High school track: Pair of Judge athletes and Riverton strong at Taylorsville meet

TAYLORSVILLE — With his final trip to the Arcadia Invitational behind him, Judge Memorial senior Luke Puskedra has turned his attention to take care of a last bit of unfinished business in Utah. The Bulldogs distance runner has specific goals he wants to accomplish before the season is done.

Puskedra wants to trim his time for the 3,200 meters under 9 minutes and bring the 1,600 down to 4 minutes and 11 seconds. And, oh yeah, he wants to collect more state titles.

At the Taylorsville Invitational, however, Puskedra felt satisfied with simply taking home first-place finishes. He won both events he competed in on Saturday, capturing the 1,600 with a time of 4 minutes and 30.61 seconds and the 800 with a time of 2 minutes and 4.97 seconds.

There was little doubt Puskedra would triumph, considering he topped a field of elite runners in the 3,200 only a week earlier. Winning the 3,200 at Arcadia gave the Oregon-bound runner a nice boost for the next few weeks of in-state competition.

"It was good, for sure, to get out with some of the best guys in America," Puskedra said.

Lewis Walker, another Judge athlete, also received a nice boost from his performance at Taylorsville High. Making his first appearance at a meet for the Bulldogs since straining a hamstring during the Timpview Relays in late March, Walker won the long jump with a distance of 23 feet and 4.75 inches.

Walker cleared the distance he needed to win on his initial jump. That first one turned out crucial as he suffered diminishing returns on subsequent jumps while battling windy conditions.

"It was good I got that one out," Walker said. "I didn't have to worry about anything else going into the next five jumps."

Strong winds wreaked havoc on times and distances in many events throughout the day. A few runners managed to post impressive times in spite of the blustery conditions. Skyline sprinter Jeff Daw won the 400 with a time of 49.33 seconds. Judge senior Hailey Knettles captured the 1,600 with a time of 5 minutes and 11.61 seconds.

Riverton earned top team honors in both boys and girls events, making this the second straight invitational where the Silverwolves have achieved that feat. The Riverton boys team scored 85 points — edging out runner-up Hillcrest by eight points. The Silverwolves turned it into a rout on the girls side. They also scored 85 points — 34.75 more than second-place finisher Brighton.