Carson High girls reflect on finishing second at state track meet

The picture says it all and is the perfect image for the 2019 Carson High track season. Abby Pradere bent over — as if she was taking a bow — smiling after winning the 1600 at last week’s State Championships.

It was Pradere’s fourth state title and the feeling she had at the end of that race was clear. “There was a lot of good girls in the race,” she said. “It’s just an awesome feeling when you cross the line.”

For the rest of the Senators, the feeling is mutual. Carson’s girls are still basking in the glow of a second place finish at state in which they scored 54 points to tie for second with Sierra Vista behind champion Centennial.

And the Senators did it with eight girls as compared to Sierra Vista’s contingent of 15 girls and Centennial’s contingent, which was much larger than 15. “Really proud,” said Pradere about the second place finish. “It was really crazy that we only did it with eight girls.”

But eight was enough for CHS both on the scoreboard and for support. Pradere has been used to going to state over the years with a much smaller contingent representing Carson.

This year, though, eight CHS boys joined eight Senator girls for 16 Carson athletes who were at state. So instead of just sitting in the stands and waiting for her races, Pradere could watch her teammates compete in their events, which helped keep her occupied, she said.

“It’s kind of nice to have so many people, boys and girls, cheer you on,” Pradere said.

Pradere was joined by Merce Tarrayo and Ashley Britt in helping to lead CHS to a second place finish. Pradere repeated as state champion in the 800 and 1600. Pradere won three medals as she also helped Carson to a fourth place finish in the 4x400 relay.

Britt, who competed in four events, also won two medals. She ran on the 4x400 along with Pradere, Katherine Oppedahl and Annika Wick and placed fourth in the 300 hurdles with a personal best time of 46.22. She also placed sixth in the 100 hurdles with a personal best of 15.89 and helped the 4x200 team along with Oppedahl, Wick and Taryn Encinas to a fifth place finish.

Tarrayo placed second in the discus and sixth in the shot put. Oppedahl, Natalyn Wakeling, Encinas and Erica Basa also won a medal when they placed fourth in the 4x100 in 49.87. Wakeling also took seventh in the 100 in 12.74.

“I’ve been so close for the past two years,” said Britt about barely missing qualifying for state in an individual event. “This year I peaked at the right time.”

The senior said she will attend either Western Nevada College or the University of Nevada next year and said she could walk onto the Wolf Pack women’s track team.

Tarrayo transferred to Carson after spending the previous three years in Utah. “The competition here is way better and harder than in Utah,” she said.

The senior followed a pattern throughout her career in which she put it all together at the end of the season, leading to her second place finish in the discus.

“I didn’t do so good in the shot,” said Tarrayo about her sixth place finish. “But my main focus was discus. That’s my main event. I don’t peak until the last three meets. I get a lot of things down.”

Several schools have shown interest in Tarrayo, including Weber State. Tarrayo is also considering attending either WNC or Nevada and may walk onto the Wolf Pack women’s track team as well.

Pradere’s future is set as she will run cross country and track next year for the University of San Francisco. She also said about this year’s CHS track season, “This year definitely seemed more team-oriented.”