Weiser track teams post good performances

The Weiser High School varsity boys and girls track teams put in strong performances on their home track as they hosted the Weiser Invite on March 19.

 Both the girls and boys took second place out of a field of seven teams that made the trip to Weiser. Fruitland placed first for both boys and girls.

 The Weiser boys scored 98.5 points for a runner-up finish to Fruitland, which dominated with 181.5 team points. Homedale finished in third place with 64 points.

 For the girls, Fruitland collected 120 points, followed by Weiser with 90 points and Tri-Valley in third place with 70 points.

 Weiser coach Dave Shirts said the coaching staff was pleased with the results for the second meet of the season. 

 “It was a good outing for us.  We had some of our returners turn in nice performances.  We also have a lot of young athletes who are improving steadily,” he said.

 In the boys track results, Weiser didn’t have any sprinters finish in the top 10 in the 100 meters. 

 The varsity boys had one top 10 finish in the 200 meters. Senior Rolando Lopez took 10th place and ran a personal best race with a time of 26.36 seconds. Weiser’s Cameron Hagans and Rayden Presher finished in the top 15 with times of 26.80 seconds and 26.96 seconds, respectively.

 Weiser senior Rhett Kunz, a state titleholder, is on pace for another winning season. Kunz finished first in both the 400 meters and 800 meters.

 Kunz edged out Fruitland’s Ivan Gonzalez in the 400 meters with a time of 54.25 seconds. Kunz crossed the finish line a fraction of a second ahead of Gonzalez, who finished in 54.94 seconds.

 Other top 10 finishers for Weiser in the 400 meters included Anderson Jensen, who placed third with a time of 55 seconds. Nathan Turner took sixth place (57.32 seconds) and Cameron Hagans finished in eighth place (58.73 seconds). Freshman Colton Foster finished in ninth for Weiser (1:00.73.).

 Kunz wasn’t done winning on the track and once again dueled with Ivan Gonzalez in the 800 meters. Kunz got by Gonzalez to win with a time of 2:07.49. Kunz’ first-place finish was less than one second ahead of Gonzalez, who crossed the line in 2:07.94.

 Other Weiser finishers included Nathan Turner (third place, 2:12.74) and Logan Ankarberg (eighth place, 2:28.00).

 In the medium distance races, Weiser’s Justin Williamson took third place in the 1,600 meters with a time of 5:26.67. In the 3,200 meters, Williamson won the race with a personal record time of 11:26.49. Williamson ably fills a void on the track team for the Wolverines. Weiser didn’t have a strong runner to compete in the 1,600 meters or 3,200 meters last year.

 Weiser hurdler Nick Swank returns for another season and looks to have improved. He took second place in the 110 meter hurdles with a time of 17.69 seconds, less than a second behind Fruitland’s Brayden Kelley, who won the race in 17.36 seconds.

 Weiser had first and second-place finishes in the 300 meter hurdles. Swank won the race with a personal record time of 45.27 seconds. Braden Bumgarner finished a close second with a time of 45.36 seconds.

 Weiser took fifth in the 4x100 relay event and first in the 4x200 relay. The team of Braden Bumgarner, Jordan Watkins, Cameron Hagans and Rhett Kunz finished in front of runner-up New Plymouth with a time of 1:36.73.

 Weiser wasn’t done yet and also won the 4x400 relay with a time of 3:45.15. The team included Bumgarner, Watkins, Jensen and Kunz.

 Fruitland dominated the shotput, taking the top three spots. Weiser’s Tyler Walker finished in ninth place with a throw of 31 feet, 2 inches.

 Fruitland also took five of the top six places in the discus. The event was won by Thomas Symms of Homedale. Weiser’s Daniel Rodriguez had a toss of 90 feet, 2 inches, which was good enough for eighth place.

 In other field events, Swank took third in the high jump, clearing 5 feet, 8 inches. Travis Schimmel was fifth in the pole vault with a height of 7 feet. Brandon Haynes also vaulted 7 feet for Weiser. 

 In the long jump, Jordan Watkins finished third with a jump of 18 feet, 9.5 inches. Swank came in sixth with a distance of 17 feet, 9 inches.

 In the girls racing results, Weiser didn’t place a runner in the top 10 in the 100 meters. Freshman Samantha Despain took fifth in the 200 meters with a time of 30.29 seconds. Melodee Cathey finished eighth with a time of 32.20 seconds. Another freshman, SeAnna Jones took 10th place with a time of 32.64 seconds.

 Weiser’s Abbey Shirts won first place in the 400 meters. Her time of 59.88 seconds was four seconds faster than second-place finisher Lauryn Mitchell of Tri-Valley, who finished in 1:03.85. Fruitland looks to have a deep roster at that distance with runners taking fourth through 10th places.

 In the 800 meters, Christina Alves finished in ninth place for Weiser with a time of 3:05.00. Weiser’s Kiearra Hoobery crossed the finish line in 6.35.81 for eighth place in the 1,600 meters. Teammate Makaela Sherry was 10th with a time of 7:15.40.

 Weiser had four girls finish in the top 10 in the 3,200 meters. Hoobery took fifth place (14:07.61), followed by Bella Strasser in sixth place (14:16.00). Sherry finished in seventh place (14:36.00) and Alonna Freeland came in eighth place (16:59.00).

 Weiser junior Jade Simonsen took first place in the 100 meter hurdles with a time of 17.41 seconds. Ellie Walker finished in fifth place (18.34 seconds) and Samantha Despain took eighth place (21.47 seconds)

 Walker and Simonsen finished fourth and fifth in the 300 meter hurdles with respective times of 54.06 seconds and 54.79 seconds.

 The Weiser girls finished fifth and sixth in the 4x100 meter relay. They had a better finish in the 4x200 meter relay with a first place finish in 1:54.61 (Bella Strasser, Shae Kunz, Regan Doty and Abbey Shirts). The Wolverines also won the 4x400 with a time of 4:26.83 (Marissa Moyle, Ellie Walker, Shae Kunz and Abbey Shirts). Weiser took fifth in the SMR 100-100-200-400 meters relay.

 In field events, Weiser’s Sheyanne Hilmer took third in the shot put with a toss of 28 feet, 2.75 inches. Teammate Ellie Eames finished in sixth place (25 feet, 8 inches) and Judith Rios finished in ninth place (25 feet, 7 inches).

 Hilmer won the discus event with a toss of 99 feet, 2 inches. Yerika Marquez finished in sixth place for Weiser with a throw of 79 feet, 3 inches.

 In the high jump, Jade Simonson tied for fourth place with a jump of 4 feet, 4 inches. LynnZ Rasmussen and Victoria Wyss tied for ninth place by clearing 4 feet.

 Weiser was strong in the pole vault, taking the top three spots. Reagan Doty won the event by going 9 feet, 6 inches. Victoria Wyss and LynnZ Rasmussen tied for second by clearing 8 feet, 6 inches. 

 Ellie Walker won the triple jump for Weiser. She jumped 33 feet, 3 inches. Teammate Mja Towner finished eighth (27 feet, 3 inches) and Bella Strasser was 10th (26 feet, 9 inches).