Monday, February 18, 2008

Simplot Games Update

Darts -

It was an incredible year at the Simplot Games. We had some of our best performances of the year and some of the best in school history, and it was exciting to be there with the biggest and the loudest TEAM at the meet. I thought all of our athletes competed with a lot of heart, but also showed tremendous support and excitement for their teammates. I love the positive attitude, the willingness to do what we as coaches ask, and the passion that our athletes bring to the sport. A special thanks to all the parents who made the trip possible by supporting your kids and by driving a bunch of them up to the meet. When I tell other coaches that we don't bring a bus, but we are able to get 60 kids up there with parents driving, they are amazed at our parental support. Thanks to the Kussees, the Carling, the Princes, the Rochas, the Lotts, the Webbs, the Storeys (both of them), the Eddys, the Kings, the Hawses, the Wards, the Stuarts, and I am sure I missed others - but Thanks. Also, thanks to both of the other coaches, I think I have really lucked out with getting both Coach McFadden and Coach West. They are extremely dedicated to the athletes. And a big thanks to all 3 of our spouses (Stefanie, Mindy, and Wyatt) who came up to support us and to support the TEAM. It is difficult to cover all of the highlights for the TEAM, but here is an attempt at what our 60 athletes did at the meet (all results can be seen at www.simplotgames.com):

Boys 3200m
Seth Gutzwiller - 9:53.59 in trials (Davis #4 All-Time); finished 10th in the finals (9:56.56)
Carston Feigleson - 10:23.76 (Davis #20 All-Time) PR
Bryson Snow - 10:31.79 (Davis #27 All-Time) PR

Girls 3200m
Natalie Haws - 11:22:01 in trials; Finished 1st with 10:56.16 in finals (School Record; #3 All-Time for Utah Athletes) She ran a very patient and smart race. It was fun to watch her slowly run the leaders down and then pull away with a strong finish
Julianne Wirthlin - 11:57.39 in trials (PR); 11:44.87 in finals - 8th place (Davis #6 All-Time; Utah #40 All-Time) Took 29 seconds off of her PR in 3 days.
Emily Hansen - 12:01.75 in trials (PR); 11:50.58 in finals - 10th place (Davis #10 All-Time; Utah #54 All-Time) Took 13 seconds off of her PR in 3 days.

Boys 1600m
Spencer Anderson - 4:41 in trials; 4:36.82 in finals (PR, Davis #12 All-Time) Passed 7 runners in an amazing last lap kick to finish 18th.
Bryce Larsen - 4:46 in trials; then a PR 4:39.10 in finals (Davis #14 All-Time)
Caleb Ward - 5:12; just missed a PR
Cody Robbins - 5:28; just missed a PR

Girls 1600m
Candace Eddy - 5:10 in trials; 1st place 4:54.57 in finals (PR; School Record; Utah #3 All-Time); Ran a negative split (2:32/2:22) with a last lap of 67! Looked really strong over the last half of the race to pull away from the pack (watch the video on dyestat.com)
Katie Swanson - 5:32 in trials; 14th place - 5:30.99 (PR; Davis #11 All-Time) in finals - looking strong again after a stress fracture in the fall.
Loren Storey - 5:30 (PR; Davis #10 all-time) in the trials; 5:37 in finals just 1 hour after running a strong 2:22 relay split in the medley 800.
Kelsey Valentine - 5:41 (PR) in the trials; 5:40 (PR) in the finals.
Meghan Hedquist - 5:40 (PR) in the trials; 5:45 in the finals
Ashley Ballard-Sume - 5:48 in trials and 5:48 in finals (PR)
Lizzy Wallin - 5:54 (PR) - congrats on the 1st time under 6:00. One of the coolest parts of this race was the excitement of her teammates.
Brooke Stromberg - 6:01 (PR)
Carlee Petersen - 6:24 in the trials, but the time was not important compared to Carlee's desire. She made a last minute decision to run with a lot of pain in her leg, and showed a lot of guts and determination to get through the race.

Boys Weight Throw
Bryce Hall - had to use a different weight than he was used to (ours didn't pass standards), but still managed an 8th place finish

Boys Long Jump
Jonathan Ferguson - missed the qualifying mark of 21'00 by only inches with his best indoor jump ever (around 20'09); would have finished about 10th in the meet (only 8 jumpers met the qualifying mark).
Kye Kunz - difficult to tell on the distance (since they don't measure), but looked really strong and had consistent approaches

Girls High Jump
All 3 jumpers (Michelle Clouse, Britin Storey, Amy Rees) looked strong on their attempts at 4'10, but just missed making the finals.

Boys Shot Put
Bryce Hall - 59'02.50 (close to his PR) for 3rd place
Tony Hill - 51'02.00 for 10th place
Kenny Scoresby - although he didn't reach the 45' qualifying mark, Kenny has stayed positive and worked hard all season.

Boys Pole Vault
Jordan Stuart - had some close attempts at the qualifying height of 13'00 (near his PR), but just missed qualifying for finals.

