Pahrump Valley track teams enjoy big day at Coronado

Junior Chance Farnsworth posted the third-best high jump effort in the state thus far this year, clearing the bar at 6 feet, 3 inches to lead the Pahrump Valley boys track and field team to a third-place finish Wednesday at the Coronado Spring Break Invitational at Coronado High School in Henderson.

Farnsworth’s leap was also good for second among Class 3A athletes in the state, and Pahrump Valley coach Fred Schmidt said he has a chance to do better.

“Sometimes some kids create their own mental block,” Schmidt said. “I watched him trying for 6-4, and he missed all three attempts at it, and you could tell when he approached the bar he wasn’t going to do it. So that’s something we’ll have to coach him out of.”

The best high jump mark in the state this season is 6-10 by John Harper of Mojave, while Cameron Fullow of Class 4A Las Vegas posted a 6-7 at the O’Dea Relays. But if 6-10 might be out of reach, Farnsworth isn’t settling for 6-3.

“He and his sister are both coming in to work with Randall Cunningham, who has worked with a couple of our athletes in the past,” Schmidt said. “When your son is one of the top jumpers in the country and so is your daughter, you’ve got something going on there.”

The Trojans compiled 95.5 points to trail host Coronado (114.5) and Sierra Vista (107). Centennial took fourth with 83 points and Desert Pines finished fifth with 63 in the 14-team field.

“Everything was good,” Schmidt said. “It was a little breezy, but it was nice and warm, and good, hot days are good for jumps and throws.”

Other Pahrump Valley winners were Bryce Odegard, who ran the 3,200 meters in 10 minutes, 19 seconds, and the 4 x 200 team of DeAngelo Brown, Tony Fortin, Dylan Coffman and Braylon Durazo, who finished in 1:38.31.

“Bryce ran in the open 400. He was hoping to knock out the school record, which is 51.07 or something like that,” Schmidt said. “And he ran a 51.29, which is the best 400 in the state.

“He’s just so unassuming. He’s so quiet and shy and speaks very softly, and to see him dominating these events is just crazy.”

The 4 x 200 team posted the seventh-best time in Class 3A this season. Pahrump Valley boys posted top-10 efforts in Class 3A in six events.

Michael Sonerholm’s strong day included fourth place in the 1,600 (a personal record of 4:51.17, No. 6 in 3A), fifth place in the 800 (2:11.63) and a leg on the second-place 4 x 800 relay (8:57.65) with Layron Sonerholm, Jacob Cipollini and Grant Odegard.

Layron Sonerholm also took fifth in the 3,200, posting the ninth-best Class 3A time with a season-best 10:52.51. Brown, Fortin, Coffman and Casey Flennory recorded the 10th-best Class 3A time in the 4 x 100, finishing fourth in 47.06.

Junior Kaden Hastings set personal records in both the 110 hurdles (19.10, fifth place) and the 300 hurdles (47.28, ninth place). Durazo teamed with Josh Belcher, Brandon Ruud and Grant Odegard to finish sixth in the 4 x 400 in 4:03.61.

“I think a couple of our relays have really picked up,” Schmidt said. “A few of them are in the top 10 in the state, which is really not normal for our boys teams. We don’t usually have great sprinters, but when it comes to relays, we’re competitive.”

In the field events, senior Jeremy Albertson finished second in the discus with a throw of 149-4, while classmate Morgan White placed fith in both the shot put (41-9) and discus (124-5).

Brandon Ruud (9-0) and Christopher Geer (8-0) finished fifth and sixth, respectively, in the pole vault, and Jacob Sawin took sixth in the triple jump in 37-0.

Girls finish fifth

The Pahrump Valley girls turned in a solid day as well, compiling 57 points to nose out Liberty (56) and Rancho (53) for fifth place. Centennial won the meet with 131.5 points.

The girls’ effort included seven performances that landed them among the top 10 in Class 3A this season, including three of the four relays.

The 4 x 200 team of Grace Gundacker, Cynthia Martin, Haile Souza and Jazmyne Turner and the 4 x 800 unit of Sydney Dennis, Makayla Gent, Diamond Sonerholm and Gundacker each finished second. The 4 x 800 time of 10:51.78 is No. 5 among Class 3A teams in the state, while the 4 x 200’s 1:59.11 was good for ninth.

The third-place 4 x 400 team of Martin, Gent, Gundacker and Dennis finished third in 4:53.92, which is also fifth in Class 3A. Souza, Jersey Farnsworth, Zarah Whittle and Jazmyne Turner finished third in the 4 x 100 in 57.98.

Gent recorded personal records of 2:35.72 in the 800, good for fifth place, and 5:37.33 in the 1,600 to place fourth. Both put Gent among the top 10 times this season in Class 3A. Dennis’ seventh-place 2:36.80 in the 800 was a personal best and good for ninth in Class 3A.

“Makayla Gent just keeps hammering her times,” Schmidt said. “She PR’d by about nine seconds in the 1,600. That kid just keeps knocking them down.”

Two Trojans finished in the top 10 in the 3,200, with Grace Plumb taking fourth in 13:24.41 and Katherine Goodman taking ninth in 14:54.24.

Pole vaulter Romilyn Carreon’s 7-6 effort was a personal best and tied her for seventh in Class 3A, while Jessica Turner finished seventh in the shot put (29-0) and 10th in the discus (79-11, a personal record). Destany Korschinowski took 10th in the shot put at 26-10.

Three high jumpers landed in the top 10 for Pahrump Valley, all by clearing 4-6. Elaina Dattillio tied for fourth, Jersey Farnsworth placed seventh and Annabelle Brophy tied for eighth.

The Trojans will take some time off before their next competition, weekday meets April 12 at Western and April 18 at Cheyenne.

Contact Sports Editor Tom Rysinski at trysinski@pvtimes.com On Twitter:@pvtimes