Leftovers: District 1-4A Track
Last night as I left work about 11:30 p.m., I told sports editor Darren Vaughan that I needed to pick up some sunscreen on the way home.
I still had to go for a run and cook dinner. "Nah," I thought. "How bad could it be?"
After spending the day at Aztec's track... really, really bad. My face and arms look foreign. Accounting for the contrast with my lily-white skin, I look like a tomato slathered in mayonnaise.
To prove to the sun that I will not be incinerated, I'm giving you a little extra from today's District 1-4A track meet. In case you missed it, Aztec's boys and girls teams both won.
* Aztec's Jake Espinoza gets my vote for meet MVP, winning three individual events, anchoring the winning 4x400 and finishing third in the high jump. His 100-meter win and 4x400 leg were head to head with Farmington's Josh Newsome. Espinoza won, but some folks insinuated that Newsome was at full strength. That wasn't the case.
Newsome strained his hamstring earlier in the year. He pulled up in his first race back and missed several weeks of training and meets. This wasn't the same Newsome that we saw early in the season. This Newsome faded near the finish and looked out of shape. Espinoza won the 100 in 11.35, nearly a second slower than Newsome's district record set last year. All the competitors looked tense in the shoulder/neck area and needed to run smoother.
Both Espinoza and Newsome will face off again next year assuming both are healthy.
* Farmington's Riley McGovern did not compete in either hurdle event after finishing sixth in the long jump. McGovern is healthy and missed several meets during the season in lieu of his club soccer team. There were rumors Saturday from credible sources that the Scorpions coaches were upset with McGovern, and he may have some explaining to do ahead of next weekend's state meet.
Kirtland Central's Tyrel Long won the 300-meter hurdles in McGovern's absence, running 41.29 seconds. The Broncos took the top two spots in both the boys and girls 300 hurdles.
* The Scorpions' 4x200 team was disqualified after a false start. Coaches have voted three times in recent years to keep the one-and-done rule, which is fairly unusual. The Olympics, for example, assess the first false start to the entire field, and the second false start earns a DQ.
* Farmington's Kenny Howard thinks he can throw the shot put 58 feet at the 4A state meet if he rotates his foot more on his follow through. Howard won the shot put Saturday and finished second in the discus despite lingering foot pain that prevented him from utilizing a full rotation.
"I'm just standing there throwing and seeing how far it goes," Howard said.
* Jon Bindues cruised to a four-second win in the 800-meter dash but still hasn't broken the 2-minute barrier. He'll get one last opportunity next weekend at the University of New Mexico track, where he hopes to walk on next year.
Bindues also won the 1,600 and anchored Piedra Vista's winning sprint medley relay. He ran a 59-second first 400 during the relay, two seconds faster than his open race. He never lost form, but could stand to pick up his leg turnover during his second lap if he wants to break 2:00.
* KC's Kourtni Ashcroft is coming close to mastering the three-step between hurdles. Ashcroft three-stepped the majority of her 100-meter prelim, qualifying first in 16.65 seconds. She struggled with fatigue during Saturday's final, abandoning the three-step. She had to power over the final two hurdles to distance herself from second and third.
"I'm still pretty weak on the three steps and there was a few I would four-step," Ashcroft said. "Hopefully I can have it by state. I feel pretty confident."
* KC's Amanda Kerr now owns the 800 and 1,600-meter school records for the Broncos after her 2:26 in Friday's 800. Kerr said she shortened her stride during the second lap to create faster turnover, but made up the time difference by going out faster.
Someone calling her splits told her she had 40 seconds to run the final 200, but she didn't buy it.
"I was like, 'I don't think that's right,'" Kerr said. "So I just took off hauling butt all the way."
Kerr ran a 33-second 200 to open all three of her races. She won her first 3,200 race of the year, but had trouble settling on the right pace.
"I tried to stay behind as long as possible, but it kept getting slower and slower," Kerr said. "I was afraid I wouldn't have the energy, but I was like, 'I've got to go.' My plan was to leave with two laps to go and I ended up leaving with four."
Kerr believes the 1,600 will be the most difficult event for her at state because it represents a midpoint and includes talented 800 and 3,200-meter runners.
Kerr also said teammate Myka Benally complained of ankle pain about two weeks ago. Benally pulled out of the 3,200 on Friday before being diagnosed with a stress fracture.
* A quote from Aztec coach Steve Lanier on his expectations for the state meet:
"We'll sit down now and look and see who's where. Right now it's kind of a whirlwind," Lanier said.
On winning district:
"You set goals at the beginning of the year and when they come true it's always good. I think it's very important to (my athletes to win district). It gives us momentum. (Now), nothing counts but the next meet. That's what we work for and that's what we train for. District's a sweet spot on the road."
* Many athletes spent too much time standing around waiting for their event to start. The meet didn't include a rolling schedule. I believe there was 10 minutes between the sprinting events. When the girls 100 ended, the boys waited a significant amount of time for the start of their race.
Espinoza, who admitted thinking he ran much faster than 11.35, speculated the standing around time might have played a factor in the slow times.
"It's definitely different because we usually go right away, but it'll be like that at state, so we might as well get used to it," Espinoza said.
