Blazing Beyer shines in track debut

She went from racing down the slopes to past most of the field on the track.

Fallon’s Jordan Beyer was impressive in her first track meet of the season as the freshman ran to a pair of second-place finishes in the 100- and 200-meters on Saturday at the 43rd annual Fallon Elks Invitational at the Edward Arciniega Complex.

Beyer helped lead the Lady Wave to a seventh-place finish with 40 points. McQueen won the title with 102 points followed by Galena (89), Truckee (84), Reed (83), Spring Creek (55) and Lowry (54).

“The unveiling of Jordan Beyer,” Fallon girls coach Paul Orong said. “Once she learns how to run, she’ll be even faster. That was just all natural athletic ability right there.”

Beyer put her speed on display in the 100 preliminary, racing to third in 13.26 seconds. She followed with a second-place finish (13.1) in a close final as she was nipped by McQueen’s Brooke Pszotka, who came in at 12.98, while Beyer also held off Reed’s Alexis Miller (13.13).

Like the 100, Beyer used a third-place finish in the 200 to set up another close race in the final.

She bolted out of the blocks and kept pace with Miller, McQueen’s Isabel Warren and South Tahoe’s Maya Brosch. Brosch (26.51), though, pulled away in the final 50 meters to slip past Beyer (26.77), although Beyer once again held of Miller (26.8) with Warren (26.87) coming in fourth.

“She’s (Beyer) is going to be a force,” Orong added. “She’s the fastest girl in our division (DI-A) in the North after one meet.”

While Beyer made her mark in just her first meet, Fallon was also led by its strong core of jumpers once again.

Sophomore Whitney Skabelund had her best triple jump of the season (33 feet, 5.75 inches) to place fifth and followed with a third-place leap, a personal best, in the long jump (15-11).

“In triple jump, I had to relearn all my stuff (technique) because I didn’t really have coaching in New Mexico,” Skabelund said. “My first track meet I jumped lower than I did in junior high and that was really discouraging. I’ve been much better every track meet so I definitely trust what he’s (Orong) is teaching me. All the new form is definitely helping.”

Freshmen Sierra Hickox and Brynlee Shults continued their rise in the jumps as Hickox was fifth in the long jump (14-7) and eighth in the triple jump (31-10), while Shults took seventh in the triple jump (32-8.5). She was also seventh in the high jump at 4-8.

Also in the field was LeAnn Stands, who finished 13th in the shot put (30-4.25).

Fallon’s relay team also showed signs of improvement as the 4x400 squad of Shults, Skabelund, Sierra Hickox and Beyer took fifth (4:34.15). The 4x200 team of Shults, Skabelund , Hickox and Sierra Leal (1:56.81) and the 4x800 squad of Jordan Rogers, Melanie Nuckolls, Shelby Hickox and Chloe Overlie (11:15.4) each placed seventh.

“We’re getting there,” Orong said of the relays. “We have seven or eight girls because we can only put them in four events. We are going to try to mix them up and see what we can do and try to qualify them for state.”

The improvement over just four meets has been impressive for the Lady Wave. The roster is chalk full of underclassmen as Fallon only boasts three upperclassmen.

Skabelund is ranked fourth in the triple jump in the Division I-A and fifth in the long jump, while Shults and Hickox, are sixth and seventh, respectively in the long jump. Shults is also tied for sixth in the high jump (4-10), while Cassidy East is tied for 10th, giving the Lady Wave another year of strong jumpers.

In the ring, LeAnn Stands is also in the running for a state berth. She ranks seventh in the discus (95) and is tied for 10th in the shot put (32-2.25).

“The good part is the list keeps growing,” Orong said of his young core. “Now, Jordan Beyer is there and Caitlin Knox go 6-6 in the (pole) vault. We’ve had AmiDayne Nelsen do better in the shot and disc. Somebody else is always surprising us and that’s been the good part.”

Other rising athletes include distance and mid-distance runners Chloe Overlie, a freshman, and Melanie Nuckolls, a sophomore.

“It’s going to be something for us,” Orong said of the distance crew. “We are going to be scary at the end.”

Galena and McQueen’s boys relay teams weren’t the only ones to set records on Saturday.

McQueen’s girls 4x200 relay team blew past the field in 1:47.04 for a new meet record. They nipped the 2003 McQueen relay team by .60 seconds to set the new mark.

Awards

South Tahoe’s Maya Brosch was named MVP for wins in the 200 (26.51) and 400 (1:00.81) and taking second in the 100 hurdles (16.0).

Galena’s Megan Farrell was also in the running for MVP with wins in the 100 hurdles (15.88) and long jump (16-4.75) and a third-place finish in the pole vault (11-0).