SUNSET REGION: Centennial girls run away with Sunset Region title

In a totally dominating performance, Centennial’s girls won eight of the 10 contested races on the track on Friday at Silverado to run away with the Sunset Region girls track title.

The Bulldogs finished with 185½ points, easily outdistancing second-place Faith Lutheran (97).

Tamera Williams, the defending 100-meter champion, won the 100 in 12.17 seconds, and also took the 200 and anchored the winning 400 relay team for Centennial.

“I’m proud of what I did today and proud of our team,” Williams said. “We worked hard. My teammates really pushed me and made me a better runner.”

Centennial went 1-2 in the 100 hurdles to help the Bulldogs get off to a fast start.

Tiana Bonds won in 14.5, with Hailee Carattini second in 16.04, to give Centennial a quick 18 points. Bonds also finished first in the 300 hurdles (44.75).

Williams and Latangie Richard helped extend the lead in the 100, with Richard finishing third in 12.492 seconds. She earned a berth at state because her time was three thousandths of a second faster than the third-place time in the Sunrise Region.

Sydney Badger was the third multiple winner for Centennial, winning the 800 (2:18.32) and 1,600 (5:10.24) to go along with a victory in the 3,200 last Friday.

Her time in the 1,600 set a region record, topping the old mark of 5:11.98.

“I didn’t run my best times because of the heat,” Badger said. “But I can’t complain too much about that because everyone else is running in it too.

Centennial’s boys were nearly as convincing in their win, finishing first with 133 points, with runner-up Palo Verde a distant second at 68.

Nick Hartle did most of the heavy lifting. The Centennial senior won the 800 and the 1,600, to go with his 3,200 meter run win last Friday. He also finished second in the 400, qualifying for state in all four events. Hartle set a region record in the 1,600 with a time of 4:18.0, breaking the old mark of 4:19.98.

But it was his winning 800 (1:54.08), which came less than an hour after the 400, that Hartle was most proud of.

“That’s the first good 800 I’ve run in Vegas all year,” Hartle said. “It was nice to be able to get a good time for state. It’s going to be tough at state (running four individual events), but I’ll be ready.”

The boys 100 produced on the best race of the day. Defending state champion, Jayveon Taylor set a Sunset record of 10.58. The Bonanza sophomore overcame a poor start and went from third to first in the last 40 meters.

“I thought it was a false start at first,” Taylor said. “I felt like I had a shot because I knew what was capable in me. If I lose I disappoint everybody. My goal is to catch whoever is in front of me and do my best in the race.”

Taylor set a region record in the 200 with a time of 21.25.

But the day really belonged to Centennial.

“It all went according to plan,” Centennial coach Roy Sessions said. “We’re in great shape for state. Now it’s back to work this week. We’ll be ready.”