Carey High School senior track and field stars Shayli Smith and Riley Morey shared center stage with the unstoppable Raft River High girls during last week’s District 4 1A track and field competition for 15 schools, held at Murtaugh High School.
When all 18 events were done amidst perfect weather conditions for setting school records, Carey qualified 10 athletes for the Idaho High School Activities Association’s State 1A track and field meet set for May 19-20 at Middleton High School.
Smith, who broke her own school records in the hurdle events, and Morey each qualified for four state events. Smith won the 100m high hurdles, 300m intermediates, high jump and anchored Carey’s second-place 4x200m relay. Morey won the 200m and 400m sprints and anchored two winning Panther relays.
Morey has battled injuries over his Carey athletic career, but he showed poise and determination in winning the 200m in 22.89 seconds and surging past Oakley junior Bridger Duncan in a thrilling 400m finish. Duncan suffered an injury in the battle, and Morey was the first to help his friendly rival off the track with a sportsmanlike gesture to be proud of.
“It was a remarkable scene,” said Carey coach Lane Kirkland. “Riley has worked through a lot with his injuries over the years. He had kind words and a hand slap for every athlete he beat in his races.”
Morey and Raft River senior Libby Boden were awarded the Lee Cook Male and Female Athletes of the Meet awards at Murtaugh. All Boden did was amass 32.5 points in winning the 100m dash, 200m dash, long jump and joining the winning Raft River 800m medley relay team. She is the defending state champ in those three individual events.
The Raft River girls (242.5 points) captured 11 of the 18 district events, sweeping the sprints (41 points) and distances (77 points) and winning three of the four relays. They also had 69.5 field points. The Carey girls finished a solid fourth with 63 points, while the Carey boys were fourth with 65 points. Valley won the boys’ meet with 126 points.
Raft River is the four-time defending State 1A girls’ champion and will be seeking its 11th overall state title when the Middleton meet assembles.
Kirkland said that Carey had three of the 12 school records set by a variety of schools at Murtaugh. Smith dropped her school records to 15.54 seconds in high hurdles, and 46.21 in the 300m intermediate prelims. The winning boys’ 4x200m relay of senior Cris Gamino, sophomore Matt Young, senior Carsn Perkes and Morey set a school mark of 1:31.97.
Carey’s other winning relay was the 4x400m with Young, Perkes, Gamino and Morey (3:35.62, a winner by over five seconds).
The Panthers also qualified their second-place 4x100m relay with senior Connor Simpson, Gamino, senior Colton Larna and Perkes. Gamino earned a state berth in the 400m dash and Perkes in the 100m dash. Young is going in high jump.
Sophomore Ashley Zarate set a personal record of 13.12 seconds in the 100m dash prelims and made state with a third place in the finals. The state-bound girls’ 4x200m relay of junior Olivia Nilsen, senior Brittney Farnsworth, Zarate and Smith (1:48.64) dropped three seconds off their time and earned a state berth.
Carey’s Smith is the defending state champion in 100m high hurdles and high jump, and the Carey boys are ranked first as defending champions in the 4x200 and 4x400m relays.
Kirkland said, “District 4 track and field teams are among the best in the state. It’s a great achievement to get to state from this district. We expect our kids to do well in Middleton, and we believe in them.”
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