Boevers has big day at Davis invitational

KAYSVILLE — In the 49-year history of the Davis High Track and Field Invitational, few athletes have had a better day than Judge Memorial junior Colin Boevers had Saturday.

Boevers set two state 3A records in winning both the discus and shot put, easily outdistancing his rivals and showing why the Bulldogs are prohibitive favorites for the 3A state title to be decided in three weeks at BYU.

His very first effort in the discus was his best, a throw of 180-7. In the shot put, he broke the state mark by eight inches with his fifth throw, at 61-9. Not bad for a kid who said he woke up feeling more fatigued than usual.

"I was really pretty tired today," he said with a smile. "I just wanted to have a good day, and I had one."

So did the Bulldog medley relay team of Aubrey Meyer, Rachel Wallace, Jenna Sliwinski and Sam McMillian. They also set a new state 3A record by winning that race in a time of 4:10.59. Though the event is not team scored, Judge Memorial coach Dan Quinn agreed that "the Bulldogs had a pretty good afternoon up here."

Boevers' efforts earned him the Male Outstanding Athlete award. The outstanding individual performance was by Mountain Crest's Justin Hedin, who finished the 800 meters in a time of 1:53.45. He also won the 1600 meters at 4:19.75. Marshall Milligan of Viewmont was also a double winner, taking firsts in the 100 meters (10.97) and 200 meters (22.40). Individual titles were also won by Alex Price of Judge in the 110 hurdles, Logan's Jeff Alley in the 400 meters, Dan Seethaler of Alta in the 300 hurdles and Connor Kamm of Skyline in the 3200 meters.

Mike Hyer of Ben Lomond won the high jump, Ian Jansen of Juan Diego the pole vault, Mike Ashcraft of Riverton the long jump and Carl Wood of St. Joseph the javelin. But the day clearly belonged to Boevers, who joined the Bulldogs this season after attending Juan Diego last year. "He's a great competitor, and he works very hard at his events," Quinn said. "It's nice to see him rewarded for it today."

Nachelle Stewart of Spanish Fork was the dominant female athlete, taking firsts in the 200, 400, and as part of the 400 and 1600 meter relay teams. She was named Outstanding Female Athlete. Sister Natalie Stewart won the 100, as the Dons, defending 4A champs, looked poised to take on Davis and Mountain View for the state 5A title this year. Hurdlers Ashlee Cannon of Davis and Ally Dean of Bonneville split those races, Cannon edging Dean in the 100 hurdles and Dean nipping Cannon in the 300 hurdles. Both had outstanding times. The Outstanding Female Performance was by Davis freshman Candace Eddy, who won the 1600 meters in a time of 4:58.51.

Other winners were Mountain View, Wyoming's Amber Henry in the 800, Natalie Haws of Davis in the 3200, Alta's Hailey DeYoung in long jump, Cyprus' Torle Nenbee in the javelin, Lindsey Spencer of Fremont in the discus and Jennifer Neddo of Jordan in the high jump.

Next weekend, the state's top athletes meet in Provo for the BYU Invitational, with 1A and 2A schools competing on Friday and 3A-5A schools going at it on Saturday.