Reed and Spanish Springs took a combined seven athletes to the 2008 NIAA State Track Championships at Damonte Ranch High School Friday and Saturday.

However, the local schools were still able to put an athlete at the top of the podium in one event.

Reed senior Adrienne Hill defended her shot put title and held off Silverado's Amanda Bingson for the second straight year. Hill broke her own stadium record with a throw of 41-02.00, which beat Bingson's best effort by over a foot.

"She did the same thing she did this year that she did last year," Reed coach Dale Moss said. "She waited until her last throw to win it, she made it exciting."

She had six throws and was in the lead after two. Two competitors from Las Vegas threw over 40 feet, so she had something to shoot for and Hill let it loose Friday night.

"Her dad and mom were jumping up and down hugging everybody," Moss said. "She doesn't show a whole lot of emotion but gets a grin across her face. Grin of happiness but a sigh of relief."

Bingson did get the better of Hill in the discus by over 10 feet Saturday. Hill was about eight feet off her throw from last week when she won the event at regionals.

"She didn't look as explosive this week as she did last week when she threw," Moss said.

Moss said all the girls who threw in the discus looked a bit lethargic and like they were just going through motions.

Still, Hill racked up all 18 points for the Raiders, who finished in a tie for 15th place in the girls standings.

"It's just been a privilege to have worked with her for the past four years," Moss said.

Laura Voss, a freshman and the second girl to go to state for Spanish Springs, took fourth place in the girls 300-meter hurdles in 47.03 seconds. She ran about a second slower than she did last week.

"For her that was an excellent experience because never being in a state meet situation before, that was outstanding," SSHS coach Pat McGuire said. "Kids that it's their first time ever, that pressure is sometimes a little much for them. She said she was nervous, but that was expected."

Voss's teammate on the boys side, Cody Clifford, took sixth place in the boys 100-meter dash with a time of 11.23 seconds. He also placed fifth in the boys 400-meter dash with a time of 49.66 seconds. Clifford came into the meet ranked eighth, and did better than expected McGuire said.



"He looked really strong," SSHS coach Pat McGuire said. "His time wasn't faster but he looked really strong when he ran by me on his last turn. When you break 50 seconds that's still pretty good. He wanted to run faster and break his own school record."

Clifford, along with Sullivan Stevens, Zach Ransom and Justus Mora took eighth place in the 4x100 relay in 43.45, slightly faster than what they ran at regionals last weekend.



"They came right where they were supposed to come in," McGuire said. "I was proud of all of those guys. We had a brand new member in Zach Ransom.

Everybody looked like they were moving fast in that relay.

"I was proud of everyone who made it to state. They didn't crumble under the pressure."

The Cougars tied for 24th place overall, out of 34 teams, bringing in a total of eight points.

"We doubled our improvement in the overall score," McGuire said. "You need more bodies in almost every single event."

Zach Comphel took fifth place overall in the in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 15.14 seconds. That time was the exact same time Comphel ran last week to clinch first place in the Northern regional.

"He wasn't disappointed at all in his place," Moss said.

Comphel's goal was to break 15 seconds but he didn't quite get it. He also was consistently the top scorer for the RHS boys throughout the year.

"He's been very consistent," Moss said. "He's only a junior and we get to look forward to him coming back next year. He's one of those ones that's a quiet leader and loves what he does."

Next year Moss hopes to have more of his athletes make it to higher levels.

"As far as our program is, we want a lot more blue and gold in regional and state championships in the future," Moss said.

•In the 3A, Sparks finished in last place in both the boys and the girls competitions with 14 and 13 points respectively.

Bryan Orellana did his best to help out the Railroaders, placing in three events. The sophomore was third in the triple jump, fifth in the discus and sixth in the long jump for a total of 13 points. Juna Gomez took eighth in the shot put foe Sparks' final point.

The Maroon and Gold's 4x800-meter relay led the way for the girls, claiming bronze and six points.

Gabriela Diaz was fourth in the 1600-meter run and Sierra Shaw finished seventh in the 200-meter dash.