Day 3 of the AIA State Championships marked the end of the outdoor track season. This grand finale included multiple close races and impressive marks.
Throws
Junior out of Show Low High School Taylar Kregness won the Shot Put with a 5-foot lead over the next competitor, making her the state champion in only her junior year. Her mark was exactly 40-03.00. Expect to see Kregness again next year.
Jumps
Senior Tanner Willis from Snowflake High School wins a close battle in the Division 3 boy's long jump. Tanner's mark (23-01.50) put him 5 inches in front of the second place finisher Nehamiah Brown from Buckeye Union (22-07.25).
Similar to the long jump, the high jump was a very lose finish. Jake Hall, junior from Snowflake high school, took the boys high jump with his mark of 6-07.00. Not far behind him was Jayton Hall of American Leadership Academy with an extremely close mark of 6-06.00.
Hurdles
State-favorite out of Walden Grove High School Jala Pickney won the 100m hurdles with a time of 15.23. Pickney won by more than a second, giving her a comfortable lead on the way to her state title. Pickney went on to come in second for the 300m hurdles with a time of 46.37, which was almost a second off of the winner. Kelsey Schultz from Fountain Hills High School was the winner of the 300m hurdles with a time of 45.67.
Darius Martindell, senior from Safford High School won the 110m hurdles in a close race with Darzell Smith with a time of 15.21. Martindell is a Senior while Smith is only a junior, so expect to see Smith again next year.
Sprints
Naudia Dawson and Hannah Flodin went back and forth in the 100m and 200m, each winning one and coming in second for the other. Flodin won the 200m with a time of 26.63 and came in second in the 100m with a time of 12.95. Dawson took the 100m in 12.95 and finished as the runner-up in the 200m in 26.91.
Pole Vault
Julianna Park from American Leadership Academy dominated the field on saturday, winning by six inches in the D3 girl's pole vault. Park hit a mark of 11-00.00 to win the championships as a junior.
Distance
Relays
The Peoria boys 4x800m took the state title for D3 on sturday afternoon with a time of 8:20.97. They won in a close battle with Combs High School, who finished with an 8:24.24.
Rio Rico High School won the girls 4x400m with no surprise. The Schadler sisters each ran an important leg, allowing Rio Rico to win the 4x400m with a time of 4:05.08.
Teams
The Snowflake boys won the Division 3 State Championships with a score of 74. Second place went to the Salpointe Catholic boys with a score of 67.
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