San Juan, Monticello track and field teams finish 1-2 at annual Blue Mountain Invitational

by Rhett Sifford
Sports Editor
The San Juan High School track and field team scored 383.5 combined points to win the Blue Mountain Invitational in Monticello this past Saturday, April 13. The host Buckaroos were second with 296.5 points.
Grand County was third, scoring 279 points. North Sevier took fourth with 77 points, Green River and Whitehorse tied for fifth with 11 points apiece, and Monument Valley was seventh with nine points.
The Broncos won the boys division 218.5 to 154.5 over Monticello. Monument Valley was fifth with all nine of their points at the event coming in the boys competition. Whitehorse tied Green River for sixth with six points.
In the girls competition San Juan beat Grand by a slim 12-point margin, 165 points to 153. Monticello was third with 142 points while Whitehorse again tied Green River for sixth with five points. Monument Valley did not score any points in the girls division.
In the girls 100-meter dash San Juan’s Addison Helquist and Adison Ivins were the only two runners representing San Juan County to score points. They came home third and seventh respectively with times of 13.72 and 14.22.
Six of the top eight runners in the boys 100 meter hail from the county and it was a very tight race with all the point scorers finishing within a second of each other.
Jagger Nieves won the event with an 11.45 while Bronco teammate Zack Conway was just a fraction of a second behind with an 11.58. Monticello’s Tavon Black was third with an 11.60.
Bronco Josiah LaPalmer came across fifth with a time of 11.96. Lynnox Benn of San Juan and Monticello’s Soren Welch tied for sixth with identical times of 12.11.
In the girls 100-meter hurdles Lady Buckaroo Maron Freestone was second, just four-tenths of a second behind the winner with an 18.52. Teammate Lay Petersen was fifth in 20.03. San Juan’s Adison Ivins took third and Ella Davis was sixth with times of 18.67 and 22.62 respectively.
Brigham Nielson took second in the boys 110 hurdles for the Broncos, crossing the line in 16.52. Monticello swept fourth through seventh with Chandler Henderson, Curtis Bunker, Seth Taylor, and Zac Thayn coming home in 18.51, 18.55, 19.75, and 20.47. 
In the girls 200-meter dash San Juan’s Addison Helquist crossed the line in second with a 29.50, just .23 behind the winner. Makenna Peterson took sixth for Monticello in 30.41.
Grand County’s Aiden Gordon won the boys 200 meter, but San Juan and Monticello runners dominated from there, filling out the remaining seven scoring positions.
Broncos Zack Conway, Jagger Nieves, Lynnox Benn, and Josiah LaPalmer took second, fifth, seventh, and eighth, spanning times of 23.93 to 25.22. Buckaroos Robert Morrison, Tavon Black, and Soren Welch were third, fourth, and sixth with times of 24.07, 24.32, and 24.78.
Only three girls competed in the 300-meter hurdles. Monticello athletes Lay Petersen and Shayla Pehrson finished 1-2 with times of 57.45 and 58.35. San Juan’s Sadie Palmer took third with a 1:01.14.
In the boys 300 hurdles Brigham Nielson was second for San Juan, crossing the line in 42.66. Teammates Andrew Nielson and Cooper Laws were sixth and seventh with times of 47.91 and 49.28.
Monticello runners Aaron Petersen, Chandler Henderson, and Curtis Bunker took third, fifth, and eighth with times of 45.91, 47.55, and 49.28 respectively.
In the girls 400-meter dash nobody could catch Lady Red Devil Cadence Kasprick, but San Juan’s Reaghan Laws took second with Monticello’s Makenna Peterson, Grace Coleman, and Ayla Carling sweeping third through fifth. They all finished with times spanning 1:05.21 to 1:13.91.
In the boys 400 Soren Welch won the gold medal for Monticello in 55.06. Riley Benallie, of Whitehorse, was sixth with a 1:05.26.
In the girls 800-meter run Marah Long and Ayla Carling came home fifth and eighth for the host team with times of 2:48.19 and 2:57.52.
