SYRACUSE -- It was a dark and stormy day when the Davis High School track teams swept the field with torrents of fierce performances to win the Davis District Track and Field Championships. On the second day of the championships, delayed from Wednesday and still marred by winds and bitter cold, Davis outscored the rest of the district by more than double the points of their nearest contenders in both the boys and girls portion of the two-day meet.
Dani Figgins, co-MVP of the meet, said thinking about her team was what helped her make it through her 100, 400-meter relay, and 200 races, despite the cold and being sick. Figgins won both the 100 (12.74 seconds) and the 200 (26.65) and was the second leg of the winning sprint relay team.
"I had major mental issues on that part of the race," said Figgins of the headwind blown last 100 meters. "But I just thought of the team and concentrated on finishing."
The Davis girls scored in every event, won three out of four relay events and scored 39 points in one event by placing first through seventh in the 3,200 on their way to the championship.
Meghan Hedquist won the 3,200 in 12:00.6 with teammate Jessie Wilding coming in second at 12:04. She was followed by Davis's Emily Hansen, Abby Frodsham, Tessa Brown, Brooke Stromberg and Brooke Gutzwiller. Hedquist and Figgins were the only individual winners for Davis on day two, but their depth put them above the rest.
In the shadow of Davis, Viewmont turned in impressive individual wins to outscore Syracuse by one point for second place on the girl's side.
With a jump of 17 feet, 5 inches on the first day of the meet Tuesday, Viewmont senior Candace Moyes secured Outstanding Performance of the meet. That jump was an eight inch personal record and set a new stadium and meet record. Moyes also won the high jump in 5-4 and anchored Viewmont's winning 1,600-meter relay team.
"I was kind of in a midseason slump for awhile, and I wasn't clearing higher than five feet, so coming in and clearing 5-4 was really good and exciting for me."
In the 800, Viewmont also took the top two spots with Kenzie Cleghorn (2 minutes, 29.5 seconds) and Lizzie Rasmussen (2:32.8).
Other individual winners were Northridge's Cassie Berg in the 300 hurdles (46.43), Bountiful's Rosalie Griffin in the 100 hurdles (16.32), and Syracuse's Lindsey McFarland in the 400 (1:00.46). Bountiful's Karen Wilkinson won her second event of the meet by throwing 111-11 in the discus. She was also awarded co-MVP of the meet.
While the Davis girls dominated, the Davis boys were no less impressive. Led by co-MVP Kyler Sprague they beat Syracuse 244-109. Bountiful was third in 105.
Sprague won the 110 hurdles (15.93), the 300 hurdles (40.77) and was the third leg on the winning 1,600-meter relay team, which also included Brad Nye, Joe White and Ben Poulson.
"It was kind of tough because of the cold," said Sprague of the 300 hurdle race. "I didn't have a great start but I ran a good curve and that got me ahead. It didn't feel like the best but it was pretty good for the weather."
Nye was also a significant factor for Davis, breaking two minutes in the 800 to win (1:59.7). He lost his lunch after the race, but said he was happy with his personal record.
"I decided to ignore the weather," he said. "I really wanted to go under two minutes, so I kept thinking about my goal."
Davis's other individual winner was Tyson Bullock in the long jump (20-2 1/2).
Other individual winners were Syracuse's Austin Costley in the 1,600 (4:27.5) and Hunter Naisbitt in the shot put (49-6), Woods Cross's Darchon Taggert in the javelin (176-feet), Bountiful's Mario Harper in the 100 (11.32) and Zach Andrews in the 400 (50.05) and 200 (23.42).
Andrews was also co-MVP of the meet and Northridge's Skyller Whitney won Outstanding Performance for his Tuesday discus throw of 167-4, a new stadium record.
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