Boys 200m
Jordan Stuart - 25.28 (PR) who knew a varsity XC runner could move so fast.

Boys 60m Hurdles
Shaun Webb - 8.53 in trials (PR; #3 All-Time); 8.56 in finals - finished 12th in a tight race
Dan Houston - 9.59 just missed his PR
Brandon Farnsworth - 10.77 (PR)

Girls 60m Hurdles
Brooke Jensen - 9.54 in trials; finished 14th in finals with 9.46 - solid performance after having been sick the past week. Finished the season as Utah # 6 All-Time)
Rachel Jackson - 10.40 (PR; #13 All-Time)
Chelsea Jackson - 10.47
Britin Storey - 10.92; just missed her PR
Collette Simmons - 11.22
Missy Lott - 11.27
Emily Prince - 11.81
Erica Petty - 11.92; season best. Also did a great job helping us with Ashlyn - thanks :)

Girls 200m
Kayla Sagers - 28.88 (PR) Kayla has done a good job working hard (and often on her own) all season as a 9th grader.
Amy Rees - 29.40 (PR)

Boys 400m
Dan Willoughby - 53.95 in his 2nd 400 of the day; although Dan was disappointed in his race, he had a great season considering he was coming off of an injury
Jonathan Ferguson - 55.00 (PR) in his 1st 400 ever and his 3rd race of the morning (we kept Jon busy on Friday)
Kye Kunz - 55.86 (PR) in his 1st 400 ever

Girls 400m
Michelle Clouse - 1:07.69 (PR)
Brittany Sumsion - 1:13.42 - time didn't matter much here. Brittany was the inspirational athlete of the meet, running with a lot of heart. She was in a wheelchair due to stress fractures less than a month ago. She brings a lot of determination to the TEAM and is a great example to us all.

Boys 60m
Ryan Avery - 7.18 in trials; finished 4th place in the finals with 7.01 (PR; School Record; Utah # 6 all-time).
Taylor Carling - 7.44
Tanner Hinds - 7.46
Zach Boarden - 7.63
Brock Rasmussen - 7.67
All the times were solid considering they weren't allowed to wear spikes on the track during the trials. We are looking stronger than ever in the sprints going into the outdoor season; especially when we add Maik Wehmeyer back into the mix. Maik has been injured, but still came up to support the TEAM and showed a lot of intelligence and maturity in the sport in helping us coach. It also took some humility and patience on his part to not risk making his injury worse, even though he wanted to run so badly.

Boys 800m
Ryan Thomas - 2:08.24 (PR)
Derek Gallacher - 2:09.45
Leland Stenquist - 2:09.77 (PR)

Girls 800m
Hollie King - 2:27.39 (PR; #6 all-time) - barely missed finals in a very deep year.
Jesse Wilding - 2:30.79 (PR; #10 all-time) - has been showing great improvement as a sophomore in her first year focusing on the 800; runs gutsy every time
Ally Adams - 2:33.05 (PR - by 6 seconds!)
Talya Kussee - 2:33.19 (PR)
Lizzy Wallin - 2:38.98 (PR) running as McKayla Williams (Syracuse)

Girls 60m
Kristen Billings - 8.23 - has shown tremendous improvement in this event this season moving up to #4 on our all time list
Dani Figgins - 8.39 (PR; #9 all-time) - is just hitting her top speed at the finish and is going to run some fast 100m in outdoor

Girls 4 x 200
A Team - (Brooke, Dani, Missy, Kristen) just missed finals, but ran 1:49.56 (the 7th fastest of any Utah team in history).
B Team - (Amy, Collette, Emily P, Kelsey D) 1:56.92

Boys 4 x 200
A Team - (Taylor, Tanner, Zach, Ryan) - 1:33.97 in trials (School Record; Utah # 13 all-time); unfortunate mistake in finals; but we are resilient and these guys are going to fly in outdoor.
B Team - (Brock, Jon, Dan H, Kye) - 1:40.15; some young guys showing a lot of speed

Girls 4 x 400
A Team - (Rachel, Chelsea, Missy, Candace) - 4:10.93 in trials (61 split for Rachel); and 4:06.75 (Davis #3 All - Time; Utah #10 All-Time) with a 61 from Chelsea and a 59 from Candace. Finished 7th by .25
B Team - (Michelle, Kayla, Lizzy, Brooke) - combination of distance runners and young sprinters ran a solid 4:37.22

Boys 4 x 400
A Team - (Shaun, Josh, Dan, Wes) - a disappointing 3:44.81; 14th place in trials (2 seconds off finals) Josh nearly lost a leg trying to finish the race. Although his injury held us back, he showed guts and desire. We are going to be strong in this event in outdoor (even after losing so much depth last year).
B Team - (Caleb, Cody, Brandon, Carston) - group of mostly distance runners; impressive part was watching Brandon try to hold off the 1st place team trying to lap them.

