MILLVILLE — It’s been a season of parity among the high school boys track & field programs in Cache County.
Case in point: The top four local teams were only separated by 22 points in the final team standings of the Region 11 Championships, which concluded Thursday.
Because there was that much parity, nobody was able to hang with Bear River, which accumulated 138 points. Sky View was second with 102 points, followed by Green Canyon (98), Mountain Crest (81), Logan (80) and Ridgeline (48).
Defending champion Sky View ultimately didn’t have enough depth to contend with Bear River, but the Bobcats did showcase their star power at the two-day meet. Taten Merrill and Brevin Egbert both racked up a lot of team points for the boys in blue and white.
Merrill has put together up of the best debut seasons for a local high school track & field athlete in recent memory. The senior won the 200-meter dash in 23.15 seconds — a noticeable headwind prevented the sprinters from running as fast as they did Wednesday — and anchored Sky View’s 4x100 relay team to victory, plus he was the silver medalist in the 100 (11.20) and high jump (6 feet, 4 inches).
The senior teamed up with Sam Porter, Chase Robison and Colin Brown in the 4x100 for a strong time of 43.84.
“I think it’s coming along nicely,” said Merrill, who missed out on the 100 title by 0.01. “I’ve learned a lot of stuff, but I feel like I need to learn a lot more between here and state because some stuff, like my blocks in the 100, was not the best and I feel like I could have done a little bit better. But it’s just the little things now. But we still have a lot of good competition around here that really pushes me to do a lot better, and that really helps.”
Likewise, Egbert finished in the top four in all four of his events. The standout freshman reigned supreme in the 110 hurdles (15.95), claimed bronze medals in the long jump (20-4) and high jump (6-0), and was fourth in the 300 hurdles (42.68).
“It definitely means a lot because I really love track and I definitely want to do the most I can for the team,” said Egbert, who made it a point to praise his coaches. “Because track really is an individual sport, but that’s not really how I view it. I really want to win region, I want to be able to win meets for my team. I want to be able to win with my team because there’s nothing better than celebrating with your teammates when you all do well.”
In addition to Merrill and Egbert, other local competitors who beat all comers in an individual event and fared well in another were Ridgeline’s Jackson Olsen, Green Canyon’s Tate Walker and Mountain Crest’s Hyrum Staffanson.
Olsen followed up Wednesday’s title in the high jump by finishing fourth in the 100 (11.35). Meanwhile, Walker was triumphant in the 300 hurdles (41.80) and placed fourth in the 200 (23.99), while Staffanson was the silver medalist in the 800 (1:59.84) one day after capturing gold in the 1,600.
Staffanson is only the second local boy to break the two-minute barrier in the 800 this spring. The other is Green Canyon star Jackson Monz, who became only the fourth boy from this area in the last 20 years to complete that race in less than 1:56 — something he was able to achieve at last week’s Mr. Mac/BYU Invitational with his 1:55.86.
“It means a lot,” Monz said. “It was a big barrier for me and I made a big jump, because it was from a 1:57 to the 1:55. Yeah, I’m really happy with it. I’ve put in a lot of hard work and it came together at BYU, and hopefully it comes together again at state.”
The senior wasn’t quite that fast Thursday, but his time of 1:57.25 was more than enough to claim a region championship in comfortable fashion.
“Last year we had a really good race (in the 800), a lot of competition and this year I was able to throw it down and get the region title, which I’m really proud of,” Monz said. “And all of the other guys did really well, so I’m proud to hold the region title for the 800 in 2022.”
Other local boys who earned the right to stand on the top spot of the podium on Day 2 of the meet were Mountain Crest’s Preston Sadler in the long jump (valley-leading leap of 21-5) and Sky View’s Isaiah Crookston in the 3,200 (10:06). Crookston also prevailed in this event at this meet a year ago. Green Canyon’s Bryce Radford won the discus on Day 1.
Two other Cache County athletes who finished in the top four in a pair of individual events were Mountain Crest’s Todd Rigby, Logan’s Jacob Anderson and Green Canyon’s Kyle Baker. Rigby was the bronze medalist in the 100 (11.23) and 200 (23.63), as was Baker in the javelin (144-1) and Wednesday’s discus. Anderson followed up Wednesday’s runner-up performance in the 1,600 with a bronze medal in the 3,200 (10:14).
Ridgeline’s Brock Parson was the runner-up in the 400 (51.33), as was teammate Widstoe Mathews in the javelin (144-3), Logan’s Josh Thomsen in the 110 hurdles (16.06) and Trey Davidson in the 3,200 (10:12), Mountain Crest’s Steven Hadfield in the 300 hurdles (42.06) and Green Canyon’s Nathan Turner in the shot put (44-9). Logan had two other athletes win bronze medals individually on Day 2 in Christian Smith (400, 51.50) and Tilose Tupou (shot put, 43-11). Additionally, Ridgeline’s Hyrum Butler posted the third-fastest time in the 110 hurdles (16.38).
Other local competitors who finished fourth in an individual event Thursday were Green Canyon’s Spencer Gerber (400, 51.98), Eric Oates (long jump, 19-7) and Henry Anderson (shot put, 42-2), Sky View’s Tyler McUne (javelin, 144-0) and Mountain Crest’s Mason Stott (3,200, 10:16).
Logan’s Luke won the pole vault, which is an exhibition event in 4A. Stearns vaulted over the bar at 10-6.