Trey Johnson helped the Wolverines secure a state title with his performance in the LJ, 110H, 100m and 4x100m. Arizona Milesplit Photo.
After Wednesday's preliminary rounds, many could tell the Tolleson boys were going to be a tough squad to beat. But as they say, that's why we run the race (or jump) anyway. Even given this cliché, and being in the position of the hunted, the boys from Tolleson Union High School delivered on almost every account.
Super sophomore Trey Johnson accounted for almost half of the Wolverine points by taking the state title in the 110HH with a time of 14.83 and then quickly returning to finish 2nd in the 100m dash with a time of 10.76. Alex Poe represented the Tolleson boys in the longer sprint events winning the 400m dash in 48.86 and finishing 2nd in the 200 in 21.92. These two paired up with the likes of Desmond Whitehurst and Ruben Lebron to run a stellar 4x100 relay dipping below the 42-second mark taking the win in 41.91. Between these events, the boys accumulated 46 points and needed just a few other points for the trophy to be theirs. Those points came from several places and showed just how deep of a team the Wolverines had. Travon Smith added a 6th place in the high jump, Jay Tompson contributed 1 point in the long jump and 3 more in the triple jump, Hank Roberts and Matthew Medrano secured a very nice 11 points in the pole vault, and there was enough team depth to bring home a 6th place finish in the 4x400. With 66.5 points, the Tolleson Wolverines outlasted the Cibola Raiders for the Division 2 State Championship.
The Cibola Raiders had a very successful meet as well collecting points from a variety of events, mainly focused in the sprints and jumps. Derick Monroe won the boys' long jump on Wednesday with a jump of 24-00.75 while his teammates Timothy Smith and Damian Purday added another 7 points. On Saturday, Abraham Thompson added an event win the shot put with a throw of 55-8.75. Additional points came from other pieces like a 7th in the 800m from Luis Marquez, a 5th place 4x100, a 7th from Ted Thompson in the 110HH, 13 more points from Timothy Smith and Donte Carr in the triple jump, and a 3rd place 4x400 relay. Unfortunately in the end it was 12 points shy of Tolleson's total.
Outside of the team race there were some outstanding individual efforts in the Division 2 meet. Simon Paige from Prescott becomes the first to pull off the distance triple crown in a few years winning the 1600 meter run leading bell-to-bell in 4:14.35 and doubling back to win the 800 in 1:56.70 after already securing the 3200 title on Wednesday evening in 9:23. These types of efforts do not come without some drama though, as during the 800m run Paige was in the chase pack behind Isaih Fuel of Independence. Fuel was running a great race leading the entire time until the he collapsed in the last 50m, but got up and finished the race. A distance runner with the kind of range Simon Paige has will continue to have a great career.
The other outstanding individual was multi-event champion Julian Coronado-Clark of Copper Canyon. He came in as the favorite in both the 100m and 200m dashes and did not disappoint. In a faster time than it took to win the D1 race, Coronado-Clark blazed a 10.56 drawing a loud cheer from the fully packed stadium. He would return under the lights to finish the job in the 200m dash running 21.68.
Anthony Stennis of Camelback is the D2 300m hurdle champion with a time of 38.79 and Allen Alonso continued the string of good performances by athletes from the Yuma area with a win in the triple jump getting out to 46-00. The beautiful evening ended with a gritty back-and-forth effort from the Verrado Viper boys 4x400 relay. They outdueled some of those Yuma boys from Gila Ridge and Cibola to take the win in 3:22.92.