Ian Mack's triple wins highlight Div 1

State Meet Highlights

 
The Nevada championships continued to build on an upswing of momentum and a handful of genuine stars, none brighter than new high jump national record holder Vashti Cunningham. Even if the state meet in particular wasn't her best day, she was the biggest story in the state this spring.

Top Performances:

 
- Ian Mack of Green Valley was the star of the state meet, cruising to Div I titles in the 100 (10.66), the 200 (21.82) and the 400 (47.03).

- Corey Reid of Carson, who broke a state record in the decathlon, finished second to Mack in the 200 (22.17) and the 400 (47.25).

- Connor Ross of McQueen won the 800 meters in 1:51.31 and also finished third in that epic 400 meters final in 47.62.

- Dajour Braxton of Centennial won the 1,600 meters in 4:13.45, placed second to Kai Benedict in the 3,200 with 9:33.80 and second to Ross in the 800 with 1:53.60.

- Kai Benedict of McQueen won the 3,200 meters in 9:16.03 and also placed second behind Braxton in the 1,600 with 4:14.67.

- Vashti Cunningham, the junior from Bishop Gorman, won the Division I title in the long jump (19-2.50) but had a shocking no-height in the high jump.

- Alexander Bradley III from Canyon Springs swept the Div I hurdles, clocking 14.36 and 38.13.

- The Shadow Ridge boys won the Div I 4x100 relay in 41.34 seconds.

- The Centennial boys put together strong relay wins in the 4x400 (3:16.48 for an all-time state record) and the 4x800 (7:48.89).

 
- Sophomore Charleen Jordan of Coronado swept the Div I hurdles events with 14.54 and 43.93.

- Centennial freshman Alexis Gourrier emerged on the scene in a big way, winning the Div I 1,600 (5:08.42) and the 3,200 (11:05.18) and placing second in the 800 (2:15.49).

 
- Karina Haymore from Centennial, a sophomore, won the Div I 800 meters with 2:10.89.

- Mark Rubalcaba of Faith Lutheran, a senior, repeated as Div I-A long jump champion with a wind-legal jump of 24-8, one of the best marks in state history. He added a victory in the triple jump with 48-6.50. He also placed second in the 100 (10.95).

- Kenric Davis of Western swept the Div I-A sprints, taking the 100 (10.94), the 200 (22.35) and the 400 (49.04).

- Caleb Witsken of Moapa Valley won the Div I-A pole vault with a clearance at 16-0.25.

- Gabrielle Rinne and Skyler Flora of Tahoe-Truckee ruled the distance races in the Div 1A meet. Rinne won the 800 meters (2:13.36) and the 1,600 (5:12.05) and Flora won the 3,200 (11:16.30), placed second in the 1,600 and third in the 800.

- There were three quality sprinters in the girls Div I-A races. Kelbie Middleton of Pahrump Valley won the 100 meters with 11.76 (3.6w) and was trailed by Clarissa Maxey (11.86) and Cayla Nikodemus of Faith Lutheran. In the 200, Nikodemus got the win with 24.75 (0.5) and teammate Maxey was second (24.80) and Middleton was third (24.94). Maxey won the 400 in 55.19.

- Delaney Gosse of The Meadows won the Div 3 high jump with a clearance at 5-8.

Top Teams:

Centennial continues to set the bar in Nevada, with the boys and girls teams sweeping the Division I team titles. Faith Lutheran pulled off a similar sweep of the Div I-A titles. And the interesting note here is that Faith Lutheran is bumping up to Division I next year, so it will go head to head with Centennial.

Top Competition: Kai Benedict and Dajuan Braxton were a high quality distance duo that swapped state titles in the Division I championship meet. Benedict will move on to the Pac-12 at Cal and Braxton is headed to the SEC and LSU.

Record-breaker: Although the state meet was not her finest moment of the season, Vashti Cunningham’s national record was one of the best moments nationally of the entire season. She cleared 6-4.25 on April 18 at the Mt. SAC Relays in California. She broke a record that had been jointly held by Amy Acuff (1993) and Toni Young (2009).