Santa Rita's Myers wins sprint, hurdles at D-III girls track

• Briana Myers of Tucson Santa Rita pulled off a rare double in the 100 hurdles and 100-meter dash.
• Estrella Foothills freshman Tori Wayne won the high jump over another ninth-grader.
• Symone Wright-Flowers of Northwest Christian won the 400 meters then captured the 200.
• Cottonwood Mingus set the tone early with a win in the 3,200-meter relay.

Briana Myers didn't think she could pull off the rare double win that she did on Saturday at the Division III state track and field championships.

Cottonwood Mingus pulled off a triple — winning its third straight team title.

Myers won the 100-meter hurdles in the first race of the day and then a short time later won the 100-meter dash to cap her high school career with two gold medals.

"I was really confident in the hurdles but it was kind of weird in the 100 because I came in seeded No. 5," Myers said. "But I ran my best and it paid off."

In the hurdles, Myers was well ahead of second place Kilee Richards of Snowflake, winning by 1.16 seconds.

Then, in the premier event of the day, Myers got a great start and clocked 12.74 in the sprint, .11 of a second ahead of Chandler Seton Catholic's Ciara Erran and .13 seconds ahead of Sahuarita's Emily Bliven (12.85).

"I've been doing this since freshman year, the hurdles and the 100 back-to-back," Myers said. "So I am definitely used to the short recovery period but definitely 100 hurdles and then 100, they are really different but I pulled it off today."

In the team competition, Mingus amassed 68.33 points, outdoing Fountain Hills with 54.5, Safford (45.33), Lakeside Blue Ridge (43) and Sedona Red Rock (40).

Sophomore Symone Wright-Flowers of Phoenix Northwest Christian earned a double win in the 200 and 400 meters.

"So excited, I have working all season for it," Wright-Flowers said. "It's really great because this is the first time for me running the 400.

She had run the sprints — 100 and 200 — as a freshman a year ago. Competing in Division IV, she was third in the 200 and fifth in the 100.

She put together a near-perfect race in winning the 400 meters in 58.88, ahead of Makenna Wengert of Lakeside Blue Ridge (59.26) and Justine Taylor of Mingus (59.68).

"I just practiced on getting out fast and maintaining my speed, turning it on in the 200 and finishing with everything I got," Wright-Flowers said.

In the 200, Wright-Flowers ran in 26.18, a quarter of a second ahead of Yasheika Beckaroo of Sahuarita.

Brooklyn Farar of Safford won the 300 meter hurdles with a time of 47.91, taking a lead early over Madi Blaes of Fountain Hills, who finished second in 48.48.

"Just focused on speed, lengthening my stride and pumping my arms," Fara said. "It takes year-round practice and determination."

Ganado sophomore Daangolina Haven won the 3,200 meters in 11:13.49, ahead of freshman Chamique DuBoise of Fort Defiance Window Rock (11:16.50).

Seton Catholic won the 4x100 relay – with a team of Erran, Chelsey Eze, Grace Milhone and Lauren Shapiro, clocking 50.31, ahead of Lakeside Blue Ridge (50.71) and Goodyear Estrella Foothills (50.75).

The Mingus 4x800 relay team of Taylor, Monica Soliz, Rachel Valentine and Megan Goettl won in a time of 9:48.51, four seconds ahead of Fountain Hills.

The Safford 4x400 relay team edged Rio Rico by .05 of a second in the final running event of the night. Rio Rico's Alexandra Schadler, running the anchor leg, took the lead on the final lap, but Safford's Tyanne Martindell got her at the tape.

In the high jump, freshman Tori Wayne of Estrella Foothills cleared 5-foot-6, four inches better than Phoenix St. Mary's freshman Quintella Johnson. In the discus, Gabriella Simon of Sedona Red Rock easily took the title with a throw of 116-4. Mingus senior Heather Calandra finished second at 107-2.

In the long jump, Tristen Vaughn of St. Mary's edged Makenna Wengert of Blue Ridge with a jump of 17-3 3/4. That was a half-inch longer than Wengert's best effort. Sydney Olson of Snowlake was third (17-2 3/4).