San Juan standout Edward Lyman won the boys 800 meter with a speedy 2:11.03 while teammate Rosendo Martine took sixth in 2:36.49.
Jesse Pettit was second for Monticello with a time of 2:30.71 and fellow Buckaroo Aaron Gillette crossed the line fifth in 2:35.96.
Monument Valley’s Josiah Gipe got a solid performance in the 800 with a fourth-place finish in 2:32.09. Riley Benallie and Robryan Tapaha took seventh and eighth in 2:43.83 and 2:44.51 respectively.
Marah Long dominated the girls 1600 meter run, finishing six seconds ahead of the field with a 6:10.02. Teammate Alexis Bailey was sixth in 7:37.07. San Juan runners Sincere Nez, Ada Lyman, Olivia Weeks, and Rosalie Kartchner took third, fourth, fifth, and seventh with times of 6:44.81, 7:27.30, 7:31.28, and 8:15.14 respectively.
In the boys 1600 it was once again Edward Lyman out in front for the Broncos with a time of 4:37.08. His brother Abram took second, crossing the line almost 35 seconds later in 5:11.87.
Teammates Rosendo Martine and Logan Keith took fourth and fifth in the event with times of 5:23.46 and 5:33.68.
Two Monticello runners snagged top-eight finishes in the 1600 also. Kaden Pehrson took third in a solid effort and Jesse Pettit came home eighth. Their times were 5:21.51 and 5:51.56 respectively.
Monticello and San Juan girls took all the points in the 3200 meter. Ayla Carling won the event for the Lady Bucks in 13:45.45 while teammate Alexis Bailey took fourth in 16:20.51.
San Juan’s Sincere Nez was second with her time of 14:35.26, Ada Lyman came in third with a 16:09.21, and Rosalie Kartchner took fifth in 17:43.40.
It was a tight race in the boys 3200 but Monticello’s Jesse Pettit beat Grand’s Trayson Carling by two seconds to take the title with a time of 11:32.67. Teammate Aaron Gillette was fourth in 11:43.63.
Rosendo Martine took third for San Juan with a strong 11:38.01, just under six seconds off the winning pace. Abram Lyman was sixth for the Broncos with a 13:20.06. And Monument Valley’s Josiah Gipe came in fifth with a 12:06.47.
In the girls 4x100 relay Reaghan Laws, Adison Ivins, Keezie Flannery, and Addison Helquest led San Juan to a second-place finish with a time of 53.91.
Monticello was third in 57.69 with their team of Madi Adair, Maron Freestone, Lay Petersen, and Makenna Peterson.
The Whitehorse team of Rayauna Lee, Shandiin Roberts, Katie Whitehair, and Malia Sam was fourth with a time of 1:06.24.
In the boys 4x100 San Juan beat Grand County by two seconds with the team of Brigham Nielson, Josiah LaPalmer, Zack Conway, and Lynnox Benn in 45.92.
The San Juan boys dominated the 4x400 with Brigham Nielson, Edward Lyman, Abram Lyman, and Lynnox Benn, finishing with a time of 3:48.44.
The Monticello team of Chandler Henderson, Curtis Bunker, Ronnie Harris, and Aaron Petersen was second with their time of 4:07.70.
The win in the girls sprint medley relay went to Monticello’s team of Grace Coleman, Maron Freestone, Marah Long, and Ayla Carling with their time of 4:57.71
The San Juan squad of Sadie Palmer, Sincere Nez, Ada Lyman, and Josie Larsen was almost 18 seconds behind in second with a time of 5:15.48.
In the boys sprint medley the Buckaroos beat the rival Broncos by just four seconds in an exciting race. Tavon Black, Soren Welch, Curtis Bunker, and Kaden Pehrson brought MHS home in 4:05.51.
For San Juan it was Remington Patterson, Andrew Nielson, Abram Lyman, and Cooper Laws finishing second with a time of 4:09.95.
Moving to the field events, San Juan and Monticello dominated the girls discus. Lady Bronco Savannah Richmond won the event by almost nine feet, throwing an impressive 98 feet, two inches.
