Pahrump Valley athletes earn state medals, break records at 3A track championships

Records fell, medals were earned and personal bests became a regular occurrence for the Pahrump Valley High School track and field team during a memorable 2026 campaign that concluded at the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association Class 3A State Championships in Sparks on May 15-16.

By the end of the two-day meet at Procter R. Hug High School, the Trojans had collected multiple state medals, several top-five finishes and more school-record performances against Nevada’s top Class 3A athletes.

Among the weekend’s biggest highlights was senior and Concordia University Irvine commit Ben De Santiago’s performance in the boys 400-meter dash.

De Santiago sprinted to a second-place state finish in 48.67 seconds, narrowly missing the championship while breaking his own school record once again.

He also added a third-place medal in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.46 and later clocked 23.52 in the boys 200-meter final.

Senior and Indiana Tech commit Jayden Crisler also delivered one of Pahrump’s top performances of the meet.

Crisler earned state runner-up honors in the boys triple jump after posting a leap of 44 feet, 4.75 inches.

He later added a 19-foot, 0.75-inch mark in the long jump and competed in the 300-meter hurdles, where he finished in 43.68.

The Trojans relay teams continued to showcase the depth of the program throughout the championships.

The boys 4x200-meter relay team of Jace Wulfenstein, Justin Byers, Ulisses Alvarez and Aeden Redditt secured a fourth-place state medal in 1:34.42. Earlier in the meet, the boys 4x800 relay narrowly missed the podium with a fifth-place finish in 8:29.23.

On the girls side, the 4x800 relay squad also placed fifth with a time of 10:42.60. The girls 4x200 relay team of Ma’liyah Collins, Diona Nixon, Aurora Bowers and Anjolina Mercado finished sixth in 1:50.61, while the girls 4x100 team crossed in 52.60.

Distance runners

Joaquin Flores posted times of 5:01.26 in the 1,600-meter run and 2:01.30 in the 800-meter race, narrowly finishing ahead of teammate De Santiago by five hundredths of a second.

Sophie Romero completed the girls 3,200-meter run in 13:03.46.

Senior and Nevada State commit Julianna Ondrisko played a major role across multiple events during the state meet.

She earned fifth place in the girls 300-meter hurdles while lowering her own school record with a time of 47.00.

Ondrisko also finished sixth in the 1,600-meter run at 5:53.15, then later competed in both the 400-meter and 800-meter races with times of 1:03.15 and 2:29.76.

Field events

Sonny Skinner earned a fourth-place state medal in shot put with a personal-best throw of 46 feet, 7 inches, while also throwing 123 feet, 8 inches in discus. Brenden Thorn reached 128 feet, 9 inches in the boys discus competition.

For the girls, Savannah Thompson posted a mark of 32 feet, 4.5 inches in triple jump, Kyndra Cardwell cleared 8 feet in pole vault and Kaitlyn Brown threw 81 feet, 6 inches in discus.

Rosie Miller cleared 4 feet, 10 inches in high jump, while Nixon added a 16-foot leap in long jump.

Additional sprint performances included Mercado running 13.37 in the girls 100-meter dash and 27.66 in the 200-meter race. Alvarez competed in the boys 110-meter hurdles, finishing in 19.45.

Pahrump wrapped up the state championships in the 4x400 relays.

The boys team of Wulfenstein, Joshua Slusher, Redditt and Flores finished in 3:37.83, while the girls squad of Ava Bowers, Rosie Miller, Ella Odegard and Aurora Bowers crossed the line in 4:26.92.

Contact Jacob Powers at jpowers@pvtimes.com. Follow @jaypowers__ on X, Instagram and TikTok @pvtimes.sports.