Carson to host track meet today

For the first time since the early 2000s, Carson High is hosting an invitational track meet.

Eight teams " South Tahoe, Whittell, Dayton, Douglas, Rite of Passage, North Valleys and Sierra Lutheran plus Carson " converge on the Senators' new all-weather track today.

Field events start at 9 a.m. and the first running event is at 9:30 a.m. The meet is expected to go until 3 p.m., acording to meet director and Carson coach Robert Maw.

"It's really nice (to have an invitational here)," Maw said. "The kids were talking about it today, defending their own turf. They are starting to recognize rivals in certain events.

"Bob Bateman (current athletic director) was track coach here and he kept it to eight. He liked the head-to-head with every school in the relays. That way you don't have a bunch of different heats (in the relays)."

Maw would like this to be an annual event.

"We'll see how it goes," Maw said. "Hopefully, coaches and teams will walk away from this thinking it was a well-run meet and want to come back."

Maw has high hopes for his squads, and thinks both could contend for titles today.

"There's not any one event that we are weak in," he said. "We have a shot at being one of the top teams.

"The girls don't have as much depth as the boys, but we do have some real good athletes. They might finish higher than the boys. I think it could be Carson and Douglas battling for the team championship."

Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for students. Any junior high or elementary track athlete wearing his/her uniform will be admitted free.

Here is an event-by-event look at the meet:

BOYS

100 - Should be a good four-way battle between Douglas' Jordan Cruz (11.42), Carson's Brandon Briggs (11.68), Douglas' Johnny Pollack (12.07) and North Valley's Nick Palko (12.24).

200 - Cruz comes in with the leading time at 22.88. Douglas' Ryan Atkinson (23.5), Carson's duo of Ean Witter (23.6) and Briggs (23.8) should put up a strong challenge.

400 - Rite of Passage's Michael Victorian (51.89) is the favorite followed by John Robinson of Whittell (53.28) and Witter (54.84) could challenge.

800 - Carson's Robby Barlow (2:02.1) is the favorite. Two Dayton runners " Logan Ingersoll (2:04.9) and James Leonard (2:09.0) " could challenge.

1600 - Wade Meddles of Sierra Lutheran (4:39.1 at Reed) will renew his rivalry against Carson's Richard Shroy (4:40.0). Brent Moyle, also of Carson, has a run of 4:46.

3200 - Another Meddles-Shroy showdown. Moyle is well back of those two with a 10:33.

110 HH - Carson's James Simmons (17.3), ROP's Andrew Toki (17.44) and Carson's Luke Carter (17.71) figure to battle for the top three spots.

300 H -Carter has the best time (42.44) followed by Dayton's Ryan Ake (42.45) and Simmons (43.48).

HJ - Ingersoll is the leader coming in (6-2) followed by teammate Kage Walker (6-0) and ROP's Tora White (5-10).

PV - This could be a Carson sweep with Cameron Childers (12-6), Eric Garcia (11-6) and A.J. Winder (10-7) coming in as the top three quaifiers.

LJ - Carter is the leader at 20-5 1/4 folloed by Whittell's Kyler Felton at 20-4 3/4 and Carson's Josh Peacock at 19-4 1/2.

TJ - Jeremiah Wright of ROP has gone 41-4 1/2. Ingersoll is second-best at 41-1 and Carson's Evan Pearson hopes to improve on his 40-1 1/2 effort.

SP - North Valleys' Zach Brown comes into the meet with a best of 45-11, while ROP's Vilisoni Angilau is next at 43-4.

Discus - Brown is the leader at 151, while Carson's Blake McCoy is at 137-8.

Relays - Douglas is the leader in 400 relay (46.14), Dayton has the top 800 relay at 1:37, North Valleys is at 3:40 for the 1,600 relay and carson's 8:13 leads the 3200 pack.

GIRLS

100 - Nortth Valleys' Mercy Gbengo (12.58) and Dayton's Erika Garcia (12.88) figure to battle for the top spot. Douglas' Katie Dry hopes to pull off an upset.

200 - Gbengo comes in at 25.99 and Garcia at 26.67. There is nobody else under 27 in the field, according to the times turned into Maw.

400 - Garcia is the top qualifer at 60.49, while Carson's Krista Baumgartner is at 61.8. NV's Emily Koestner is third at 62.14.

800 - Douglas' Cara Dunkelman has run a 2:28.2, while teammate Natalie Freitas is at 2:35.20.

1600 - North Valleys' Rebecca Fisher is the top contender at 5:24.80 followed by Douglas' Tia Lyons (5:42.90) and Carson's Amanda Gordon (5:57.80).

3200 - Fischer has run an 11:53.10, while Douglas' Taylor Biaggi is at 11:55.

100 H - Douglas' Kyra Barth is top qualifier at 17.61, while Shannon Marshall of Whittell is at 17.73.

300 H - Marshall has run a 49.71, while Barth's best is a 51.8. Carson's Alex fallon has run a 52.4.

HJ - Douglas' Jessica Gorton and Marshall have jumped 5-2, while Barth comes in at 5-0.

PV - North Valleys' Katie Owen comes in at 8-6, more than a foot ahead of her next competitor.

LJ - Douglas' Elizabeth Nickles has a 17-2 1/2 mark, while teammate Gorton is at 16-7 1/2.

TJ - Natasha Brown of Douglas leads the pack at 33-6 1/4, while Fallon is at 33-2 1/4 and Nickles is at 32-11.

SP - Jessica Waggoner has thrown a 42-6 and is a clear-cut favorite. Her next closest foe is Dayton's Kathie Arias at 39-3.

Discus - Waggoner is favored with a 123-1, while Arias is at 117-4.

Relays - Carson is favored in three of the four relay events with times of 50.14 in the 400 and 1:44.0 in the 800 (Julianne King, Krista Baumgartner, Kelsey Chicurra and Emily Field makeup both teams). Carson has a 3:50.0 in the 1600 with Haleigh Ward replacing Chiucurra in that event.