Pahrump Valley’s young track athletes debut at Newcomers Meet

Sophomore Hillary Valencia won the 800 meters and freshman Elizabeth Shockley captured the shot put to highlight the Pahrump Valley High School girls track and field team to a third-place finish at the annual Newcomers Meet on Thursday at Las Vegas High School.

Valencia won the 800 in 2 minutes, 51.61 seconds to beat Faith Lutheran’s Hannah Mildon by almost 2 seconds. They reversed places in the 1,600, as Valencia took second in 6:45.56 behind Mildon’s 6:45.56.

The meet gives athletes new to high school track and field a taste of competition without having to face more experienced athletes. Trojans coach Fred Schmidt said he brought 33 girls and 28 boys to the meet, and they combined for 25 top-six performances.

Shockley also won one event and placed well in another, with her discus result of 7.87 meters edging the 7.82 effort by Leyah Carvajal of Moapa Valley. She also took sixth in the discus with a throw of 17.52 meters, finishing just ahead of sophomore teammate Josefina Monjaras’ 16.28.

The Trojans did well in the girls discus, as Kaylee Notterman placed fifth (6.55) and Kyeliegh Sherard took sixth (6.45).

Alessandra Martinez had a strong day in the hurdles, placing second in both the 100 (20.80 seconds) and 300 (1:00.74) events. In the 100 hurdles, Jessica Garcia took fifth (22.76) and Lynnly Jackson placed sixth (23.37) for Pahrump Valley.

Garcia and Martinez finished among the top five in the 1,600 behind Valencia, with Garcia running fourth (7:04.03) and Martinez crossing in fifth (7:07.62).

The other top-six effort on the girls side came from Peyton Odegard in the 800, who ran fourth in 3:13.30.

Daniel Edghill, Makoa Batongbacal and Tannor Hanks each finished among the top six in two events, with Batongbacal placing in the distances and Hanks in the throws. Edghill placed fifth in the 100 meters (12.23) and second in the high jump (1.72).

Batongbacal ran 11:50.48 to finish third in the 3,200 and turned in a time of 5:21.47 in the 1,600, good for sixth place. Hanks tied for fourth place in both the shot put (33-6) and discus (76-7).

Pahrump Valley’s Pete Poulis tied for third in the long jump with a leap of 5.68 meters, while the Trojans placed two hurdlers among the top five in both races. Ivan Crisler (2nd, 19.95) and Zach Small (5th, 21.71) placed in the 110, while Ikaika Keanaaina (4th, 52.09) and Jose Verdugo (5th, 52.79) did that in the 300.

The Trojans scored 25.75 points to place fifth in the meet.

Next up for Pahrump Valley will be Saturday’s Dave Butler Memorial-Liberty Invitational. Field events begin at 9 a.m., with track events starting at 10 a.m. at Liberty High School in Henderson.