High school track: Orem boys lead 5A state meet after Day 1 highlighted by repeat win over Tayson Echohawk in 3,200

Orem’s Tayson Echohawk won the 3,200 meters at the 4A state track meet at BYU on Thursday, which on the surface is no surprise considering he won the same race last year. That doesn’t tell the whole story though.

Echohawk got pretty sick this winter and has been playing catch-up with his endurance and strength all season as a result. The fact he was wearing bib No. 8 for a race he won last year speaks to the challenges he’s faced this spring.

The emotion of it all came out as he celebrated with his parents after crossing the finish line with a time of 9:03.29, to beat Olympus’ Jo Jo Jourdon, who crossed in 9:04.47.

“Crossing that line was the biggest feeling of success, and not just winning the race but coming back from where I was and looking at all my family celebrating, it was really special,” said Echohawk, the 5A state cross country champ in the fall as well.

“The fact I won today shows hard work pays off,” he added.

Echohawk said it really wasn’t until the Tiger Trials three weeks ago that he truly started to feel like his leg muscles could keep up with the standard he’d set for himself in past seasons.

Mountain View’s Liam Heninger led Thursday’s 3,200 race with about 200 meters to go, but Echohawk outkicked both Jourdon and Heninger down the stretch to repeat as the 3,200 champ.

Echohawk will race in both the 800 and 1,600 meters on Saturday, two races he finished second in last season. Completing the triple won’t be easy, but after the way he ran on Thursday he’s certainly the favorite in each race.

Aided by Echohawk’s win, and teammate Austin Westfall’s fifth-place finish in the same race, Orem is the boys Day 1 leader at BYU as it tallied 46 team points. Box Elder sits in second with 35.5 points. The Tigers are seeking a 5A three-peat.

Other individual winners on the boys side were Box Elder’s Keaton Jeppsen (discus), Springville’s Walker Deede (javelin), Northridge’s Logan Gillian (high jump) and Woods Cross’ Cole Brooks (long jump).

On the girls side, Mountain View is the Day 1 leader with a total of 36 points, with region foe Timpanogos in second with 27 points.

The Bruins got a big chunk of their points in the first race of the day in the 3,200 meters, with Mari Konold finishing second and Julie Moore in third. The two finished five-plus seconds behind Timpview sophomore sensation Jane Hedengren. She pulled away in the final lap to repeat as the 5A champ as she won with a time of 10:46.77.

The time was well off her season best of 10:22.93 she set in the first race of the season at Snow Canyon. She admits the grind has been a bit tough this season.

“It has been getting a little bit harder to keep going with all that full strength I had at the beginning of the season and all that momentum that I had, not only physically, but mentally,” said Hedengren.

She said when finding the motivation is tough, she reflects on how lucky she is to compete at such a high level against the outstanding distance runners in Utah and that quickly gets her refocused.

Two weeks ago at the BYU Invitational, Hedengren set the overall state record in the 1,600 meters, a race she fully will be favored to win again on Saturday. It’s the 800 meter race that is the most intriguing for Hedengren. That will be her last race of the tournament, and she said if she’s feeling good the goal is to chase for the state record.

Her best time in the 800 this season is 2:10.40, and the state record is 2:08.45, set by Davis’ Shea Martinez 10 years ago.

The other individual winners for the girls on Thursday were Maple Mountain’s Morgan Honsvick (shot put), Viewmont’s Rachel Roberts (discus), Uintah’s Kora Cook (high jump) and Maple Mountain’s Yaylor Yee (pole vault).

Cook’s jump of 5’08 in the high jump is the second-best jump in the entire state this season.

5A boys

Team scores (through 8 events)

1. Orem, 46

2. Box Elder, 35.5

3. Mountain View, 21

3. Maple Mountain, 21

5. Park City, 19

6. Stansbury, 15

7. Uintah, 13

7. Timpanogos, 13

7. Springville, 13

7. Lehi, 13

7. Woods Cross, 13

Individual results

3,200 meters — 1. Tayson Echohawk, Orem, 9:03.29; 2. JoJo Jourdon, Olympus, 9:04.47; 3. Liam Heninger, Mountain View, 9:05.85; 4. Chris Henry, Park City, 9:10.91; 5. Austin Westfall, Orem, 9:11.57; 6. Sam Hansen, Woods Cross, 9:17.54; 7. Paul Scown, Stansbury, 9:19.34; 8. Vance Langston, Brighton, 9:21.26.

4x200 relay — 1. Park City, 1:29.19; 2. Salem Hills, 1:32.44; 3. Uintah, 1:32.49; 4. Viewmont, 1:32.54; 5. Brighton, 1:32.64; 6. Springville, 1:32.84; 7. Hillcrest, 1:32.87; 8. Jordan, 1:33.08.

4x800 relay — 1. Mountain View, 7:44.59; 2. Park City, 7:52.90; 3. Lehi, 7:57.69; 4. Maple Mountain, 8:00.02; 5. Stansbury, 8:00.25; 6. Timpanogos, 8:00.38; 7. Skyline, 8:01.62; 8. Alta, 8:02.20.

Discus —1. Keaton Jeppsen, Box Elder, 151’01.50; 2. Cole Johnson, Orem, 145’10.50; 3. Brock Bissegger, Box Elder, 145’06.50; 4. Arizona Priddis, Mountain View, 140’05.75; 5. Tobias Johnson, Stansbury, 138’03.75; 6. Ammon Shaw, Springville, 138’00; 7. Isaiah Cooper, Hillcrest, 136’07; 8. Jensen Somerville, Lehi, 136’03.50.

