High school boys track: Yardley and Norris claim state records, event sweeps

PROVO — Moments after Tyrell Yardley finished running in the 200 meters, the starting line official tracked him down to present the Syracuse junior an unusual souvenir.

Yardley was presented with a shell casing from the starter's gun.

It seemed like an appropriate memento considering the Titan standout used his speed to dominate the sprints and claim a state record on Saturday. Yardley finished the final day of the state track meet at BYU in style — sweeping first-place finishes in the 100, 200 and 400 meters and claiming a 5A record in the 200.

"I've been trying to get a state record all year," Yardley said. "I finally got it. I was trying to get it in the 100, but I didn't, so I knew I had to get it in the 200."

Yardley finished in 21.48 seconds to set the mark. He would have claimed it a day earlier if his time of 21.15 had not been ruled to be wind-aided. Yardley felt confident that what he did once already he could do again a day later.

He also felt determined to complete a sprint sweep that had been expected of him almost since the season began.

"Everybody thought I was going to do it coming in," Yardley said. "If I didn't do it, they all would have (thought), 'He isn't as fast as everybody says he is.' So it was really good to just do it."

While Yardley claimed his first state record, Panguitch senior Trac Norris found a way to add to his tally. Norris finished in 1:54.70 to win the 800 and best the old 1A mark by nearly two seconds.

It marked the final leg of his successful defense of his 1A state titles in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200. Norris wasn't sure if he had another record-setting time in him when it came to the 800, but he received a mental boost from having people cheer him on as he circled the track.

"Before the race I didn't know if my legs were feeling it or not, being the last event," Norris said. "After two days of hard work, my legs were all tired. But I got it, and that's what matters."

Norris wasn't the only runner to claim wins in all three distance races. Hurricane senior Tim Wilcock added victories in the 800 and 3,200 to his earlier triumph in the 1,600. Richfield senior Josh Monsen also accomplished the same feat.

Wilcock credited winning the 1,600 and the medley relay on Friday for setting the right tone going into his remaining events. It definitely helped the Tigers in securing their first 3A team title since 2006. Wilcock helped account for 40 of his team's 95.5 total points.

"As a freshman, I qualified for state but I didn't score anything," Wilcock said. "Being one of the major scorers on the team is a lot more fun."