Carson High track, swim teams ready for state championships

Since Dec. 5, the Carson High boys and girls track teams had been working for what they were able to accomplish at the Northern 4A Championships at Reed High School.

Sixteen CHS athletes were able to qualify for this weekend’s State Championships by finishing in the top three in their events at regionals. The state meet began on Friday and will run through today at Desert Oasis High School in Las Vegas.

Carson got off to a strong start on Friday. Carson’s boys 4x800 relay of Hunter Rauh, Gryphon Matthies, Zach Sever and Ethan Byasse placed fourth in 8:06.19 and Ashley Britt ran a personal best of 15.89 to place sixth in the girls 100 hurdles. Jakob Heller also finished ninth in the boys triple jump at 38-10 1/2.

Also for CHS, Natalyn Wakeling placed seventh in the girls 100 in 12.74 and Jakob Heller finished ninth in the boys triple jump at 38-10 1/2.

Abby Pradere was set to defend her state title in the 1600 on Friday night.

It’s believed to be at least 13 years since Carson was able to qualify as many as 16 athletes for state. “It’s been a while,” Carson coach Steve Nelms said.

And it’s thanks to the training done by the athletes which began over the winter, Nelms said. “They’ve really put in some time and effort,” he said.

It was especially impressive Carson was able to qualify as many as 16 athletes since it was a particularly strong year for the north, Nelms said. As strong as the north has been, Southern Nevada athletes have been posting marks and times that have been better across the board. But Nelms believes his athletes will also post faster times and marks at state with the chance to face even stronger competition.

He also noted the meet is spread across two days as opposed to just the one day for the Northern 4A meet. And instead of having to compete in four events in one day, Carson’s athletes who made it to state can focus on less events over two days.

That won’t be the case for Britt, who qualified for state in four events — the 100 hurdles, 300 hurdles, 4x200 and 4x400.

Carson’s girls will also be led by Pradere, the defending state champion in the 800 and 1600, who will also be in the 4x400. Along with Pradere and Britt, Annika Wick and Katherine Oppedahl will go for the school record in the 4x400.

Athletes who should benefit from having a lesser workload include Ben Granados, who competed in four events last week at regionals. But Granados will be able to focus on the 400 and 4x400 at state. He finished the 400 in 50.53 last week and Nelms said Granados should be able to finish in the 49s at state.

The girls 4x100 relay of Natalyn Wakeling, Erica Basa, Taryn Encinas and Oppedahl won regionals last week in 50.08 and Nelms said that team should also be able to finish in the 49s.

Big things are also expected of Wakeling, who should be able to considerably improve on her time of 12.82 at regionals since she stumbled out of the blocks.

Other athletes for Carson at state include: Girls 4x200 — Encinas, Wick, Oppedahl, Britt; Merce Tarrayo — shot put, discus; boys 4x400 — Granados, Misrael Becerra, Nick Batien, Hunter Rauh; boys 4x800 — Rauh, Ethan Byasse, Gryphon Matthies, Zach Sever; Sever — 3200; Rauh — 800; Heller — triple jump.

For results of the meet visit https://live.nts-timing.com/meets/2076.

SWIMMING

The Carson High boys swim team will have six swimmers competing on Saturday in the State Championships being held at the Carson Aquatic Facility.

Nicholas Melsheimer, Matteas Klatt, Juan Brena Gutierrez, Alexander Gutierrez, Benjamin Kahue and Carlos Torres will all compete for CHS in the meet.

GOLF

Carson High’s Lukas Taggart shot a 90 on Tuesday in the final round of the State Championships held at Reno’s Somersett Country Club. Taggart finished with a two-day total of 176 (86-90).