State Meet Highlights

Utah has four classes that go simultaneously at BYU’s Clarence Robison Track (elevation 4627 feet). There is a lot of quality in Utah, particularly in the distances, but across the board as well. Even as distance stars Sarah Feeny and Conner Mantz were chewing up the track, sprints (Kaysha Love) and hurdles (Cam Dopp) and field events (Austin Kafentzis) were well-represented.  

Top Performances:

- Sarah Feeny’s distance triple was pretty much the equivalent of Elise Cranny’s distance triple in Colorado – except that Feeny was about two seconds faster in all three races. Eight hundred extra feet of elevation might have something to do with that, but the Ogden senior’s feat was extraordinary. She ran 4:45.13 for 1600 (an all-time state best), 10:13.86 for 3200 (state meet record) and 2:10.40 for 800. Tack all of that onto a course record in cross country last fall and it’s clear that Feeny is Utah’s G.O.A.T. female distance runner. (Laura Zeigle and Natalie Shields are not easily forgotten).

- The NCAA altitude adjustment for a 3,200 at Provo is at least 12 seconds. So consider what Conner Mantz of Sky View, a junior, might have done at sea level with his 8:57.99 victory on Saturday. On top of that, he ran 4:10.47 to win the 4A 1600 and also placed fifth in the 800 with 1:56.80.

- Cam Dopp of Woods Cross won the 400, 110 hurdles and the 300 hurdles and was on a winning 4x400 relay team. All of that work probably kept him from lowering his all-time state best in the 300 hurdles, which he set at the BYU Invitational.

- Kaysha Love, a sophomore from Herriman, became Utah’s all-time state leader in the 100 and 200 dashes at Arcadia earlier this spring. In Provo, she won state titles in both events for the second year in a row. She also anchored Herriman to a new state record in the 4x100 (47.33).

- Junior Austin Kafentzis of Jordan won the javelin with 206-9. He is ranked US#3 in the event.

- Riverton’s boys 4x400 squad lowered their own state record to 3:16.22. It doesn't hurt to have the top three finishers in the 5A 400 meters. (See below).

- Andrew Brewer of Bingham tripled impressively in Class 5A, winning two out of three: He ran US#15 1:52.12 in the 800, 4:13.44 in the 1600 and 9:24.71 for fifth place in the 3200.

- Lucy Biles may not have generated as much buzz as Feeny, but she swept the 5A distance races in 2:11.61, 4:57.05 and 10:43.92. It’s easy to imagine her gunning for Feeny’s records next year.

Top Teams:

The Riverton boys captured the 5A title with 120 points. Herriman, with a lethal combination of Love and Biles, piled up 139 points to win the girls team title.

In 4A, Dopp was a big part of Woods Cross’ team victory with 84 points. Box Elder’s girls won the team title with 68 points. In 3A, Desert Hills’ boys (131) and Park City’s girls (102) were victorious.

Top Competition: The competition between two guys from Riverton in the 5A 400 was intense in the final, with Clay Lambourne taking the win in 47.29 to teammate Michael Bluth’s 47.39. Another teammate, Brandon Walker, was third in 49.43. It might have been an even better race with Davis’ Trevor Leavitt, the all-time Utah record holder, who clocked 47.00 this spring. Leavitt withdrew from the meet with a hamstring injury.

Record-breaker: Sarah Feeny has done a great job of peaking for the Utah state championships in 2013-14 and her 1600 stands out as an all-time Utah best. It will be interesting to see if she can go even faster in a post-season race.  

Video Interviews, courtesy of Trey Trusty and Tanner Dupaix (who were both competing in the meet as well!)

Results:

http://parser.dyestat.com/meets.jsp?state=UT