Girls Medley
A Team - (Loren, Kristen, Brooke, Candace) - 4:10.94 in the trials (School Record; Utah # 5 All-Time) 62 split by Loren, and a 2:14.0 split by Candace (PR, would have won the open 800). In the finals Loren stepped up to the 800 with a 2:22 and Kristin stepped up (against her will) in the 400 but really came through with an impressive 63 split, and Britin stepped in to run solid in the 200 The team finished 8th in 4:23
B Team - (Chelsea, Rachel, Dani, Natalie) - 4:21.22 (Davis #3 All-Time; Utah #19 All-Time); very impressive to have 2 of the top 3 qualifying teams. 2:21 split by Natalie. In finals, Hollie stepped in for the 800 (to keep Natalie fresh for the 3200), and the team finished 10th in 4:26.
C Team - (Ally, Erica, Britin, Emily H) - 4:43.30 in the trials

Boys Medley
A Team - (Wes, Dan, Shaun, Spencer) - 3:43.12 in trials to make it to the fast heat, then 3:40.02 (Davis #2 All Time, Utah #14 All-Time) in finals with some awesome splits: Wes 52.0, Dan 23.7, Shaun 22.6, Spencer 2:01.6
B Team - (Ryan, Dan, Jon, Derek) - 3:51.88 in trials (just missed finals) - through the team together at the last minute and all were willing and ready to run hard after a long day on Friday.

Girls 4 x 800
A Team - (Hollie, Talya, Jessica, Kelsey) finished 4th with 10:03.12 (Davis #3 All Time, Utah #20 All-Time) Hollie - 2:29, Talya - 2:30, Jessica - 2:27, Kelsey 2:35 (1 hour after the 1600).
B Team - (Ally, Katie, Ashley, Meghan) - finished 6th in 10:26.91; it was awesome to have 2 teams on the podium. Katie, Ashley, and Meghan had all run the 1600 1 hour before.

Boys 4 x 800
A Team - (Ryan, Derek, Leland, Bryce) - finished 4th in 8:31.58. All ran solid splits. It was fun watching Derek run some other teams down to finish with a medal
B Team - (Carston, Bryson, Jordan, Caleb) - finished 11th in 9:00. Led by Jordan's 2:08 split after finding out he was running it the night before.

Coaches 200
Coach West - 28.91; she still has wheels
Coach McFadden promises to run next year.

Alumni Report (From Coach Buhrley): Impressive performances continue for ex-Darts. Morgan Haws ran an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 16:36.04 in the 5000m run at Washington. This is the #2 mark ever at Weber State as well as the #6 mark ever in the Big Sky. It ranks her #5 in the NCAA this year. Incredible!!! At Boise, Jennifer Schiess won the high jump with a leap of 5'05". She’s jumping very well at just the right time. Krista Larson continued to throw well as her 54'10" won the weight throw. Ashlee Cannon’s 25.66 was very fast for an indoor 200m dash, and she also ran a great 8.72 in the 60m hurdles. Some of you have asked about Jace Nye: he is red-shirting this season because of some injuries, but should be ready for a great outdoor season. Several ex-Darts will be in action locally this weekend at the Weber State tune-up meet. For meet information go to: http://www.weberstatesports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=8600&ATCLID=1367169

Upcoming Schedule:
Tuesday, February 26: Meeting for Outdoor Track - After school in the auditorium

Outdoor Schedule:
March 14 (Friday) Intersquad Meet @ Davis
March 19 (Wed) Davis/Layton @ Viewmont
March 25-26 (Tues-Wed) Super Meet (8 teams) @ Davis High
April 5 (Saturday) Alta Invite
April 8-9 (Tues-Wed) Davis District Championships @ Woods Cross
April 12 (Saturday) UHSTCA Invite @ Syracuse High
April 11-12 (Fri-Sat) Arcadia Invite @ Arcadia, CA
April 16 (Wed) Syracuse/Clearfield @ Davis
April 23 (Wed) Davis/Northridge @ Clearfield
April 26 (Saturday) Davis Invite
April 30 (Wed) Davis @ Fremont
May 3 (Saturday) BYU Invitational
May 7-8 (Wed-Thurs) Region Championships @ Davis High
May 13 (Tuesday) Sophomore Region @ Fremont
May 16-17 (Fri-Sat) State Championships @ BYU

Uniforms - Anyone that has a Davis Uniform needs to get it back to Coach Talley or Coach West ASAP. This includes any alumni who may still have their uniforms or warmups. It also includes cross country runners who might still have the uniforms from the season or from Nike Regionals in Tempe. Thanks :)

www.darttrack.blogspot.com
www.davisindoortrack.blogspot.com - Simplot Pictures soon to come

Contact us with any questions:
Coach Talley ctalley@dsdmail.net
Coach West jawest@dsdmail.net
Coach McFadden mmcfadden@dsdmail.net

1 comment:

Tami Boarden said...

Coach Talley,
Thank you so much for the work you do to keep this blog up to date. For those of us who aren't always able to attend the meets, this provides awesome coverage of the event. Thank you for the pictures and the great commentary as well. You do excellent work and I really apprectiate the time you put into this site(and your coaching time)!