Senior Alyssa Watkins began her bid for a state discus championship March 2, leading Camp Verde High School at its track and field season opener at Wickenburg High School.
“It went well for our first meet with many freshmen,” said Michael Prow, second-year Cowboys head coach. “So we will continue to get better. Already, in just the first meet, we had many individuals or relays provisionally qualify for State.”
These included the boys 4×100 relay team and Watkins, who looks to improve on her runner-up finish at the Division III championships May 9 in Mesa, at which she threw the discus a personal-best 113 feet, 11 inches.
Watkins also placed in the shot put, as did seniors Shayla Campbell and Allee Drake, who was 25th at State last season.
After placing 22nd in the Division III state track and field championships in the 800 meters, senior Luis Valdez scored team points in that race as well as the mile run and the 3,200-meter relay.
Senior Laramie Mahan, who also looks to return to State in the long jump, finished second in the 300-meter hurdles — besting her personal record of 00:57.79 seconds set 11 months ago at the Red Rock Invitational. Junior Alana Neary finished third.
Of the 26 other Cowboys at the meet, 17 of them were either a freshman or sophomore — including twins Edith and Eliana Paniagua, who each placed in the 800-meter run and the 1,600-meter relay, running four races in their high school debut.
“We’re working on their goals, objectives and technique — stops, starts, footwork,” Prow said. “The first three weeks, we want them to give some of the specialty events a try.”
Freshman Joseph Jones duplicated Valdez’s accomplishment in his first meet, while sophomore Nate Schultz finished in the top five in the 300-meter hurdles — the first such race of his Cowboys career.
Senior Samuel Swick joined sophomores Jarred Bush and Jonathan Taylor, as well as freshmen Daniel Carley and Camron Mason, all with top-10 finishes in the 100-meter dash with runs of 12.1 seconds or less.
Prow hopes that is a sign the CVHS boys will place as a team at State in May after not even sending a full team last year.
“We’re coming along,” Prow said. “We’re just trying to improve a little bit each day.”
While Prow entrusts throwing coaches Pam and Mike Edgerton with developing Watkins toward a Division III title, Britney Armstrong will again direct Swick and other sprinters, while distance coach Wilfred Tewawina will try to get the most out of Valdez and other sprinters.
“It’s been fun and great working with the different coaches,” Prow said. “It’s a good change of pace to come from Indiana, where I was head coach at a junior high.”
For more photos and the full schedule of Cowboys track and field meets, please see the Wednesday, March 9, issues of the Camp Verde Journal and Cottonwood Journal Extra.
