By Catherine Garrett | [email protected] 

Corner Canyon High track coach Devin Moody said his Region 7 champion girls team was among the top three teams in the state heading into the 5A state championship. And it certainly came down to three teams – CCHS, Box Elder and Woods Cross.

Senior Nicole Critchfield, freshman Paje Rasmussen and senior Hallee Jones scored points in the 200-meter event, finishing second, third and seventh respectively to secure the state title for the Chargers by five points over Woods Cross May 18–19 at Brigham Young University. The Region 7 champion boys squad finished 12th for a combined fifth place as a program. 

“That was an amazing race to watch and after the results appeared on the screen, we knew we had secured the victory,” Moody said. “With the pressure on, they rose to the occasion.” 

The Region 7 champion girls 4x100 meter relay team of Alyssa Milford, Kayla Milford, Jones, Rasmussen, Critchfield and Emma Bagley along with the region champion 4x400 meter relay squad of Mackenzie Easton, Kailyn Chynoweth, Sara Diener, Willow Collins, Annika Manwaring and Alyssa Milford placed first in their respective events to also take home state titles for the Chargers. 

Critchfield, who was region champion in the 200 meters and 400 meters, placed second in both events at state while also placing fourth in the 100 meters and sixth in the long jump. Rasmussen, Region 7’s champion at 100 meters, took second at state, while Region 7 3200-meter champ Karli Branch took third along with a seventh-place finish in the 1600-meter event. 

Other top finishers for Corner Canyon’s title team were senior Lindsay Akagi (second — pole vault), Collins (seventh, 800 meters), Jones (ninth, 100 meters) and Diener (16th, 800 meters) and the region champion sprint medley team of Milford, Jones, Easton, Chynoweth, Rasmussen and Collins. 

“We knew we could compete with the best and we were ready,” Moody said. “We just tried to focus on maximizing the points in each event. It took a well-rounded effort to win state. We scored in every track event from 100 meters to 3200 meters including relays. But it was the energy and competitiveness of the sprints group that propelled us to the state title.” 

Also on the girls squad this season were Katelin Alsop, Ashlyn Bird, Britta Catmull, Maryn Granger, Raili Jenkins, Mikayla Kimball, Lexi Larsen, Kali Richardson, Aubri Rupp, Jaden Singleton, Mary Smart, Sarah Staker, Sadie Steiner, Natalie Walker, Madisyn Wankier, Emma White and Reagan Winget. 

Others on the boys team were Nate Beltran, Luke Gardenhire, Aaron Jackson, Caden Johnson, Trevor Lawson, Peter Oldham, Logan Orr, Ethan Pedersen, Easton Petersen and Cody Sampson. 

The 12th-place boys squad were led at state by the 4x400 meter relay team of Tanner Manwaring — who was region champ in the 400 meters — along with Jake Orr, Alex Harbertson, Alex Hansen, Mark Boyle and August Jacobs, who finished first. 

Harbertson, who was the Region 7 champion in the 800- and 1600-meter events, placed sixth and 14th respectively at state. Region long jump champion Joey Brand finished sixth while region javelin champion Raef Erickson placed 12th, while also tying for 12th in the high jump.

Other top finishers for Corner Canyon were sophomore Ethan Kim (ninth, javelin), Orr (10th, 800 meters), Boyle (10th,  3200 meters), junior Stephen Glod (15th, 3200 meters), sophomore Van Fillinger (16th,  discus) and senior Mikey Petey (17th, discus). The sprint medley relay squad of Kasey Hong, Dylan Simmons, Jacobs, Boyle, Gabe Maires and Luke Gardenshire also finished ninth.

Also on the boys squad this season were Ben Dastrup, Kennen Eiono, Brandon Johnson, Caleb Johnson, Michael Jones, Arik Manwaring, Riley McCarter, Cade Mills, Tyler Rhoads, John Scheffner, Jacob Stauffer, Jonah Strong, Cameron Styer and Max Swenson. 

“Our boys and girls teams have made tremendous improvements over the past couple seasons,” Moody said. “We are now a highly respected program across the region and state. It’s really a credit to the hard work of all of our coaching staff and the commitment of our athletes.”