Grantsville’s Ty Johnson crosses the finish line during his 400 meter event.
From May 16-17, Grantsville High School’s track team competed at the Utah State Championships at Brigham Young University. The GHS athletes represented their school well and finished their season strongly.
Cowboys runner Ty Johnson became a state champion, after winning the 400 meters event at the 3A State Track and Field Championships.
Junior Ty Johnson took state in the 400 meters, breaking his own school record with 49.55 seconds.
“It feels amazing to know that I could win state my junior year, setting me up very well for my senior year,” Johnson said. “I have loved to see the steady improvement over the season and being able to peak at state.
“I know that none of this would be possible without the help of the Lord in my life and in my races!”
Another junior, Dresden Jensen, placed fourth in the high jump with a jump of six-feet-zero-inches “Not my best day; I should’ve done better, he said. “[But] I’m taking that record next year and state.”
Bailey Hurst hands off to Alyssa Stevens in the 4×100 meter relay.
The powerhouse team of girls for the girls 4X100 consisted of Addie Wright, Bailey Hurst, Alyssa Stevens and Sadie Mouritsen. They finished sixth with a time of 52.28 seconds.
In the girls high jump, freshman Alyssa Stevens placed third at five-feet-one-inches.
“It was fun to have a successful meet at state,” she said. “I was shooting for 5’3’, but to finish third as a freshman was exciting.”
An exciting event to watch was the girls shot put with junior Lindee Ussing, who finished 14th overall. She scratched the first two throws, and then threw 27-feet-10-inches on her third and final throw.
In the distance races, sophomore Jane Whittle set a new school record in the 3200 meters. Whittle always runs with a smile on her face, exudes kindness to her teammates and humbly takes any feedback to improve her running. With two more years to improve, Whittle will undoubtedly break her own school record several times.
Junior Sadie Mouritsen running in the 100 meters event. Mouritsen also participated in the long jump at state.
“It was such a fun experience to be able to race with the fastest girls in Utah and meet some of them,” Whittle said. “I was really happy to be able to run personal records in both of my races and beat the 3200m girls school record.
“Overall, it was such an honor to run at state and I hope to be able to run there again next year!”
Sadly, this was Coach Cody Brough’s last season coaching for the Cowboys. Fortunately for the Golden Eagles at Deseret Peak High School, Coach Brough will be coaching cross country and track.
“We had quite a few new faces on the team this year and were fairly young with a handful of seniors to lead the way,” Brough said. “I’m excited about the things that happened this season, highlighted by an individual state champion, two school records being broken, and a couple of others close to being broken. The future of the team is bright.”
Junior Cole Sparks runs his leg of the 4×100 meter relay.
Head Coach Traci Stevens, who absolutely loves coaching track and field shared her thoughts as well.
“We had so many athletes make big personal gains this season,” she said. “That is the most rewarding part of coaching. I am looking forward to what our young team can accomplish next season.”
This track season has been so fun to watch. The student athletes have been grinding it out and giving everything they’ve got this season.
Freshman Alyssa Stevens placed third in the high jump.
Junior Jake Bodell competed for Grantsville in the high jump at state.
