Girls state: Ashley Moore, Bulldogs cruise to another title

Ashley Moore wasn’t thrilled with just a state meet record.

The Centennial junior set the meet record Saturday in the triple jump at the Class 4A state track championships at Desert Oasis, going 40 feet, 5¾ inches on one of her preliminary jumps.

But she didn’t meet her own lofty standards.

“Today, 42 (feet) was the goal,” said Moore, who also won the long jump on Friday. “I scratched the big jumps today.”

Missing that goal was about all that went wrong for the Bulldogs girls all weekend.

Centennial ran away with its ninth straight Class 4A team championship. The Bulldogs scored 126 points. Runners-up Carson and Sierra Vista each had 54.

“I’m happy,” Moore said. “It wasn’t my best day, but not my worst.”

Moore wasn’t the only Bulldog adding titles to the total, either.

Junior Quincy Bonds repeated as the champion in the 300-meter hurdles, finishing in 43.71. Bonds won the 100 hurdles and ran on the winning 400 relay team Friday.

Classmate Kennedy Brace also contributed two titles on Saturday. She first ran a personal record 54.82 to capture the 400 in the morning, but made a face of disgust at the finish line.

“I was really upset,” Brace said. “My goal this year was 53. I wil be looking for bigger as the (club) season goes on this summer.”

She then seemed to take out some of that early frustration during her anchor leg on the winning 1,600 relay to end the girls meet in the afternoon.

When Brace took the baton for the final 400 meters, Centennial was in third place behind Sierra Vista and Arbor View.

Neither was a match for a determined Brace.

By the end of the first turn, Brace had caught and passed Arbor View. Before the back straightaway curved into the final turn, she’d blown by Sierra Vista, bringing home the title in 3:55.86.

“In the back of our heads, we always are thinking there might be someone out there that wants our title,” Brace said. “We just stay focused, stay prepared.”

Rancho’s Amir’a Edmond won the 100 on Friday and claimed the 200 in a time of 24.43 on Saturday.

Liberty’s Aaliyah Soa won the shot put (44-5¾) and discus (144-8).

Class 3A

Charleyanse Howard won the 200 in 25.69 and the triple jump with a mark of 36-4 to add to the 100 title she won Friday and help Del Sol finish tied for sixth in the Class 3A meet.

Spring Creek won the meet with 137 points. Truckee was second with 97. Moapa Valley (65), Mojave (55) and Virgin Valley (45) rounded out the top five. Lowry tied Del Sol for sixth with 42 points.

Sunrise Mountain’s Kapua Pulotu won the shot put (37-5¾) and discus (135-7).

Class 2A

White Pine pulled away from the field to win the Class 2A meet with 206 points.

North Tahoe was second with 137 points. Incline took third with 103, and Pershing County was fourth with 78.

Class 1A

Eureka won three of the six field events and held off Wells for the Class 1A title.

The Vandals had 117 points. Wells was second with 101, and Tonopah took third with 84.