5A state track: Timpview girls dominate, Maple Mountain boys survive to win state team titles
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- Timpview athletes celebrate after winning the 5A girls title at the state track and field meet at BYU on Saturday, May 19, 2024.
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- Maple Mountain athletes celebrate after winning the 5A boys title at the state track and field meet at BYU on Saturday, May 19, 2024.
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- Timpview athletes celebrate after winning the 5A girls title at the state track and field meet at BYU on Saturday, May 19, 2024.
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- Maple Mountain athletes celebrate after winning the 5A boys title at the state track and field meet at BYU on Saturday, May 19, 2024.
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- The Timpview team celebrates after winning the 5A 4×400 relay at the state track and field meet at BYU on Saturday, May 19, 2024.
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- Timpview senior Alta Vuniwai Turagavou celebrates after finishing the 5A girls 4×400 relay at the state track and field meet at BYU on Saturday, May 19, 2024.
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- Timpview senior Annie Nuttall competes in the 5A girls 300-meter hurdles at the state track and field meet at BYU on Saturday, May 19, 2024.
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- Maple Mountain senior Banks Jackson starts the 5A boys 800-meter race at the state track and field meet at BYU on Saturday, May 19, 2024.
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- Timpview junior Jane Hedengren competes in the 5A girls 800-meter race at the state track and field meet at BYU on Saturday, May 19, 2024.
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- Spanish Fork junior Brynn Morgan competes in the 5A girls shot put competition at the state track and field meet at BYU on Saturday, May 19, 2024.
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- Timpview junior Jane Hedengren stands atop the podium after winning the 5A girls 800-meter race at the state track and field meet at BYU on Saturday, May 19, 2024.
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- Maple Mountain senior Kavika Bringhurst competes in the 5A boys javelin competition at the state track and field meet at BYU on Saturday, May 19, 2024.
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- Timpview senior Katie Hutchings (center) competes in the 5A girls 200-meter race at the state track and field meet at BYU on Saturday, May 19, 2024.
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- Maple Mountain senior Banks Jackson wins the 5A boys 200-meter race at the state track and field meet at BYU on Saturday, May 19, 2024.
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- Springville senior Warrick Small runs in the 5A boys 110-meter hurdles at the state track and field meet at BYU on Saturday, May 19, 2024.
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- Springville senior Warrick Small (left) poses for a photo after winning the 5A boys 110-meter hurdles at the state track and field meet at BYU on Saturday, May 19, 2024.
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- Timpview senior Katie Hutchings wins the 5A girls 200-meter dash at the state track and field meet at BYU on Saturday, May 19, 2024.
Both the Maple Mountain boys and the Timpview girls track and field teams emerged as the top teams in their respective 5A divisions at the state meet at BYU’s Robison Track and Field Complex in Provo on Saturday.
How they did it, however, was completely different.
Featuring tremendous talent, the Thunderbirds simply overwhelmed the competition. Timpview finished with more than 2.5 times the team points of second-place Highland (158-60).
“It was really exciting to pull off the win a second time,” Thunderbird junior Jane Hedengren said. “It’s really rewarding because we worked hard for this and so we are all really excited.”
Timpview head coach Jaimie Ribera said she loved seeing her girls perform at such a high level.
“All of those girls, they really do just show up and work hard,” Ribera said. “They’re all just really nice kids. Every single girl on the team wants what’s best for the team. Everyone did what they needed to so we could succeed.”
Hedengren excelled again, winning the 800-meters (2:07.85) and setting state records in the 3,200 meters (9:52.96) and as part of the 4×400 relay team that finished in 3:46.82 (sophomore Lilly Alder, Hedengren, senior Vanessa Storey and senior Alta Vuniwai Turagavou).
One of the moments that exemplified the Timpview team in 2024, however, was captured by another team’s coach after the 3,200-meter race.
Right after setting the state record, Hedengren went over and helped one of her teammates who was dealing with shin splints and others to get her track shoes off.
“I just love my team,” Hedengren said. “She had gotten right before the state meet, and she is a senior so this was her last race. The stars just aligned against her and it was pretty heartbreaking. It’s important to be there for each other in the good and the bad. We just love to show up for each other.”
