Wildcats ready to roar
Richfield came in small numbers to the Taylorsville Invitational. But those few Wildcat athletes left quite a big impression.
Eight members of the Richfield track team made the trek to Taylorsville high with their coach on Saturday, while the rest traveled to Millard to compete in the Old Capital Invitational. If the Wildcats were hoping to make a statement to the rest of 2A, the message came through loud and clear.
Richfield scored 76 points and finished fourth overall among the boys teams at the Taylorsville Invitational. Not too shabby when you consider the three schools that finished ahead of the Wildcats — Davis, Riverton and Bingham. And Richfield was only three points shy of overtaking the Miners for third.
The Wildcats produced four individual winners at the meet, a tally that bested several 5A, 4A and 3A schools in both boys and girls events.
Josh Monsen provided one of the biggest highlights with a victory in the 3200 meters and a winning time of 9:37.25 that set a brand-new 2A state record. Dane Whittaker took first in the 800 after crossing the line in 2:00.85. In the field events, J.D. Michaelson won the long jump with a mark of 21 feet and 1 inch. Tyler Thomas added a first-place finish in the high jump after clearing a height of 6 feet and 4 inches.
After seeing the Wildcats perform on Saturday, I am convinced the 2A title will end up in Richfield’s hands once again when all is said and done. Certainly, the Wildcats would love nothing more than to leave 2A by adding another trophy to its legacy of track dominance.
“This is our last year being in 2A and I guess we want to leave 2A on a good note,” Whittaker said.
Richfield has both the talent and experience to make the Wildcats a tough customer at any track meet. Proving themselves against the best competition was a major reason why the team decided to pile in their coach’s suburban and make a 3-hour drive up to Salt Lake County.
“Our coach’s whole purpose in bringing us up here was seeing what we could do with the big guys,” Monsen said.
One of the biggest sources of motivation driving Richfield to perform at elite levels is the fact the Wildcats came up short at the 2A state meet last year and lost the state title to Juab. With the Wasps down after losing a lot of their senior stars from a year ago, Richfield is hoping to finish business they felt like they left unfinished last spring.
“A lot of the seniors this year are pretty sore about that,” Monsen said. “We just want to bounce back and show that we still have an amazing team and we got a dynasty here.”
Based on what they did at Taylorsville, I’d say the Wildcats are on track to make good on that lofty goal.
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