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Provo • Davis High won the BYU Invitational last year. The Darts took both the boys and the girls titles. They were dominant in the process. They looked like favorites to do the same in the state meet.
And then they lost.
It's a defeat that sticks with them to this day. And it's a past that will come up again in a few weeks, especially after their performance in the BYU Invitational on Saturday.
Davis was again dominant, even more so than last season. The Darts scored 78 team points in the 3-4-5A boys meet, besting Riverton by 25 points. The girls did much of the same, winning by almost 30 points over Sky View.
Davis coach Corbin Talley called the meet the best of the season for his team, adding that everyone in the program remembers what happened last year.
"We were focused, we came out and we performed well in almost every event," Talley said. "I'm really proud of everyone on the team."
In what was a great meet for the Darts, other teams turned in transcendent performances as well. The North Summit High girls easily won the Class 1-2A team title, scoring 126 points. In the closest team final of the day, Grand High scored 82 points to narrowly beat Parowan, who scored 79 points to take the 1-2A boys title.
There were great individuals as well.
Enterprise senior Tressa Lyman was a three-event winner, placing first in the heptathlon, the 300 meter hurdles and the high jump. Lyman, who will play volleyball next season at Idaho State, also finished second in the 100-meter hurdles
"I really enjoyed this meet," Lyman said. "It was a chance for me to test myself against the bigger schools. I wanted to focus, and I wanted to perform well, and I wanted to prepare myself for the state tournament. I feel like I did both today."
Michael Abbott from South Sevier was another three-event winner, emerging victorious in the 100, 200, and 400.
This meet, however, belonged to the Darts. They were bolstered by the performances of Sylvia Harrison, who won two events and finished second in two others.
"I was happy with my success and the success of my team today," Harrison said. "It felt really good to do well today, and it felt really good to set a couple of personal records today."
The question still persists, however: Can the Darts take Saturday's result and translate it to a state title? Riverton, the team which beat Davis last season, remains confident that it can be a different story in a couple of weeks.
"We just have to concentrate on ourselves," Riverton coach Mike Hutchings said. "You never know what can happen because the state tournament is so different. You don't have the Class 3A schools stealing points. It's more condensed. We're cautiously optimistic."