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The clatter of cleats and pounding of shot puts in soil were dulled at Friday's Utah State Track and Field Championships due to heavy rainstorms. But through the sheets of rain, Davis junior Shea Martinez was able to post a personal record of 4 minutes, 56.10 seconds in the Class 5A girls' 1,600-meter race to win her second consecutive state title.

"I was trying to relax through the race," Martinez said. "I didn't even know I was leading until the last straight-away."

Martinez posted her first sub-5-minute race of the season.

Davis coach Corbin Talley worked with Martinez to develop a strong race plan.

"She struggled during the season being too aggressive," Talley said. "She needed to stay patient and in the end she ran a perfect race."

Senior Brad Nye of Davis shared the top honors, winning the 5A boys' 1,600-meter in 4:16.74.

The loudest roar of the day didn't come from the thunder clouds. In the 2A girls' medley, senior Erica Birk anchored North Summit's team. Holder of the 2A state records in the 2 mile, mile and 800 meters, she took the baton in the final leg for the run of her life. With a 30-pace lead over San Juan, Birk ran hard to own another state title.

"My teammates had great splits [on their runs]," Birk said. "I knew that when I turned the corner I had a chance to finish strong."

Birk sprinted the final leg to finish at 4:05.82, breaking the previous record by almost 16 seconds.

Tanesha Daniels missed the state contest last year with an emergency appendectomy. To make up the lost opportunity, the junior shot-putter from Fremont spent the past year training with the heavier boys' shot put to be ready for state. She won with a throw of 37 feet, 10.5 inches, but Daniels' victory was trumped by her sportsmanship. She cheered on her opponents throughout the final round.

"I know it's a competition, but I want everybody to do their best," Daniels said. "Being positive brings out the best in everyone."

Senior Joni Warnick of Riverton dominated with a new state record in the 5A girls' javelin. Her last throw of the day soared for 136-21/2 to earn top honors for the Silverwolves. —

Track state title winners

1A boys' discus – Max Lewis – Senior - Duchesne 158-00.75

2A boys' discus – Kevin Ballard – Senior - Grand County 152-01

3A boys' discus – Rhett Bird – Senior - North Sanpete 154-11

4A boys' discus – Quinn Miles – Senior - Box Elder 153-08

5A boys' discus – Miller Crawford – Sophomore - Riverton 160-06

1A boys' high jump – Zack Chynoweth – Senior - Bryce Valley 6-02.5

2A boys' high jump – Jason Cole – Senior - Manti 6-04.25

3A boys' high jump – Tyler Ott – Senior – Desert Hills 6-08

4A boys' high jump – Anthony Gregory – Junior – Roy 6-06

5A boys' high jump – Jaz Johnston — Senior — Fremont — 6-03

5A boys' pole vault – Zach Watson – Senior Syracuse 15-00

1A boys' 1,600m – Vance Weston – Richmond – Sohpomore 4:36.96

2A boys' 1,600m – Jacob Francis – Grand County – Sophomore 4:33.40

3A boys' 1,600m – Ben Saarel – Park City – Junior 4:16.22

4A boys' 1,600m – Jacob Heslington – Timpanogos – Junior 4:18.66

5A boys' 1,600m – Brad Nye – Davis – Senior 4:09.67

1A boys' medley – Panguitch – 3:56.24

2A boys' medley – Richfield – 3:46.31

3A boys' medley – Juab – 3:37.71

1A girls' javelin – Emily Catron – Manila – Junior 114-03.75

2A girls' javelin – Anden Lyman – Junior – Enterprise 126-04

3A girls' javelin – Megan Glasmann – Junior – Park City 143-06

4A girls' javelin – Athena Vianuku – Senior – Murray 122-01

5A girls' javelin– Joni Warnick – Senior – Riverton 136-02.25 STATE RECORD

1A girls' long jump – Arianna Reay – Sophomore – Monticello 17-03

2A girls' long jump – Ashlynn Allred – Emery – Freshman 17-09.25

3A girls' long jump – Abby Taylor – Desert Hills – Freshman 17-11

4A girls' long jump – Karlee Kartchner – Mountain Crest – Senior 18.09-75

5A girls' long jump – Mykah Heaton – Weber – Senior 18-01.5

1A girls' shot put – Courtney Lamborn – Rich – Junior 35-00

2A girls' shot put – Rachel Garrett – Grand –Senior 37-10

3A girls' shot put – Kassie Nagel – Morgan – Junior 39-00

4A girls' shot put – Sosina Salima – Woods Cross – Senior 42-00

5A girls' shot put – Tanesha Daniels – Fremont – Junior 37-10.5

1A girls' 1,600m – Catania Holman – Panguitch – Freshman 5:28.94

2A girls' 1,600m – Erica Birck – North Summit – Senior 4:57.75

3A girls' 1,600m – Sarah Feeny- Ogden – Sophomore 5:00.93

4A girls' 1,600m – Ashleigh Warner – Mountain View – Senior 4:50.13

5A girls' 1,600m – Shea Martinez – Davis – Junior 4:56.10

1A girls' medley – Monticello – 4:41.21

2A girls' medley – North Summit – 4:05.82 STATE RECORD

3A girls' medley – Ogden – 4:14.30 —

Ogden focuses title hopes on distance team

Provo • The three rings on the hands of coach Don Hall are conspicuous.

There is the gaudy one, from the state title Ogden High rang up this year in cross-country. There is the sparkling reminder from his championship team in 1999. Not to be overlooked, the 2009 track and field title ring rests on his left pinky finger.

That leaves plenty of room for this year and his girls' team, which heads into Saturday's final day at the state track meet at BYU as the favorite in the most unique of ways.

If the Tigers win the Class 3A title, they will do so on the strength of their distance team and not much else. No thrower, hurdler or sprinter is expected to win any points.

"That certainly puts some pressure on us to go out and have our best races," sophomore Sarah Feeny said. "We think we can do it, we just have to perform."

On Friday, Ogden took its first steps toward winning it all. Feeny, who missed significant time over the winter due to a growth plate injury, won the 1,600-meter run with a time of 4:59.28.

Senior Jamie Stokes, who will run at Weber State next season, finished second.

The two are expected to take first and second in both the 800- and 3,200-meter races on Saturday. Avery Calton, Jessica Sams and Melissa Garrett are expected to place in those races and the 1,600. The Tigers are expected to win up to 25 points in those three events.

On Friday, Ogden also won the medley relay, and that's another 10 points. Perform as expected, and the Tigers could hoist the trophy for the first time in four seasons.

But a few slips would mean the door is open for somebody like Park City, or defending champion Cedar, to win it all.

"We are projected to score 80 points and if we can do that, it may be enough," Hall said. "There are other great teams out there, but none of them are projected to score that many."

In all, the Tigers qualified eight in the 1,600, seven in the 800 and six in the 3,200. Those numbers have the potential to yield a ton of points, which could make the lack of depth in other areas a moot point.

— Tony Jones —

State track & field

Day 2 of competition

Saturday, 8 a.m. at BYU