High school track: Distance runners, high jumpers shine during Day 1 of 6A, 5A state track meet
By James Edward,
2024-05-17
For much of this track season, scribbled on Cortnie Barker’s mirror at home in dry erase marker has been “6′0″ — which represents the Syracuse senior’s goal in the high jump. She saw it again on Thursday morning before she hopped on a bus with her teammates to head to BYU for the state track meet.
She wasn’t the only 6A athlete who had a similar goal on Thursday. American Fork senior Presley Gray and Weber senior Cami Cvitkovich also shared that vision as all three had cleared 5′10″ at one point this season and were hoping to become just the third high school girls athlete in Utah to clear 6′0″.
For Barker, that dream became a reality as she cleared 6′0.25″ on her second attempt to claim the individual 6A state title. Gray finished second at 5′10″ and Cvitkovich third at 5′8″.
“The best day ever, I don’t even know how to put it into words,” said Barker. “At the beginning I was struggling, I missed my opening height, which stressed me out a little, and I had a couple more misses that I usually don’t have, but I pulled through. I knew I had a goal, and I wanted to get that and got it done.”
The jump was a new 6A record, and she had three cracks at the overall state record as she moved the bar to 6′1.50″ for her next attempt in an attempt to break the 1981 state record of 6′1.25″ set by Julie Waters of Mountain View.
That height wasn’t in the cards on Thursday, but she’ll get many more opportunities to clear it on the same mat in the future as she’s signed to jump at BYU.
Barker’s performance was one of numerous great performances at BYU on Thursday during the opening day of the 6A and 5A state track meet.
In the team title chases, with roughly 40% of the events held on Day 1, American Fork’s boys and girls teams sit in first place in 6A, while in 5A, Woods Cross’ boys are the Day 1 leaders and Timpview’s girls sit in first place.
Day 2 gets underway on Saturday at 7 a.m. and there’s potential for some fireworks right away in the 1,600-meter races.
American Fork’s Daniel Simmons will look to break four minutes in the 1,600 race, and based on his record-setting performance in the 3,200 on Thursday, he believes he’s got a great chance at it.
Simmons won the 6A state title with a stunning time of 8:36.79, breaking his own record of 8:42.47 from earlier this season at the Pine View Invitational. With altitude adjustment, the announcers said his time registers about 8:30, which is currently the No. 1 time in the nation.
Roughly 30 minutes earlier, Timpview’s Jane Hedengren opened the state meet with a shocking state-record run of her own, something Simmons took notice of.
“I was just starting my warmup when she was in the last 800. That was definitely exciting, I was super happy for her. I was already planning to just go and do my best, so I was like, ‘Sweet, another one.’ Another awesome thing for the people here watching,” said Simmons.
Thanks to the lap-by-lap updates from the stadium announcer about Hedengren’s historic pursuit of a sub-10 minute two mile, all eyes were on Hedengren from the outset. Every announcement motivated the junior to keep pushing.
“I love announcers, just having someone up in that press box telling where I’m at, even though I can see the time, it’s really nice to have him affirming me and being like, ‘Hey, we’re gonna go sub-10 today, and I’m on pace still.’ He’s getting the crowd involved as well,” said Hedengren.
When it was all said and done, she crossed the finish line in 9:52.96, shattering the 2014 overall state record of 10:13.86 set by Ogden’s Sarah Feeny in 2014.
“I look at them and I’m like wow, I really respect the girls that came before me and how hard they were willing to work and how fast they were willing to run. And I’m just hoping I can follow in their example and break some records myself,” said Hedengren.
Two other state records fell in the 4x200 relays to conclude Day 1.
Two weeks after setting a new state 4x200 record at the BYU Invitational, Bingham’s girls did it again as the team of McKenzie Ritter, Kaitlyn Durham, Angelina Appel and Andrea Amoah ran a 1:37.74 to eclipse its previous record of 1:39.99.
Corner Canyon’s boys team did the same thing. At the BYU Invite it ran a 1:25.45, and then on Thursday on the same track the team of Chryshaun Lee, Mason Hamilton, Tate Kjar and Jerome Myles ran a 1:24.61.
Class 6A Boys
Team scores
1. American Fork, 45
2. Corner Canyon, 33
3. Lone Peak, 26
4. Skyridge, 21
4. Herriman, 21
4. Weber, 21
7. Mountain Ridge, 18
8. Copper Hills, 17
8. Lehi, 17
Boys individual results
3,200 meters — 1. Daniel Simmons, American Fork, Sr., 8:36.79; 2. William Steadman, Herriman, Sr., 8:57.90; 3. Zach Hillhouse, Pleasant Grove, Sr., 9:02.63; 4. Kaden Evans, American Fork, Jr., 9:02.73; 5. Ben Jaster, American Fork, Sr., 9:07.74; 6. Ben Bradshaw, American Fork, Sr., 9:08.18; 7. Jack Beckstrom, Herriman, Sr., 9:09.25; 8. Max Hofheins, Herriman, Sr., 9:10.51.
Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
It’s essential to note our commitment to transparency:
Our Terms of Use acknowledge that our services may not always be error-free, and our Community Standards emphasize our discretion in enforcing policies. As a platform hosting over 100,000 pieces of content published daily, we cannot pre-vet content, but we strive to foster a dynamic environment for free expression and robust discourse through safety guardrails of human and AI moderation.
Comments / 0