High school track: Davis team, Richfield runner take home titles, glory

PROVO — When Richfield runner Tyler Sorensen, with three first-place medals hanging around his neck, humbly talks about all the help he has received, it's obvious he means it.

"Everyone else should be wearing these medals and getting attention," Sorenson said after winning in the 100-, 200- and 400-meter races on Saturday at the Utah State Track and Field Championships at Clarence F. Robison Track at BYU.

Sorensen talks about "everyone else" that has supported him along the way, from his coach Bryan Griffin to his father who gave him massages and everyone in between.

The senior — who will be leaving Aug. 10 for an LDS Church mission in Copenhagen, Denmark — will decide later what his future holds on the track. But on Saturday, he was a bit of a Superman, helping his team in the 3A team standings.

Sorensen's efforts weren't quite enough though, as Richfield finished third with 68 points behind Hurricane (89.5 points) and Canyon View (78).

Davis won the 5A team title, pulling away behind a lot of clutch performances. One of those came from Brad Nye, who finished second in the mile and first in the 800 meters.

"This is awesome," Nye said. "It's been a lot of years coming. My brother was a multiple state champion, so it was one of those things that I have been dreaming about for a long time."

The Darts' large team and huge contingent of supporters spurred them on during the two-day meet.

"There were tons of people here cheering us on," Nye said. "There was so much energy and excitement, and we came through with lots of big performances."

An excited Davis head coach Corbin Talley agreed that his athletes fed off of one another and the crowd.

"(Friday) they were pretty good, but today they really took off," Talley said. The team came together, and we saw some really good character."

After American Fork had a strong showing in the 3,200 meter race — where Cavemen Austin West, Clayton Young, Ashenafe Richardson and MacKenzie Morrison finished first, third, fifth and sixth, respectively — the team title was in question.

But after Nye won the 800 meters and teammate Joe White edged out a fourth-place finish in the same race, Davis got a boost.

Then Davis javelin thrower Spencer Betker uncorked a monstrous toss of 194 feet that put his team back in control.

Ultimately, Davis won the team standings with 93 points, beating out American Fork (70 points) and Riverton (69).

Springville took second place in the 4A standings, overcoming a streak of five years in which they have not received a trophy.

"I don't know how we did that, but they were just on today," Red Devils head coach Jeff Wells said. "This is special for all of us."

Springville's 4x400 relay team did their part by edging Woods Cross in one of the last races of the day.

The Red Devils totaled 60 points to finish only behind Sky View (78 points).

Woods Cross and Logan dominated the 4A pole vault competition, with Woods Cross' Joe Johnson, Andres Rodriguez and Jordan Warner finishing first, second and fifth, respectively, and Joe Coppin and Cameron Violette of Logan taking third and fourth, respectively.

In the 2A team standings, Grand County racked up an impressive total of 122 points, beating out an also-strong Parowan team (114 points).

Duchesne took the 1A team title with 105 points. Monticello was second with 89 points, and Rich finished third (85 points).