DIVISION I TRACK: Silverado’s boys, Centennial girls soar
CARSON CITY — The Silverado boys track and field team officially is on a five-year plan.
The Skyhawks seemingly contend for a state team title every five years, and Saturday was no different as they overcame injuries and wintry conditions to claim the championship at the Division I state track and field meet at Carson High.
Silverado scored 78 points, adding to the state title it won in 2011. The Skyhawks also won the championship in 2005 and were runners-up in 2006. Centennial finished second with 68 points, followed closely by Liberty with 65.
“Hopefully I don’t have to wait till 2021,” Silverado coach Jerry Oliver said. “It was more stressful than I thought it was going to be. The weather just really affected everybody, including us. It was a great equalizer.”
Silverado’s Devion Clayton won the 100-meter dash in a photo finish over Las Vegas’ Tre James, Bryan Espino was first in the 800 and Matthew Arnold won the triple jump, as the Skyhawks made up for the absence of Vernon Jackson, who missed the meet with a hamstring injury.
Clayton was slowed by a quadriceps injury early in the season but rebounded to upset James, the Sunrise Region champion. Clayton got off to a fast start and held off the hard-charging James to win by three-thousandths of a second as each crossed the line in 10.88 seconds.
“Much respect to Tre. I knew once I popped up and got out of my drive phase, it would be a battle,” Clayton said. “When they said it was a photo finish, I was nervous. I was sitting on the podium, praying. I didn’t know what was going to happen.”
Arnold set a new personal best to win the triple jump with a mark of 48 feet, 4¼ inches. The senior had two jumps over 47 feet in his series — only one of the other eight competitors even cleared 46 feet — and posted his winning mark on his final attempt.
“It’s pretty cool because I’ve been working for it since sophomore year and I finally got it, so that was a good feeling,” Arnold said.
Espino was near the front of most of the 800 and outkicked Bishop Manogue’s Logan Spodobalski in the final 50 meters to win in 1:56.33. The Skyhawks also were second in the 1,600 relay to cap the meet and lock up the team title.
Savon Scarver was the lone individual champion for Centennial, as the junior won the 300 hurdles in a state-meet record 37.83 seconds. Scarver finished second in the 110 hurdles and the 200 and also ran a leg on the Bulldogs’ 800 relay that finished second Friday.
“That kind of fueled me for today because I needed a win,” Scarver said. “I thought about it overnight and said I would come out today and just try to execute, do my race.
“It was a little shaky. I did everything until I got to the 100 and then I started getting a little tired so my form broke down a little bit, but I kept fighting to get there.”
Liberty’s Devon Ecklund won the pole vault, and the Patriots’ Nick Tapuala, Cyrius Vea and Damian Nunez finished 2-3-5 in the shot put.
Centennial’s girls claimed their sixth straight team title, using its superior depth to score 100 points. The Bulldogs opened the meet’s second day by winning the 3,200 relay and also got a victory from Karina Haymore in the 1,600.
“We convince our kids that after region we’re running for the team, and they’ll put individual accomplishments aside for the team,” Centennial coach Roy Session said. “This group works so hard. It speaks volumes. We weren’t sure, due to injuries, if were were going to be able to do it.”
Haymore was in the lead pack with teammate Alexis Gourrier and Abigail Pradere of Carson for the first half of the 1,600 before taking the lead on the third lap and pulling away to win in 5:08.70. She also was third in the 400 less than an hour later.
“I feel so blessed just to have this opportunity and to finally have really good competition to push me through my races,” Haymore said. “We have a legacy we want to keep up for future generations and I’m really grateful to be part of Centennial’s program.”
Palo Verde was a distant second in the girls team standings with 55 points. Cydnee Bush set a stadium record in the long jump at 19-2¼ and was an inch shy of the meet record to lead the Panthers.
Green Valley’s Charleen Jordan successfully defended her title in the 100 hurdles, winning in a time of 14.28 seconds.