Teammates Bostyn Black and Saraeya Mills were fourth and eighth with throws of 75-6.75 and 62-0.75 respectively.
The Monticello girls took second, third, fifth, and sixth in the discus. Madi Adair was second with her throw of 89-2.75. Shayla Pehrson was third with an 80-5.0, Kyleigh Adair was fifth with a 72-2.5, and Braylee Freestone was sixth with her 71-10.25.
Nial Reay won the boys discus for Monticello with a massive throw of 145 feet, four inches. Teammate Robert Morrison took fourth with a throw of 100-1.25. Zac Thayn was sixth with a 99-10.0, and Ryan Lewis was seventh with his 98-6.25.
For San Juan Jared Burke was fifth in the discus with a throw of 100-0.75. And Logan Keith came in eighth with his 95-8.5.
In the girls shot put Kyleigh Adair just missed winning the title for Monticello with her effort of 27 feet, five inches, just 2.5 inches shy of the winning distance.
Five San Juan girls earned points in the event: Savannah Richmond, Hayden Shumway, Bostyn Black, Saraeya Mills, and Sierra Richmond. They were third, fourth, sixth, seventh, and eighth with distances ranging from 27-0.5 to 23-8.5.
Jared Burke and Cash Palmer finished 1-2 in the boys discus for the Broncos and Logan Keith was eighth. Burke’s winning put flew an impressive 42 feet, 5.75 inches. Palmer’s effort went 41-10.5 and Keith’s was 33-4.0.
Nial Reay finished in the points for the Buckaroos in the shot put with his solid effort of 37-3.25, good enough for fifth place.
Lady Bronco Sadie Palmer won the girls javelin with her throw of 87 feet, nine inches as San Juan took four of the top eight spots and six of the top ten in that event.
Adison Ivins was fifth with a 75-3.0, Bostyn Black was sixth with a 73-11.5, and Sierra Richmond was seventh with a 69-8.5. Monticello’s Madi Adair snagged the last point in the javelin with her throw of 69-1.5.
In the boys javelin it was Monticello at the top of the podium with Robert Morrison’s hearty throw of 154 feet, nine inches. It beat the nearest competition by over 22 feet.
San Juan’s Tripp Palmer finished third in the event with his throw of 129 feet and Thomas Hardin was sixth with a 96-2.0.
Lay Petersen took second in the girls long jump for Monticello with a jump of 13 feet, 10.25 inches. Amazingly that was over two feet shorter than Grand County athlete Kailee Meador’s winning jump of 16 feet, one inch.
But San Juan took all the remaining points in the event, securing third place through eighth with Jordan Jones, Oaysis Nielson, Olivia Weeks, Ella Davis, Kellyn Davis, and Sierra Black. Their distances ranged from Jones’s 13-9.75 down to Black’s 12-4.0.
On the boys side it was Keaton Ivins taking the long jump win for the Broncos with his effort of 20 feet, six inches. Teammate Tripp Palmer was third with an 18-11.0, George McNaughtan was fourth with his 18-2.5, and Andrew Nielson was sixth with a 17-7.0.
Monticello’s Robert Morrison finished second and Josh Morrison took seventh with distances of 20 feet and 17-4.5 respectively.
In the girls high jump San Juan’s Keezie Flannery took the title when she cleared a height of five feet, one inch. Monticello’s Maron Freestone was second with a 4-8.0 and Dani Black took seventh with her jump of 3-11.0.
For the boys San Juan swept the top three places which were the only registered scores in the high jump. Tripp Palmer cleared the bar at five feet, 11 inches to take the win. Keaton Ivins jumped 5-9.0 and George McNaughtan cleared 5-4.0.
Action continues this weekend for all four of the teams in southeastern Utah. San Juan, Monticello, and Whitehorse are all set to compete in the Eastern Utah Championship at Carbon High School in Price on Friday, April 19.
Monument Valley will join local teams in Colorado at the Ron Keller Invitational in Durango on Saturday, April 20.