6A/5A: Another strong state meet for east Idaho athletes as records fall, medals earned

MERIDIAN – There was a bit of everything at this weekend’s 6A/5A state Track and Field Championships.

You want speed?

Rigby senior Owen Golding has been a blur on the track all season and didn’t disappoint in the 6A 100-meter finals, winning the title in 10.86.

“It was a crazy year for me,” Golding said. “I started off a little slow, but toward the end of the season I hit my marks I wanted to hit and it started becoming real that I could be a state champ. It became real, and here we are.”

You want spectacular?

Rigby pole vaulter Kade Scott cleared 16-feet in to win the 6A title. He already set the top mark in the state at 16-4.75 in last week’s district meet and soared again to reach the top of the podium.

You want drama?

The 5A girls grueling 3,200 came down to a sprint over the closing meters as Twin Falls’ Raelee Richardson and Pocatello’s Katie Boyle were side-by-side. At the line, it was Boyle with the win in 11:15.40 to Richardson’s 11:15.60.

“I just wanted to see if I could stick with her,” Boyle said of her strategy. “I felt really good, so let’s see if I can get this. I started to pass a little bit and then went all out and gave it everything I had. It’s my senior year … I was just going as fast as I could.”

Boyle was seventh last year and didn’t make the podium. She had her first state podium finish on Friday with a third-place effort in the 1,600.

Then she topped that on Saturday with a huge PR.

“It was a wild feeling that I just got state champion. I wasn’t sure that was going to be possible,” she said after the award presentation.

You want history in the making?

Blackfoot’s Owen Gregory is just a sophomore, but he already has a 5A 800 state title under his belt and added another on Saturday, clocking a personal-best of 1:50.93.

He said the season has been one of growth as his times have been coming down.

“It’s been a progressive year,” he said. “Progressively faster than last year.”

That culminated in his fastest time over the past two seasons on Saturday as he held off a host of local runners, with Ethan Hansen of Century, Collin Christensen of Pocatello, and Desmond Swaner of Skyline finishing 2-3-4.

“My freshman year I learned a lot,” Gregory said. “I learned to get out really quick. I’m a quick learner … I wanted to take the lead in the first 200 and pace it out for a win and that’s exactly what happened. It was good.”

In the team races, Century finished fourth in 5A boys, with Blackfoot placing fourth in 5A girls.

The Rigby boys were third in the 6A standings, with the Trojan girls finishing fifth.

Here are more highlights from the 6A/5A state championship meet.

BOYS

5A
-Skyline’s Zyan Crockett was fourth in the 5A 100 and sixth in the 200. He also placed fourth in the long jump.

-Pocatello junior Cody Renzello ran a PR of 48.24 in the 400 to finish second, and also placed third in the 200.

-Century’s Hansen took first in the 5A 1,600 in a PR of 4:13.14, and teammate Ammon Bitton placed third to give the Diamondbacks crucial team points.

The duo also claimed first and second in the 3,200, with Hansen repeating as state champion.

6A
-Highland state champion hurdler Spencer Van Owen has been battling a hamstring injury and pulled up in the 110 hurdles prelims and did not finish the meet.

-Rigby had two runners on the podium in the 1,600, with Jonas Porter finishing third and Vincent Kisner placing fifth. Both ran personal-best times of 4:13.63 and 4:17.69, respectively. Porter also finished sixth in the 3,200.

-The Highland team of Krue Hogan, Chance Wells, Easton Almond, Kellan Tingey won the 4×400 in a PR of 3:19.89.

-Brayden Maughan of Rigby won the shot put with a PR toss of 58-3.5 to repeat as champion. He also doubled it up with a win Friday in the discus.

GIRLS

5A

-Skyline freshman Stevie Reed finished second in the 400.

-Blackfoot’s Eva Grimm won the discus with a mark of 144-11 and placed fifth in the shot put.

6A
-Madison senior Brielle Nite dominated the discus with a personal-best of 144-5, with Rigby’s Bailey Clements finishing second with a mark of 125-8. Clements also finished third in the shot put.