Desert Hills Invitational Highlights

While some of the state’s top high school track athletes headed down to the prestigious Arcadia Invitational over the weekend, many other state title contenders remained behind to boost their times and distances here locally.

One such invitational to showcase these local athletes was the Desert Hills Invitational on Saturday. Here are some highlights from that invitational:

~ In the team competition, Dixie finished as the top girls team by a substantial margin. The Flyers scored 116 points – 47 points ahead of second-place finisher Snow Canyon. On the boys side, Pine View took home top honors. The Panthers scored 111.50 points and finished 25 points ahead of runner-up, and defending 3A champ, Hurricane.

~ Individually, Maria Allen and Jennika Wright shined for Dixie. Allen won three events, the most of any athlete at the meet. She claimed victory in the 100 meters with a time of 12.57 seconds, won the 200 after finishing in 25.89 and prevailed in the long jump after going a distance of 17 feet and 10 inches. Wright picked up first-place finishes in the discus and the shot put. She threw a distance of 106 feet 4 inches to win the discus and finished on top in the shot with a throw of 42 feet and 4 inches.

~ Tyler Bullock and Dyllen Cafferty had strong showings in the sprints for Pine View. Bullock won the 400 meters after finishing in 50.07 seconds and took third in the 200 with a time of 23.21. Cafferty won the 200 after crossing the line in 22.99 seconds. Trevor Thompson also had a solid victory in the 3200 after finishing in 9:48.64 to win that race.

~ Monticello’s Macee Nielson and Bountiful’s Rosalie Griffin both won multiple events on Saturday. Nielson, who competed unattached, won the 1600 meters with a time of 5:27.52 and then claimed victory in the 3200 with a time of 11:09.31. Griffin won the 400 meters after finishing in 59.64 seconds and claimed the top spot in the 100 hurdles with a time of 16.02.

~ Pleasant Grove’s Scott Matheson, who competed unattached, had a strong showing in the jumps. Matheson won the triple jump – an event not included at the state meet – with a distance of 40 feet and 11 inches. He also prevailed in the long jump with a top distance of 22 feet and 3.5 inches.

If you want me to share highlights from other recent invitationals, e-mail results or a link to those results to me at jcoon@desnews.com:

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