MHS track shines in competitions

Individually and collectively, the MHS track team has had quite a run!  Both the boys’ and girls’ teams won the 2023 Trojan Invitational which was held April 22 in Morgan, a smaller group of runners traveled to Arcadia Nationals and and the Men’s 1600 Sprint Medley Relay team took second at the prestigious event, and three Morgan athletes participated in the BYU Invitational Decathlon and Heptathlon with Brogan Garret placing first in the decathlon and Grace Gordon second in the heptathlon.

With several athletes already qualified for state, the Trojans will continue to push each other to run, jump, hurdle and throw farther and faster to qualify more athletes for the 3A State Championships on May 19-20 at BYU.  The Region 13 Championships will be held May 11-12 at Ogden High School, and they will be the last chance athletes have to qualify for state.

Arcadia Invitational Meet 

Morgan 1600m Sprint Medley team took second place at the nationally acclaimed Arcadia Invitational Meet in Arcadia, California on April 7-8.  The sprint team of Jake Carter, Brogan Garrett, Jimmy Savage and Tucker Giles raced to new heights and exchanges with a final time of 3:33.60.  They were bested only by Palos Verdes, a California team, but represented Morgan amazingly well in one of the top invitationals in the country.  Garrett finished fifth overall in the individual 400m with a time of 49.09, and senior Grace Gordon ran a 59.89 in the 400m race.

BYU Invitational Decathlon and Heptathlon

Morgan tracksters Grace Gordon, Brogan Garrett and Jacob Carter traveled to BYU to compete in the grueling decathlon and heptathlon April 14 and 15.  Gordon, a senior, participated in the female heptathlon with seven events over two days while juniors Garrett and Carter tackled the ten-event decathlon.  Only athletes with qualifying times and distances were invited to participate in the event which is limited to nine boys and nine girls for the 1A-3A competition. 

The heptathlon includes the 100m hurdles, 200m race, 800m race, high jump, shot put, long jump and javelin throw. Gordon placed second in the heptathlon winning the 200m, 800m and long jump competitions.

The javelin, discus, shot put, pole vault, high jump, long jump, 100m race,  400m race, 110m hurdles, and 1500m race are the events that make up the decathlon.

After all ten events, Garrett was crowned the 1A-3A Champion!  His point total of 5625 would have placed him third in the 4A-6A competition.  Carter finished sixth. To compete in the decathlon, an athlete must be skilled in all ten areas of the track and field competition and possess incredible stamina to compete in so many events. The pole vault is a decathlon-only  event for 1A-5A schools in Utah.

Garrett earned first place finishes in the high jump and 400m race while Carter took first in the long jump and 100m race.  Garrett also picked up silvers in the 100m and 110m hurdles.  His lowest finish came in the shot put while Carter scored the lowest in the high jump.  

Garrett’s victory is the first in several decades at Morgan according to sources.  He broke the school record for the Decathlon which was set in 1995 by Koby Whitear.  This is Garrett’s second school record this year.  He set the 200m record of 22.29 at the Pineview Invitational.  This record was previously set by Tanner Stanley in 2022. In 2017, Tyler Browning placed 6th in the 3A-5A Decathlon, and in 2013 Britten Duerden placed 5th in the 3A-5A Heptathlon. 

2023 Trojan Invitational

Saturday, April 22, 13 boys’ and girls’ track teams filled Trojan Stadium and Field for the 2023 Trojan Invitational.  Morgan won the boys’ and girls’ first place trophies.  In the girls’ race, Morgan edged North Summit 145 to 134 with Northridge finishing a distant third with 53 points.  The Trojan boys’ 164 points topped Northridge’s 105 while Mountain View (WY) took third with 77 points.

Individual champions at the meet were Grace Gordon (58.68) in the 400m, Alexis Weiers (2:26.09) in the 800m, and Sisilia Mafi (35-0.00) in the shot put. Morgan earned first place in the boys’ 4x400 relay and 1600m Sprint Medley Relay and in the girls 4x400 relay.

Several Trojans finished on the podium and even more hit PRs (personal records).  Athletes with top three finishes are listed below.

Boys

400m-Brakken Bell (54.17) 3rd; 800m-Tucker Giles (2:06.00) 2nd; 1600m-Brooks Anderton (4:46.86) 2nd; 110m hurdles-Jarron Ball (16.51) 3rd; 300m hurdles- Gavin DeWitt (43.36) 3rd; 4x100 Relay (44.07) 3rd; 4x200 Relay (1:40.71) 3rd; Shot Put-Shaun Moore (47-02.00); Javelin-Gavin DeWitt (144-00); High Jump- Kenny Whitmer (5-10.00) 2nd, Donavin Gibson (5-08.00) 3rd; Long Jump-Jake Carter (19-10.50) 2nd.

Girls

100m-Lucy Tripp (12.77) 3rd; 200m-Lucy Tripp (25.91) 2nd; 800m- Melanie Bybee (2:31.73) 3rd; 3200m-Clara Compton (12:46.74) 2nd; 4x100 Relay (51.77) 2nd; 4x200 Relay (2:13.11) 3rd; 1600m Sprint Medley Relay- (5:00.30) 3rd; Shot Put-Leineta Mafi (30-11.00) 3rd; Discus-Londyn Elmer (102-03) 2nd; Javelin-Halley Torman (88-02) 3rd; High Jump-Abby Titus (4-11.00) 2nd.λ