Trojans track team destroys Mojave

The Trojans track squads were both at Desert Pines competing in a new format for the division on Tuesday. Normally two teams face off in a dual meet and there might be a non-league team there who might need some practice.

According to Trojans Coach Ed Kirkwood, the new format will have two Sunrise teams and two Sunset teams, which is a double dual.

Kirkwood said they need to organize things a bit better because, “the finish line was a mess.”

The format needs some work because the teams at Desert Pines were delayed many times last Tuesday and Pahrump did not arrive home until midnight. The Trojans went up against Mojave and Desert Pines went up against Chaparral.

The Trojans mens team beat Mojave, who is the defending state champion, 68-32.

Kirkwood was pleased with the win, but said he is still moving people around.

“There will be more changes in the relays and we are still experimenting a bit,” Kirkwood said.

The relays did very well for the boys.

“The hand-offs still need to get cleaned up. The times are coming down and they were better than the Heitkotter and they scored. Relays are tough, you either get 5 points or nothing,” he said.

Pahrump scored in the 4x100-meter relay, lost to Mojave in the 4x200, beat Mojave in the 4x400 and the 4x800.

Another highlight was senior Devon Montgomery had a 50.90 in the open 400-meter run, which was close to a school record of 50.50. He also had a good showing in the 110-meter hurdles with a 14.80. In this event, the Trojans took first through third.

Isaac Davis had three personal bests in the high jump (5-06.00), long jump (17-4) and the triple jump (39-03). Davis is only a sophomore.

“After I got the personal bests, I looked back at all the work I did and felt accomplished, but then I thought of all the people that are still better than me. I know I will still have to work harder,” Davis said.

Trojans womens track

The Lady Trojans had a strong showing against Mojave by placing in the top three in almost every event. They took first in almost everything but the shot put and beat the Rattlers 106-52.

Meghan McDermott had a personal best in the triple jump and took first place with a jump of 32-03. Andi Bishop won the pole vault (7-06). The girls swept the discus with Cassandra Clark (80-01), Ayssa Begin (57-09) and Suriah Shott (56-08). They also took first and third in the shot put, Cassandra Clark (25-11.75), Karli Havel (21-09.50).

The 200-meter run with Kelbie Middleton, Amber Hill and Jaimie Murphy was swept and along with the 800-meter open with Sydney Sladek, Ashlyn DiBlasi and Fenny Descuatan.

“The girls seemed to do a good job on the track,” Kirkwood said. “It was Sydney’s first meet back and I told her to run the race at a 2:30 pace, which I thought would be a good test for her hamstring.”

Kirkwood kept her out of the 4x800-meter relay to gradually let Sladek come back after a minor injury sustained in a soccer game.

The team will be going to the Las Vegas Track Classic this Saturday. There will be 17 Division I teams and 8 Division I-A teams.

“They have pretty strict standards for each event and they only take 18 people in each event, so if you are number 19, you are an alternate,” Kirkwood said.