page, AZ on Saturday, March 29.
Monticello and San Juan are heading to Salina, UT for the North Sevier Invitational on Saturday, March 29.