FIELDER’S CHOICES: Expect hotly contested Class 4A region track meets

I like baseball and softball just as much as the next high school sports prognosticator.

But this corner of NevadaPreps.com would be remiss if it ignored track and field.

There’s nothing like hearing a starter’s pistol send runners out of their starting blocks down the track toward a neck-and-neck finish.

So you baseball and softball folks — thanks for the passionate comments, by the way — can wait your turn for a week.

We’re previewing the Class 4A Sunset and Sunrise region track meets this week. Both begin Wednesday at Del Sol.

Here is an event-by-event breakdown with picks to win region titles and some darkhorses along the way:

100 (my favorite)

Boys
Sunset pick: Stephen Nixon, Cimarron-Memorial
Sunrise pick: Shaun Murray, Liberty
Nixon gets the nod as a two-time defending state champion until someone can knock him off.
Girls
Sunset pick: Tierra Tyler, Western
Sunrise pick: Denecia Rush, Foothill
Tyler is the defending state champion, and no one in the valley has come closer than four-tenths of a second to her time of 11.6 earlier this season.

200

Boys
Sunset pick: Aaron Harris, Western
Sunrise pick: Garic Wharton, Valley
Wharton is the defending state champion but will see tough competition from Murray and Chaparral’s Joeal Hotchkins.
Girls
Sunset pick: Unique Conner, Western
Sunrise pick: Tierra Williams, Chaparral
This event is all about Western.

Conner ran the 200 in 24.4 this season, followed by teammates Lauren Jackson (24.8), Ansherae Devine (25.6) and Antionette Garrett (26.02).

400

Boys
Sunset pick: Corey Evans, Western
Sunrise pick: Ladale Jackson, Silverado
Not many guys with experience at last year’s state meet, so it will be interesting to see who emerges.
Girls
Sunset pick: Shirley Pitts, Bonanza
Sunrise pick: Ashley Gordon, Rancho
Intrigue abounds in the Sunset, where Pitts is the defending state champion but Conner has posted a valley-best 55.7 this season.

800

Boys
Sunset pick: Sam Mahar, Shadow Ridge
Sunrise pick: Aaron Adkins, Las Vegas
Adkins is the clear-cut favorite here. He is the only returning sprinter in the state who placed in the event (sixth) at state last season, and no one has topped his mark of 1:57.16 this season.
Girls
Sunset pick: Ansherae Devine, Western
Sunrise pick: Michaelanne Laurent, Coronado
You never can get enough Western when it comes to sprints.

1,600

Boys
Sunset pick: Nick Hartle, Centennial
Sunrise pick: Al Galan, Liberty
Galan bolted to a 4:27.79 finish earlier this season.
Girls
Sunset pick: Michelle Schenck, Shadow Ridge
Sunrise pick: Michaelanne Laurent, Coronado
Laurent is as dominant as anyone in the event. She was second at state last year and has a 5:08.73 to her credit this season.

3,200

Boys
Sunset pick: Nick Hartle, Centennial
Sunrise pick: Julius Kim, Green Valley
It’s Kim’s time to shine. The junior was eighth at state last year and posted a 9:50.08 earlier this season.
Girls
Sunset pick: Elisa Vazquez, Clark
Sunrise pick: Michaelanne Laurent, Coronado
More Laurent, more points for the Cougars.

High hurdles

Boys
Sunset pick: Donovan Lewis, Durango
Sunrise pick: Bobby Webb, Eldorado
This is one of the more stacked events, with Webb finishing second in the state last season and Sierra Vista’s Edred Utomi sixth.
Girls
Sunset pick: Madeline McCoy, Arbor View
Sunrise pick: Marica King, Canyon Springs
Don’t mess with a defending state champion (McCoy). But watch out for Arbor View teammate Candice McFarland.
 

Sunset pick: Donovan Lewis, Durango
Sunrise pick: Michael Wadsworth, Silverado
Lewis has a real shot to win the 110 and 300 hurdles.
Girls
Sunset pick: Candice McFarland, Arbor View
Sunrise pick: Ra’yanna Anderson, Rancho
McFarland should be among the contenders for a state title.

