May 16, 2022
Believe it or not, we are down to the final week of the 2022 Idaho track and field season. This season surely has not disappointed, with several athletes cracking the nation's Top 50, 25 and even top 10 performance lists. Texas A&M-bound senior Landon Helms (Emmett) has had an improbable senior campaign. On a national scale, Helms ranks #4 in the country with his clearance of 17-02 in the pole vault and has the #11 mark in the 110-hurdles (13.81), both of which are Idaho state records; while Meridian's Eli Lawrence has triple jumped his way to the #10 mark in the country (49-09.25).
On the girls' side, Boise's Logan Smith's time of 2:11.11 in the 800m ranks her #45 in the country, while also guiding her 4x800m team (Allie Bruce, Lydia Nance, Jamie Hamlin, Smith) to #29 in the U.S. with their time of 9:22.68. Emmett's Tatum Richards' clearance of 13-02 in the pole vault ranks her #27 nationally with Centennial's Eva Lowder at #36 with her clearance of 13-00.
With next week's Idaho State Championships serving as a bookend on what has been a memorable season, let's look back at several performances worth noting from this past weekend's district championships that have now moved to the top of the Idaho state leaderboard.
Girls
100m: Pocatello's Matejah Mangum ran 11.97, just the second time she has broken 12-seconds and is the only athlete to do so in 2022. Skyline's Claire Petersen is knocking on that door after running 12.00 at her district meet. Petersen does have sub-12 credentials after running 11.95 at last year's district meet.
800m: Boise's Logan Smith improved her personal best ever-so-slightly after winning her district meet with a time of 2:11.11, .02 faster than her previous best set at this year's Arcadia Invitational. Meridian's Marion Packer finished second to Smith with a new lifetime best of 2:14.27.
4x100m Relay: Timberline tops the Idaho state leaderboard after running 49.06 at district. They are only the third team to crack the 50-second barrier thus far (Pocatello 49.77 and Boise 49.97).
4x200m Relay: Boise Brave dropped a 1:42.34 to win their district meet and run the fastest time in the state this year. The relay team was made up of Sophia Clark, Lydia Nance, Adele Davis and Kunie Hirai.
4x400m Relay: The Lady Brave of Boise ran the fastest time in Idaho state history this past Saturday with their 3:52.87. The previous state record resided with Borah High School in 2016 when they ran 3:54.01. The team was comprised of Sophia Clark, Logan Smith, Lydia Nance and Kunie Hirai.
Shot Put: Bishop Kelly's Jacoba Luteyn has been the gold standard in the throws all season, and last weekend was no different after throwing a new lifetime best of 43-feet in the shot put. She is the state leader in both throws, having thrown 138-07 in the discus as well.
Boys
400m: Dartmouth-bound senior Liam Murray of Boise threw down a statement win last weekend at the district meet. The future Ivy-leaguer came in with a 48.22 personal best and has been hovering right around that mark since April 1, but finally broke through on Saturday. After posting marks of 48.42, 48.22, 48.60, and a comfortable district prelim time of 49.98 in the weeks leading up, Murray delivered a new lifetime best of 47.79, his first ever sub-48. Murray's 47.79 ranks him #3 in Idaho state history, with the state record of 47.54 within his reach.
4x100m Relay: Rocky Mountain dropped an impressive 42.45 last weekend to take the outright state lead. Mountain View finished second to them with a seasonal best 42.68, #3 in Idaho. Rocky's relay team includes Justin Charter, Kade Thompson, Isaac Thayer and Hunter Steacker.
4x200m Relay: Boise lowered their seasonal best after winning district with a time of 1:26.89. Their time ranks them #2 in Idaho state history, behind only Eagle High School's 1:26.15 set back in 2016. The team is comprised of Mason Lawyer, Liam Murray, Cooper Smith and Porter Coffield.
4x400m Relay: The Brave of Boise dropped only the third ever sub-3:20 in Idaho state history after running 3:19.97 on Saturday. That team includes Lawyer, Coffield, Murray and Tucker Briggs.
High Jump: In arguably the biggest breakout performance of the weekend, Bishop Kelly's Patrick Monahan had a day to remember at the district 3 4A championships. Coming in with a personal best of 6-02, Monahan improved his personal best by 4.25" after clearing a state-leading 6-06.25! His impressive clearance in the high jump was the tip of the iceberg; he would go on to win the long jump in a personal best 22-01.50 and win the triple jump (45-05.50), a PR by almost an entire foot (44-08 previous best).
Discus: In surprising fashion, the recent University of Idaho commit Jackson Beck (Mountain View) out-threw the current state-leader to win the district 3 5A championships. Coming into the meet, Beck had a personal best of 141-06 and was going up against the state leader in Brandon Stewart of Eagle (170-09). Beck would go on to throw a new lifetime best more than 20-feet to take top honors after a throw of 161-10 to Stewart's 161-08.