Stay true and keep pounding,
Christopher
I still had to go for a run and cook dinner. "Nah," I thought. "How bad could it be?"
After spending the day at Aztec's track... really, really bad. My face and arms look foreign. Accounting for the contrast with my lily-white skin, I look like a tomato slathered in mayonnaise.
To prove to the sun that I will not be incinerated, I'm giving you a little extra from today's District 1-4A track meet. In case you missed it, Aztec's boys and girls teams both won.
* Aztec's Jake Espinoza gets my vote for meet MVP, winning three individual events, anchoring the winning 4x400 and finishing third in the high jump. His 100-meter win and 4x400 leg were head to head with Farmington's Josh Newsome. Espinoza won, but some folks insinuated that Newsome was at full strength. That wasn't the case.
Newsome strained his hamstring earlier in the year. He pulled up in his first race back and missed several weeks of training and meets. This wasn't the same Newsome that we saw early in the season. This Newsome faded near the finish and looked out of shape. Espinoza won the 100 in 11.35, nearly a second slower than Newsome's district record set last year. All the competitors looked tense in the shoulder/neck area and needed to run smoother.
Both Espinoza and Newsome will face off again next year assuming both are healthy.
* Farmington's Riley McGovern did not compete in either hurdle event after finishing sixth in the long jump. McGovern is healthy and missed several meets during the season in lieu of his club soccer team. There were rumors Saturday from credible sources that the Scorpions coaches were upset with McGovern, and he may have some explaining to do ahead of next weekend's state meet.
Kirtland Central's Tyrel Long won the 300-meter hurdles in McGovern's absence, running 41.29 seconds. The Broncos took the top two spots in both the boys and girls 300 hurdles.
* The Scorpions' 4x200 team was disqualified after a false start. Coaches have voted three times in recent years to keep the one-and-done rule, which is fairly unusual. The Olympics, for example, assess the first false start to the entire field, and the second false start earns a DQ.
* Farmington's Kenny Howard thinks he can throw the shot put 58 feet at the 4A state meet if he rotates his foot more on his follow through. Howard won the shot put Saturday and finished second in the discus despite lingering foot pain that prevented him from utilizing a full rotation.
"I'm just standing there throwing and seeing how far it goes," Howard said.
* Jon Bindues cruised to a four-second win in the 800-meter dash but still hasn't broken the 2-minute barrier. He'll get one last opportunity next weekend at the University of New Mexico track, where he hopes to walk on next year.
Bindues also won the 1,600 and anchored Piedra Vista's winning sprint medley relay. He ran a 59-second first 400 during the relay, two seconds faster than his open race. He never lost form, but could stand to pick up his leg turnover during his second lap if he wants to break 2:00.
* KC's Kourtni Ashcroft is coming close to mastering the three-step between hurdles. Ashcroft three-stepped the majority of her 100-meter prelim, qualifying first in 16.65 seconds. She struggled with fatigue during Saturday's final, abandoning the three-step. She had to power over the final two hurdles to distance herself from second and third.
"I'm still pretty weak on the three steps and there was a few I would four-step," Ashcroft said. "Hopefully I can have it by state. I feel pretty confident."
* KC's Amanda Kerr now owns the 800 and 1,600-meter school records for the Broncos after her 2:26 in Friday's 800. Kerr said she shortened her stride during the second lap to create faster turnover, but made up the time difference by going out faster.
Someone calling her splits told her she had 40 seconds to run the final 200, but she didn't buy it.
"I was like, 'I don't think that's right,'" Kerr said. "So I just took off hauling butt all the way."
Kerr ran a 33-second 200 to open all three of her races. She won her first 3,200 race of the year, but had trouble settling on the right pace.
"I tried to stay behind as long as possible, but it kept getting slower and slower," Kerr said. "I was afraid I wouldn't have the energy, but I was like, 'I've got to go.' My plan was to leave with two laps to go and I ended up leaving with four."
Kerr believes the 1,600 will be the most difficult event for her at state because it represents a midpoint and includes talented 800 and 3,200-meter runners.
Kerr also said teammate Myka Benally complained of ankle pain about two weeks ago. Benally pulled out of the 3,200 on Friday before being diagnosed with a stress fracture.
* A quote from Aztec coach Steve Lanier on his expectations for the state meet:
"We'll sit down now and look and see who's where. Right now it's kind of a whirlwind," Lanier said.
On winning district:
"You set goals at the beginning of the year and when they come true it's always good. I think it's very important to (my athletes to win district). It gives us momentum. (Now), nothing counts but the next meet. That's what we work for and that's what we train for. District's a sweet spot on the road."
* Many athletes spent too much time standing around waiting for their event to start. The meet didn't include a rolling schedule. I believe there was 10 minutes between the sprinting events. When the girls 100 ended, the boys waited a significant amount of time for the start of their race.
Espinoza, who admitted thinking he ran much faster than 11.35, speculated the standing around time might have played a factor in the slow times.
"It's definitely different because we usually go right away, but it'll be like that at state, so we might as well get used to it," Espinoza said.
Stay true and keep pounding,
Christopher
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