Boys and girls track relying on distance running for points

The Pahrump Valley boys track team is tearing things up in long-distance running. The Trojans went to Del Sol in Las Vegas on Tuesday to compete against four Division I-A teams. Pahrump finished second (106), Del Sol was first (117.5), Chaparral was third (95) and Spring Valley was fourth (55.5).

Trojans coach Wes Icard said his distance runners have been running hard to improve.

“Bryce Odegard and Layron are pretty much starting where they left off last year, but better,” Icard said. “Then we have new runners, like freshman Sergio Rincon.”

Something that the Trojans are trying to change is the lack of sprinters.

“In the sprinting department, the Trojans boys have had a hard time getting someone to run under 11 seconds,” Icard said. “We had some girls fast enough last year, but we are now having a hard time getting girls out there too. For the boys, Dylan Montgomery could probably run the 100 meter but he is doing so much as it is.”

Despite lacking sprinters, the Trojans boys pretty much swept middle-distance and long-distance runs.

In the 800-meter run, Dylan Montgomery took first (2:15.44), Nik Clark took second (2:19.84) and Rincon took third (2:21.47).

Odegard took first in the 1,600 meter (4:49.0), Sonerholm second (5:07), Joseph Sladek third (5:19.06), Rincon took fourth (5:23.56), Stephen Thelaner fifth (5:23.83).

Finally, in the 3,200 Odegard finished first (10:27.58), Sonerholm second (11:20.19) and seventh place was Thomas Gascoigne (16:16.99).

Montgomery finished second in the 110-meter hurdles (16.29) and Nicolas Harris took first in the 300 hurdles (47.92).

In the 4x100-meter relay, the Trojans finished in fourth place (DeAngelo Brown, Nico Cipollini, Devlon Dillon and Jesse Dillon) 48.89.

The boys took fourth in the 4x200 relay (Clark, Alessandro Mansutti, TJ Milk, Montgomery) 1:39.86.

Pahrump took first in the 4x800 relay (Cole Goodman, Odegard, Rincon, Sonerholm (9:12.83).

Hunter Medici tied for first in the shot put (36 feet, 11.5 inches), Jeremy Albertson was fourth (34-.5) and Devlin Dillon was fifth (33-02.5).

In the discus, Albertson was first (138-04), Medici was fourth (92-10) and Montgomery was fifth (92-04).

In the high jump, Devlin Dillon finished in third (5-06).

Nico Cipollini took first in the pole vault (10-06) and Goodman took third (9-00).

The Lady Trojans finished third out of four teams (126), Del Sol was first (168), and Spring Valley was second (131). The girls are also short on that sprinter who can break 12 seconds and rely heavily on the distance and field eventers to bring home the points.

Icard said he is waiting for two more runners to get off the injured list and his distance running will get more points.

“Right now Sydney Dennis and Vaniah Vitto, both strong distance runners, are out with injuries,” the coach said.

In the 400 meter WhaYoung Choi took fifth (1:30.08).

Grace Gundacker took fifth in the 800 meter (3:13.22). Icard said this freshman runner practices hard.

“She is doing a great job filling in for Sydney Dennis,” Icard said.

In the 1,600 meter, Alicia Quiroz took second (6:42.28) and she took second in the 3,200 meter (14:57.11).

Meghan McDermott took first in the 100 hurdles (17.19).

In the shot put, Caeli Havel finished first (30-01), Alyssa Begin took fourth and Samantha Mansuy took fifth (22-00).

Begin finished in first in the discus (72-02), Havel second (71-05) and Rebecka Willing fourth (66-09) and Jena Broderick fifth (64-06).

In the high jump, Annabelle Brophy took first (4-08),McDermott second (4-06), Samantha Runnion third (4-04).

Ashley Floyd finished in third in the pole vault (6-06), Julia Salvall fourth (5-06).

In the long jump, McDermott took second (14-09). Runnion took third in the triple jump (25-07).

The Trojans are at the Liberty Invitational on Saturday in Las Vegas.

Contact sports editor Vern Hee at vhee@pvtimes.com