400 relay

Boys
Sunset pick: Western
Sunrise pick: Chaparral
Palo Verde, Cheyenne and Cimarron-Memorial will be tough in the Sunset, as will Valley in the Sunrise.
Girls
Sunset pick: Western
Sunrise pick: Toss-up

If you’ve been paying attention, an awful lot of Western sprinters are in the aforementioned events.

The Sunrise is unclear. It could be Foothill, Chaparral, Rancho, Canyon Springs or Green Valley.

800 relay

Boys
Sunset pick: Western
Sunrise pick: Chaparral
Look familiar?
Girls
Sunset pick: Western
Sunrise pick: Canyon Springs
I wouldn’t want to run a relay against Western. That’s boys, girls, the 400, 800, whatever.

1,600 relay

Boys
Sunset pick: Western
Sunrise pick: Silverado
The Skyhawks should be challenged by Canyon Springs and Green Valley.
Girls
Sunset pick: Centennial
Sunrise pick: Rancho
Could easily be Western in the Sunset or Canyon Springs in the Sunrise.

3,200 relay

Boys
Sunset pick: Centennial
Sunrise pick: Green Valley
There isn’t much room for debate here.

Even if the Bulldogs don’t have the same quartet for the postseason, their time of 8:08.46 hasn’t been touched all year.

Same goes in the Sunrise for Green Valley (8:17.69).

Girls
Sunset pick: Centennial
Sunrise pick: Foothill
As long as Laurent is running, Coronado will give Foothill a test.
 

Boys
Sunset pick: Ricky Rideout, Cheyenne
Sunrise pick: James Holmes, Basic
Holmes has cleared 6-5 this season.
Girls
Sunset pick: Alice Pitts, Bonanza
Sunrise pick: TaQuiyyah Boyles, Desert Pines
Pitts has cleared 5-4 this season and is coming off a fourth-place finish at state.

Long jump

Boys
Sunset pick: Ricky Rideout, Cheyenne
Sunrise pick: Joeal Hotchkins, Chaparral
Hotchkins has reached 22-6½ this season and is the clear favorite after finishing second in the state last season.
Girls
Sunset pick: LaTangie Richard, Centennial
Sunrise pick: Aja Flippen, Green Valley
One of the toughest events to forecast because no one has been consistently dominant.

Triple jump

Boys
Sunset pick: Sidney Hodge, Palo Verde
Sunrise pick: Charles White, Eldorado
White has reached 47-2½ this season and is the favorite after finishing fourth at state last year.
Girls
Sunset pick: Tatiana Davis, Centennial
Sunrise pick: Shavee Lighten, Canyon Springs
Coming off a seventh-place finish at state last year, Lighten has reached 33-3¼ this season.
 

Boys
Sunset pick: Christian Bulloch, Bonanza
Sunrise pick: Bryan Artmann, Green Valley
Artmann’s 14-9 is well above anyone else in the valley. He was sixth at state last season.
Girls
Sunset pick: Ashley Lively, Centennial
Sunrise pick: Emily Kashka, Coronado
Kashka was second at state last year and has cleared 10-7 this season.

Shot put

Boys
Sunset pick: Donte Perry, Western
Sunrise pick: Brigham Tauteoli, Green Valley
Perry (51-9) and Tauteoli (50-2) have stood out this season.
Girls
Sunset pick: Avione Allgood, Legacy
Sunrise pick: Destanae Howerton-Davis, Canyon Springs
Allgood is only a freshman, so throwers throughout the valley are in for a world of hurt the next three years.

Discus

Boys
Sunset pick: Chaz Thomas, Palo Verde
Sunrise pick: Arion Molinaro, Green Valley
Molinaro is among the contenders for a state title after posting a 163-4 this season.
Girls
Sunset pick: Avione Allgood, Legacy
Sunrise pick: Destanae Howerton-Davis, Canyon Springs
No reason to think this will be any different from the shot put.