Girls and boys place second at Weiser Invitational

Both the Weiser High School varsity girls and boys teams placed second on their home track on Thursday at the Weiser Invitational.
 The Weiser boys placed second out of a dozen teams who made the trip to Weiser. SRV Conference rivals Fruitland finished first in team points and Homedale came in third.  
 The Weiser girls came in second behind a strong team from Melba. The team from Cole Valley Christian finished in third place out of a field of 11 teams.
 Coach Dave Shirts noted some outstanding performances by the Wolverines. Triston Kautz is continually improving and placed second in the 200 meters. The boys 4x400 relay team clocked a fast 3:35.5 and the girls relay teams also looked strong. Abbey Shirts had a sub-one minute 400 finish for the second time this year.
 “We had many kids get personal records at this meet. I liked how our kids encouraged and supported each other,” Shirts said.
 In addition to a couple of first place finishes in the boys 400 meters and girls 400 meters, Weiser picked up team points by placing in a number of other events. For the first time this season, Weiser had a top finish in the 200 meters.
 Triston Kautz finished in second place for the Wolverines. His time of 23.84 seconds was a personal record time for him in the 200 meters. Teammate Rolando Lopez placed eighth with a time of 25.45 seconds.
 In the 400 meters, Weiser’s Rhett Kunz bested the field and ran his fastest race this season, finishing in 51.60 seconds for first place. Anderson Jensen finished in ninth place (56.84 seconds) and Guillermo Cobos took 10th place (56.91 seconds).
 In the 800 meters, Nathan Turner finished in third place for Weiser with a time of 2:08.77, a personal best time for the junior.
 In the 110-meter hurdles, Nick Swank finished in fourth place with a time of 17.41 seconds, a personal best time. Travis Schimmel took sixth place with a finish of 18.14 seconds.
 In the 300-meter hurdles, Weiser runners took two of the top three places. Braden Bumgarner finished second with a time of 43.28 seconds and Swank came in third (44.88 seconds).
 The Weiser boys were fourth in the 4x100 meters relay and second in the 4x200 meters. The Wolverines won the 4x400 meters with a time of 3:35.53. The relay team included Bumgarner, Kautz, Turner and Kunz.
 In field events, Weiser’s Angel Magana tossed the shot put 36 feet, 5.50 inches for sixth place. He finished in seventh place in the discus with a throw of 100 feet, 5 inches.
 Swank had a seventh place finish in the high jump by clearing 5 feet, 2 inches. Jordan Watkins took sixth in the long jump with a jump of 17 feet, 9 inches.
 Watkins took third place in the triple jump, clearing 38 feet, 5 inches for a personal best. Nate Turner was fourth with a jump of 38 feet, 1.5 inches. He also had his best jump of the season. Alex Pena placed 10th for Weiser with a jump of 33 feet, 8 inches.
 Some highlights for the Weiser girls included:
 While the Fruitland girls were strong in the shorter sprint races and had the best times, Weiser placed six finishers in the top 20 in the 100 meters: Shae Kunz (13.94, 14th), Ashlyn Walker (14.31, 16th), Marissa Moyle (14.32, 17th), Melodee Cathey (14.43, 18th), SeAnna Jones (14.47, 19th) and Samantha Despain (14.49, 20th).
 Four Weiser girls placed in the top 20 in the 200 meters: Melodee Cathey (30.60, 15th), Marissa Moyle (30.64, 16th), Ashlyn Walker (30.74, 17th) and Riley Warner (30.80, 19th).
 In the 400 meters,  Weiser senior Abbey Shirts placed first with a time under a minute at 59.88 seconds. The No. 2 finisher, Brenna Bagley of Liberty Charter, crossed the finish line in 1:00.84.
 In the 800 meters, Christina Alves placed eighth for the Wolverines with a season-best time of 2:57.41. Four Weiser girls placed in the top 20 in the 1,600 meters: Bella Strasser (6:26.39, 12th), Kiearra Hoobery (6:27.34, 13th), Makaela Sherry (6:33.57, 14th) and Alonna Freeland (7:01.03, 18th).
 In the 100-meter hurdles, Jade Simonsen took fourth place for Weiser with a personal best time of 17.13 seconds. Ellie Walker came in sixth place with a time of 17.82 seconds.
 In the 300-meter hurdles, the finishes for Weiser were reversed with Walker claiming fourth place with a season-best time of 52.15 seconds and Simonsen finished ninth in 55.14 seconds.
 The Weiser girls finished second in the 4x100 meter relay and fourth in the 4x200 meters. In the 4x400 meters, Weiser finished second to Liberty Charter. The Weiser relay team of Alyssa Olvera, Reagan Doty, Shae Kunz and Abbey Shirts won the SMR 100-100-200-400.
 In field events, Weiser’s Sheyanne Hilmer had another good showing with a third-place finish in the shot put (28 feet, 8.5 inches) and second in the discus (102 feet, 2 inches) Judith Rios finished sixth for Weiser with a toss of 83 feet, 2 inches.
 In the high jump, Weiser’s LynnZ Rasmussen and Victoria Wyss tied for ninth place. Both cleared 4 feet, 2 inches.
 Reagan Doty placed third in the pole vault for Weiser by clearing 9 feet, while Rasmussen cleared 8 feet for fifth place.
 Weiser had two top 10 finishes in the long jump: Ashlyn Walker took sixth place with a jump of 14 feet, 2.5 inches. Bella Strasser claimed eighth place with a jump of 13 feet, 10 inches, a personal best for her.
 In the triple jump, Ellie Walker took second with a jump of 32 feet, 6 inches. Kaija Sanches jumped 29 feet, 5.5 inches for Weiser, which earned her ninth place.