High school track: Daw wins again at Y. track meet

PROVO — When he lined up in the blocks to run his 200-meter race, Jeff Daw decided a change in mental strategy was in order.

The Skyline senior let worries about how fast Syracuse junior Tyrell Yardley would start in the 400 spin out of control, causing him to run harder than usual to start and opening the way for Yardley to take control down the stretch and claim victory.

For the 200, he decided to cast his worries away.

"Going into the 200, I decided I was going to have a little bit more fun with it," Daw said. "I wasn't going to be as stressed out about it."

"For the 400, I kind of worked myself up and it caused me not to run the race I know I'm capable of running."

Claiming victory made things even more fun for him on Saturday. Daw took first in the 200 with a time of 22.01 seconds, making it the third straight year he has walked away from the BYU Invitational with a first-place finish.

Daw won the 400 in 2007 and the 200 a year ago.

While satisfied with his 200 triumph, Daw is determined to string together a better performance in the 400 when he and Yardley meet again at the state meet in two weeks.

"It showed me that I need to run a smarter race against a top-notch competitor like he is," Daw said. "And so it's back to the drawing board to work on my strategy again."

Don't count on Yardley to rest on his laurels either. The Titans standout knows Daw will be motivated to both defend his state title in the 400 and exact a little payback for his loss on Saturday.

"It will be a lot tougher because he's going to push a lot harder now that he knows he has competition again in state," Yardley said.

Stormy weather had a major impact on the second day of the BYU Invitational. Several athletes — especially in the morning — dealt with a puddle-filled track and field and an onslaught of rain that didn't quit until afternoon.

"There was like an inch of water out there, but that wasn't what I was worrying about as I was running," said Davis senior Ryan Avery, who won the 100-meter dash in 11.08 seconds. "I was just worrying about my finish and everything. It was definitely good to have a pretty good time for bad weather."