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Home > Archive > Mar 20, 2008

Region Track Competition Wide Open
By Nissa Lamb
The track season was off with a shot at the first invitational of the season, held at Hurricane High School. Athletes from around the state competed in sprints, distance events, hurdles, and field events with a maximum of five participants per event from each school. This was a qualifying meet, where the athletes had the opportunity to qualify for state competition in their individual events. With this being such an early track meet, most of the schools had been practicing for only two or three weeks. Some schools from northern Utah have been pushing snow off their track in order to conduct practice. Despite being an early invitational, there were many athletes that qualified for state, including Hayden Hawkes, from Snow Canyon High, who took fourth place in the two-mile event. Many of the athletes compete in both the field events and the running events. 
“We’ve got a lot of young kids, and we’re having some good experiences with them. Sometimes they sell themselves short, but they are better than they think they are, so it is kind of fun,” said Dixie High’s head coach, Lee Goodrich. 
Region competition seems to be wide open for the taking with upcoming and veteran athletes competing head to head. 
“Snow Canyon is always tough. I don’t know how Dixie is, but every year is different. It’s really too early to tell,” Pine View’s head coach Telly Esplin said. 
All athletes that qualify for state competition will be allowed to participate in the state track and field invitational at BYU on May 16 and 17.   

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