Trojans send multiple athletes to state track & field competitions

The Pahrump Valley track and field boys and girls teams both finished in the top five at the Nevada 3A southern regional track meet at Moapa Valley High School.

The Trojans competed against 11 other schools for a spot in the Nevada 3A state track and field meet. The top four finishers in each event will qualify for the state meet.

Pahrump’s girls team finished in fourth place with a score of 80.5 points, while the boys team finished in fifth place with a total score of 61 points.

The Moapa Valley boys and girls teams both finished in first place for the 3A team standings.

Seniors Jessica Kern and Devin Varlack had the best individual performances of the day for the Trojans.

Kern ended the day with two first-place finishes, including setting a personal record in the shot put event. She threw a distance of 35 feet, 8.75 inches, beating second-place finisher Shanlin Totten of Moapa Valley by over a foot.

Kern’s other first-place finish came in the discus throw event where she threw a distance of 102 feet, 9 inches, winning by nearly four feet.

Varlack finished in the top four during three of his events, setting personal records in all three events.

He set his first personal record of the day with a third-place finish in the 400-meter race with a time of 52.06 seconds. Following this event, Varlack finished in third place in the 800-meter race with a time of 2:03.32.

His highest placement of the day came in the 1600-meter event where he finished in second place with a time of 4:36.16.

Five other Trojan athletes qualified for individual state events.

On the girls side, sophomore Aspen McCormack and junior Lillian McGhee both qualified for field events.

McCormack finished tied for fourth place in the high jump event with a successful height of 4 feet, 8 inches. She tied her teammate, Grace Miller, however, only McCormack will be participating in the state event.

McGhee set a personal record with her first-place finish in the long jump competition. She jumped a distance of 16 feet, 1.25 inches.

On the boys side, senior Ikaika Keanaaina, junior Elijah Hill and sophomore Mickey Skinner all qualified for state events.

Keanaaina qualified for the 300-meter hurdles event with his fourth-place finish in the regional event. He ran a personal record time of 45.24 seconds.

Hill and Skinner’s qualifications both came in field events. Hill qualified for the discus throw event. He came in fourth place with a distance of 108 feet, 3 inches.

Skinner finished the high jump event with a successful jump of 5 feet, 6 inches, good for a fourth-place finish.

The last of the Trojans that qualified for state events came in the relay competitions. Pahrump Valley’s 4x200-meter, 4x400-meter and 4x800-meter relay teams will all be heading to the state meet.

In the 4x200 event, the team of Dakota Fodge, Dakota Fernandes, Lillian McGhee and Payton Weaver finished their regional event in third place with a time of 1:52.89.

With the other two events, the Trojans were able to just sneak in with fourth-place finishes.

The team of Dakota Fodge, Dakota Fernandes, Payton Weaver and Sasha Strain finished the 4x400-meter event with a time of 4:30.27.

The final team to qualify for the state track meet was the team of Paris Coleman, Grace Miller, Emily Lewis and Aurora Whitney in the 4x800-meter race with a time of 11:03.63.

As you’re reading this, Both boys and girls teams are in Sparks, competing for the state track & field competitions. The events will take place on Friday and Saturday, May 20-21, at Reed High School.

Twenty-three schools will be competing throughout the various events. The competitions will begin at 3 p.m. on Friday and 8:15 a.m. on Saturday.