| This year has proved to be quite successful for the Carbon High track and field team. Last week, the team competed in the state finals and the boys placed sixth and the girls 11th overall. |
The Carbon High track and field team traveled to Provo May 16-17 to compete in the annual state finals hosted at Brigham Young University. The competition would be the last for this year’s Dino team who worked hard and had a successful season.
The boys team finished in sixth place in the state. According to Dino assistant coach, Stewart Foster, the team missed second place by only five points. The coach explained that this could have easily become a reality if the entire boys squad was at 100 percent.
“One of our male athletes was not feeling well during state and could not compete like he normally did all year. This hurt us a little in the final standings,” Foster explained.
Isaac Goodrich kicked off things for the boys team by placing third in the 1600 meters with a time of 4:29. Goodrich also placed fourth in the 3200 meter run with a time of 9:50 and fifth place in the 800 meter event.
Coach Foster explained that Goodrich was within striking distance of second place in all of the races he competed in. But his performance assisted the team in their quest for a state title.
Goodrich also competed in the 4×400 meter relay event along with team members, Joe Palmer, Jacob Burrows and Scott Terry. The team ran to a sixth place finish at the state event.
“This was a fabulous senior year for Goodrich. He finished all of his races in either first, second or third throughout most of the year with some outstanding times,” Foster commented.
Dino middle distance runner, Terry had a good showing at state as he ran to a third place finish in the 800 meter run. The Carbon coach explained that Terry led the race for the first 700 meters then had two other runners pass him.
“Terry had been suffering from a breathing problem and sickness for the last two weeks, but did not give up. All of the coaches feel that if he could have kept up his health, he would have turned in some great times and been in the first or second places in all the middle distance races at state,” explained Foster.
Palmer and Bryan Stewart had good times in the sprints and just missed qualifying for the finals during the state event.
In the field events however, Carbon did quite well. Perry Laulu placed third in the discus and fourth in the shotput event. Laulu had his best throw of the year in the discus with a toss of 133 feet, six inches.
Tyson O’Neil decided to compete on the team this year and had no prior experience in the shotput event. He came out like a pro and placed sixth in the state with a throw of 44 feet, 11 inches.
Entering the competition, O’Neil was seeded 15th and moved up to sixth and qualified for the final event where he captured the sixth place overall finish.
Lee Prettyman has had a successful season this year, but according to coach Foster, the Dino athlete struggled to make his best throws at state. Prettyman still did quite well and finished fourth overall in the javelin.
In the girls events, Brittany Pollastro dominated the throwing events in the Class 3A division. Pollastro finished second in the shotput, second in the javelin and fourth in the discus event.
“Pollastro has just been learning the javelin and discus during the last two weeks. She learned very fast and surprised everyone of her competitors at the state competition,” Foster explained.
Michelle Ruden made it to the finals in the girls shotput with a personal best of 32 feet, five inches. Ruden placed ninth in the finals.
Jessica Serfustini made it to the finals in the high jump for the past three to four years. This year she made it again and placed fifth overall.
The girls team finished in 11th place overall.