It might’ve taken two track meets in the same week, but the Grace Grizzlies track team progressed by leaps and bounds in a myriad of events held at last week’s Malad Invite on Wednesday and the Gold Baton Relays held at Highland High School.
At Malad, the only thing shining brighter than the sun were a handful of athletes earning impressive PRs and even setting school records, beginning with freshman Brooklyn Porter, whose 800m time of 2:34.24 set a historic new varsity mark for the Grizzly girls, taking down the previous record of 2:37.07 set by Rylee Mansfield in 2016.
Porter is now ranked 1st in the district in that event and 10th overall in the 1A classification.
The speedy trio of Kallie Stoddard, Bella Eddins and Jeanaelie Shaffer made some history of their own, running the 7th fastest 4x400 relay and the 10th fastest 4x100m relay in school history (these three were joined by Tayler Yost in the 4x100m and by Brooklyn Porter in the 4x400m). Much like Porter’s 800m time, both relays are also currently No. 1 in the district rankings.
On the boys side, sophomore Adrian Mejia had some 800m magic of his own, electrifying the crowd with a come-from-behind win in a personal best time of 2:05.85.
Earning his own win in the 110m hurdles was Landon Moss, whose PR of 17.43 led a brilliant group of hurdlers across the line, with teammate Nathaniel Smith finishing in 17.93, taking 2nd place. Moss and Smith are now ranked 4th and 5th respectively in the Grizzlies’ all-time ranks.
Also earning a couple top-5 historic ranks at the meet were youngsters Carson Reeves in the discus and Jonah Wilkerson in the 300m hurdles and triple jump. Reeves became the 4th best discus thrower in school history with his mighty heave of 112’4”, snatching a silver medal, while Wilkerson earned a bronze medal in both events. Wilkerson is now leading the district with his lifetime-best marks of 44.32 in the 300m hurdles and 39’ 1” in the triple jump.
It’s never easy to bring your “A game” to multiple competitions in the same week. But somehow the sunburnt Grizzlies managed to do just that, showing up to the highly competitive Gold Baton Relays at Highland High School on Friday, breaking several more school records before learning that one of their relay teams became nationally ranked.
To start off the meet, the fearsome quartet of Lilly Gilbert, Breanna Heer, Tessica Jorgensen and Brooklyn Porter etched their names in the school record books, breaking the previous Distance Medley Relay record by well over a minute in a varsity record time of 14:41.78.
They would repeat their record-breaking ways just a few hours later in the 4x800m, averaging 2:50 apiece to set a new varsity mark of 11:20.14.
Also breaking a record were Adrian Mejia, Brock Johnson, Landon Moss and Jonah Wilkerson. Their 4x800m relay time of 9:17.54 was 57 seconds faster than the previous mark set in 2018. Not long after, Mejia and Johnson would each take down one more milestone, as both dipped below 5 minutes in the 1600m for the first time. Mejia finished in 4:56.11, while Johnson snuck in with a 4:59.90.
In such a highly competitive track meet, featuring some of the biggest and strongest squads from East Idaho, it is always unlikely that any group from a 1A school will win a coveted “Gold Baton.” However, with only a few events remaining, the Grizzlies of Grace had one more trick up their sleeve.
The “throwers relay” is a 4x100m event in which 4 athletes with an affinity for throwing discus or shot put test their running speed on the track. Teams often dress up in funny costumes, even using interesting food items such as salami rolls or giant candy bars in place of a baton.
Yet there was nothing but business on the minds of the four throwers from Grace when they toed the line. As the gun sounded, even the announcer could sense that something special was underway, as his voice boomed excitedly over the loudspeaker, proclaiming throughout the stands “It looks like Carson Welch of Grace is off to a great start!” as the young man clad in red and white burned around the turn.
The first handoff to teammate Carson Reeves was exquisite, prompting another comment from the announcer as Reeves ran what was surely the fastest 100m of his young life, before pushing the baton into the outstretched hand of Bryant Moss.
By this time, opponents were long since forgotten. All eyes were focused on the blur of Grizzly arms and legs eating up the track. By the time Moss reached the anchor leg, Trevor Mathews, there was nothing but daylight and a completely empty straightaway, and yet still, Mathews stretched himself to his limit, crossing the finish in a time of 47.48, seemingly light years ahead of his competition.
Elated cheers erupted at the Grizzlies’ team camp. They had won their first (and only) Gold Baton of the day. And yet somehow, the best news was still yet to come, as the well-prepared announcer frantically scoured his notes for some reference point with which to frame the incredible feat we had all just witnessed.
And then came the announcement that shocked both athletes and spectators: The Grizzlies 4x100m throwers relay was not only the fastest in the state of Idaho this year, they had just ran the second fastest time in the entire country for the year 2024.
It was a tremendous way to end a long but fruitful week for the hard-working Grizzlies on the Grace track team.
The record-breaking crew will surely enjoy only having one track meet this week, as they get set to face some of their toughest competition at the Direct-dot-Com Invitational on Friday.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
We welcome comments, however there are some guidelines:
Keep it Clean: Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexual language. Don't Threaten: Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated. Be Truthful: Don't lie about anyone or anything. Be Nice: No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading. Be Proactive: Report abusive posts and don’t engage with trolls. Share with Us: Tell us your personal accounts and the history behind articles.