Javelin —1. Walker Deede, Springville, 182’00.25; 2. Cole Johnson, Orem, 172’09.25; 3. Jack Jensen, Murray, 163’01.50; 4. Treysen Colmenares, Uintah, 158’04; 5. Slade Henderson, Uintah, 157’01.75; 6. Chase Harding, Uintah, 156’09; 7. Jacob Proctor, Tooele, 154’01.50; 8. Bridger Blauer, Payson, 152’08.25.

High jump —1. Logan Gillian, Northridge, 6’06.00; 2. Cole Johnson, Orem, 6’06.00; 3. Noah Begay, Lehi, 6’04.00; 4. Cole Mortensen, Box Elder, 6’02.00; 5. Isaac Greene, Olympus, 6’02.00; 6. Jacob Noyes, Box Elder, 6’02.00; 7. Max Baird, Box Elder, 6’02.00; 7. Jaxon Lorenzon, Skyline, 6’02.00.

Long jump —1. Cole Brooks, Woods Cross, 22’04.50; 2. Nathan Victor, Provo, 21’08.25; 3. Cole Mortensen, Box Elder, 21’08.25; 4. Jared Esplin, Timpview, 21’04.25; 5. Logan Johnston, Salem Hills, 20’10.75; 6. Denver Spanheimer, Payson, 20’10.50; 7. Brigham Black, Bountiful, 20’09.25; 8. Samuel Gates, Timpview, 20’05.25.

Pole vault —1. Brendan Croft, Timpanogos, 15’05.75; 2. Jackson Merrill, Orem, 15’05.75; 3. Bentley Smith, Maple Mountain, 14’05.50; 4. Shawn Spencer, Hillcrest, 13’11.75; 5. Gregory Steed, Salem Hills, 12’06.00; 6. Tyson Morley, Viewmont, 12’06.00; 7. Nathan Beck, Spanish Fork, 12’02.75; 8. Naoto Robinson, Hillcrest, 12’02.75.

5A girls

Team scores (through 7 events)

1. Mountain View, 36

2. Timpanogos, 27

3. Box Elder, 25

4. Timpview, 23

4. Maple Mountain, 23

6. Wasatch, 19

7. Viewmont, 17

8. Park City, 14

Individual results

3,200 meters — 1. Jane Hedengren, Timpview, 10:46.77; 2. Mari Konold, Mountain View, 10:51.74; 3. Julie Moore, Mountain View, 10:52.03; 4. Raygan Peterson, Timpanogos, 10:57.12; 5. Lydia Beus, Orem, 11:06.09; 6. Olivia Larsen, Maple Mountain, 11:09.43; 7. Kate Giles, Wasatch, 11:10.57; 8. Graysen Lanenga, Lehi, 11:13.05.

4x200 relay — 1. Timpanogos, 1:41.38; 2. Timpview, 1:42.03; 3. Park City, 1:42.81; 4. Stansbury, 1:45.50; 5. Viewmont, 1:45.66; 6. Highland, 1:45.94; 7. Box Elder, 1:46.16; 8. Lehi, 1:46.25.

4x800 relay — 1. Mountain View, 9:21.90; 2. Park City, 9:28.05; 3. Springville, 9:35.80; 4. Timpview, 9:42.12; 5. Orem, 9:43.25; 6. Brighton, 9:43.29; 7. Lehi, 9:47.58; 8. Timpanogos, 9:50.70.

Shot put — 1. Morgan Honsvick, Maple Mountain, 36’09.25; 2. Bailey Sweat, Wasatch, 36’00.75; 3. Norah Christensen, Timpanogos, 34’06.25; 4. Anneliese Nielson, Box Elder, 34’05.75; 5. Bliss Lindsay, Mountain View, 34’05.00; 6. Rachel Roberts, Viewmont, 33’10.25; 7. Kamri Andersen, Box Elder, 33’01.75; 8. Lauren Fetzer, Murray, 32’11.25.

Discus — 1. Rachel Roberts, Viewmont, 118’10; 2. Mia Strauss, Mountain View, 116’03.75; 3. Bailey Sweat, Wasatch, 115’05; 4. Anneliese Nielson, Box Elder, 113’07; 5. Karlee Mayfield, Northridge, 112’09.25; 6. Sharaden Caldwell, Wasatch, 108’10; 7. Lindsey Stewart, Uintah, 108’07.25; 8. Emily Bell, Springville, 106’10.75.

High jump — 1. Kora Cook, Uintah, 5’08.00; 2. Shelby Johnson, Box Elder, 5’05.00; 2. Mae Johnson, Bountiful, 5’05.00; 4. Summer Christensen, Timpanogos, 5’03.00; 5. Lillia Morgan, Box Elder, 5’03.00; 6. Kate Tueller, Northridge, 5’03.00; 7. Jessica Thurman, Salem Hills, 5’03.00; 8. Abigail Kirby, Salem Hills, 5’01.00.

Pole vault — 1. Taylor Yee, Maple Mountain, 11’00.00; 2. Anna Ames, Hillcrest, 11’00.00; 3. Liesel Ford, Lehi, 9’09.00; 4. Melanie Birkeland, Olympus, 9’05.50; 5. Taylee Holyoak, Cedar Valley, 8’11.50; 6. Adelynne Steed, Salem Hills, 8’11.50; 7. Abbie Johnson, Payson, 8’05.50; 8. Saidey Johnson, Cedar Valley, 7’11.75.