Senior Megan Goettl and sophomore Hannah DeVore had the top finishes overall Friday, March 18, for Mingus Union High School, as senior Joseph Sandoval had the third straight top finish for the boys sprinters at the Nike Chandler Rotary Meet.
“I think we’re a little bit stronger this year, overall,” DeVore’s father, head coach Yancey DeVore, said. “As a coach, I want to get all of these kids to State.”
After DeVore and sophomore Katelyn Prouty, along with juniors Auli Hanks and Holly Johnson, helped the 4×100 girls relay team beat 24 other Division III and IV entries March 12 at the Arizona Small School Invitational, DeVore would take the 300-meter hurdles March 18 in 00:48.90.
“Our girls sprint[ers] look pretty good,” Yancey DeVore said. “They’re No. 2 right now.”
That three-second time drop was the spike in more modest expectations for the Marauders girls team, coming off the end of their state title three-peat in May.
“We do have talented boys and girls, across the board,” DeVore said. “It’s still early; I’m not making any promises. It’s always been my goal, to get kids better every day in practice.”
Sandoval dropped more than four seconds in the 3,200 meters for the only top 10 finish among boys sprinters — his highest — after finishing fourth in the event March 12 in 10:27.08. Junior Ryan Alexander placed fourth as well in the 800-meter dash March 12 at 2:07.21.
“Ryan Alexander’s been running really strong,” DeVore said. “We’ve got a pretty decent boys sprint core to build around, which are some jumpers too.
“We just need to figure out how to get some guys down to the low two [minute]s, where to get points. I’m trying to get a few more throwers to State.”
Senior Chance Gribauskas’ 11-foot, 9-inch pole vault was good enough for fourth place. Gribauskas’ second straight top-three finish March 12 at the Seton Catholic High School meet was the highest finish for the 10th-place boys.
Junior Trevor Galloway, who was sick for the March 12 meet, came back to throw a 119-foot discus in Chandler — good enough for eighth overall.
Goettl also ran the 1,600-meter dash in 5:48.03 for seventh place, while DeVore had a 00:17.13 for third place in the 100-meter hurdles.
DeVore opened her season March 5 as runner-up in the Skydome Classic in the 60-meter hurdles, following that up March 12 with third in the 300-meter hurdles.
“Hannah took a nose dive on the 100-meter hurdles, so she didn’t make it to the finals,” DeVore said. “She turfed it on the prelim[inarie]s.”
Of DeVore’s 24 girls, he is still working on getting some throwers to State in the field events, like Prouty and junior Xanessa Zabala, who threw a shot put over 29 feet March 18 to take 12th.
But DeVore’s goal is getting them to keep pushing their personal bests.
“With the talent that we have on this team, if we can get a little faster, jump a little farther and higher, then we’re going in the right direction,” DeVore said. “If we do that, then the meets will take care of themselves.”
For more photos and local sports briefs, please see the Wednesday, March 23, issues of the Camp Verde Journal and the Cottonwood Journal Extra.
