Duo carry Centennial to third straight crown
The second day of the Division I girls state track and field meet turned into the Badger-Bonds Show at Silverado.
Centennial’s Sydney Badger and Tiana Bonds combined for three individual titles and were key members of two winning relays Saturday as the Bulldogs captured their third straight state title.
The juniors accounted for 50 of Centennial’s 113 points. Canyon Springs finished second with 54 points.
“These girls wanted to win for the team,” Bulldogs coach Roy Session said. “They bought into that at the beginning of the season and never let it go.”
Bonds added a win in the 300-meter hurdles to go with her victory in the 100 hurdles Friday. Courtney Robinson of Canyon Springs led late but stumbled over the final hurdle, allowing Bonds to win in 41.84 seconds and break the state record of 42.67 set by Candice McFarland of Legacy in 2011.
Robinson, who won the 100 meters Saturday, crossed the finish line in 41.94.
“I would never have run that fast without her racing with me. I gave it everything I had,” Bonds said. “It’s probably the best race I have ever run, and it was because of the competition.”
Badger led wire-to-wire in the 800 and crossed the finish line in 2 minutes, 11.98 seconds, just missing the state record of 2:11.39. Coronado’s Sara Dort finished second in 2:16.57.
“It was better than I expected,” said Badger, who won the 1,600 meters Friday. “I’m a more experienced runner now. I’ve learned not to let my guard down at the state meet.”
Badger, who also teamed with Bonds on the victorious 800 and 1,600 relays, completed her day by winning the 3,200 in 11:19.88.
Badger ran a 70-second final lap to pull away from defending state champion Marissa Suan of Palo Verde (11:27.07) and Arbor View’s Zanae Jones (11:49.13).
“It just shows (Badger) is in the best physical condition of her life,” Session said. “To be able to come back right after running a 2:11 half (mile) and run a 57 (-second) quarter (mile), and then come back less than an hour later and win the 3,200, amazing.”
Liberty’s Ashlie Blake won her second straight shot put title. The junior, who won the discus Friday, demolished the field with a winning toss of 49 feet, 7¾ inches, more than 13 feet better than the second-place throw.
Jasmyn Garcia of Silverado won the triple jump with a mark of 37-6.
Alexis Romero of Wooster set a state record in the pole vault at 12-7¼, breaking the record by a quarter-inch.
The Division I-A meet had more than its share of drama as the team title wasn’t decided until the final event.
Faith Lutheran trailed Pahrump Valley by half a point heading into the 3,200 but pulled out a 101-99½ victory. Leah Holleran finished fifth in the event for the Crusaders, three spots ahead of Pahrump’s Stefanie Thelaner, to provide the winning margin.
Anna DuBois of Elko won the shot put (41-4¼) to go with her win in the discus Friday, and Skyler Flora of Truckee took the 3,200 (11:42.11) to go with her win in the 1,600 on Friday.
In Division III, White Pine was first with 125 points, followed by The Meadows (100). Beatty won the Division IV title with 164 points.