Ribera smiled as she talked about how that snapshot showed the selflessness that is fundamental to Hedengren.
“Jane really does just have this incredible amount of humility to her,” Ribera said. “She stays hungry and really for her, it’s about competing with herself and how much better she can get. But then she is also helping everyone else achieve their potential.
“She really does care about the team. at that moment, Jane had just set the state record and her first move was to go help someone else. I think that really does personify who she is.”
But Hedengren had a lot of help in getting Timpview the team title.
Alder won the 1,600-meters (4:57.72) and finished second behind Hedengren in the 3,200. Thunderbird senior Katie Hutchings won the 200-meter race (24.79), while senior Annie Nuttall won the 300-meter hurdles (42.91).
Timpview were also dominant in the relays. The T’Birds won the 4×100 relay, finishing in 49.12 seconds (junior Zoe Deucher, senior Makayla Grossarth, freshman Elisabeth Storey and Hutchings), the 4×200 relay in 1:39.91 (Nuttall, Grossarth, Turagavou and Hutchings) and the 4×800 relay in 9:19.54 (sophomore Mary Marvell, senior Makayla Boulton, junior Ellie Esplin and Vanessa Storey).
While those performances helped Timpview easily win the girls title, the Maple Mountain boys team had to wait until the very final event to be sure they would come in first.
With Woods Cross and West Jordan making it a tight race for the entire competition, Golden Eagle head coach Jeff Lake could only relax when the competition was over.
“It is stressful when the scores are so close with all of those teams,” Lake said. “Our guys were a bit stressed. We tried to calm them down but it didn’t calm me down.”
Maple Mountain did have the lead and it was a little larger than it might have been thanks to an unfortunate injury.
Golden Eagle senior Banks Jackson and West Jordan senior Dominic Overby battled through a pair of tight finals in the sprints.
Overby edged Jackson by 0.06 seconds in the 100-meter dash, while Jackson defeated his Jaguar counterpart in the 400-meters (46.05 to 46.81).
That meant that the 200-meters would be a rubber match of sorts with the two competitors running right next to each other.
Jackson and Overby came hard around the turn toward the home stretch but as Jackson and the rest of the field sprinted down the track, Overby grabbed his hamstring and stopped, collapsing to the track.
Jackson won the 200-meters (21.01) but said he wished Overby hadn’t gotten hurt.
“It’s a hard thing because he had more in him than that,” Jackson said. “I hope he has a speedy recovery because he is so good. He was great for me because he pushed me more. That got me to where I am today.”
Overby did get a second state title, winning the 5A boys long jump (23-7.5).
If Overby had been able to defeat Jackson in the 200 or even just taken second, West Jordan would’ve had the lead heading the last race, the 4×400 relay.
Instead it was Maple Mountain that led by 7.5 points, meaning a sixth-place finish or better would guarantee the Golden Eagles the title.
Maple Mountain didn’t win the race but the squad came in fifth (with West Jordan getting sixth and Woods Cross placing third), which was all the Golden Eagles need.
“They did a phenomenal job,” Lake said. “There were only two seniors, a junior and then the anchor is a sophomore. That might not have been our A-team but they ran the best time we’ve ran all year.”
Maple Mountain senior Bentley Smith also won the boys pole vault, clearing 14-feet, 6-inches, while the Golden Eagle boys 4×200 team of sophomore Tyson Pugmire, senior Logan Sircable, senior Easton Merrill and Jackson won as well (1:26.72).
Lake said it was rewarding to finally get that state title victory.
“We had a good distance team and good sprinters coming back,” Lake said. “I think there was this belief that there was a chance for them to win the state title and then kids performed well. It just kind of fell into place.”
And when it was finally over, he could finally breath again.
“When they finished, I was walking across and I was like, alright, I’m done,” Lake said. “I’ll settle down. I celebrated a little bit and then went found all four of those guys and said thank you. The alternative is you don’t stress because you have no chance, so it’s a good stress.”
Other Utah Valley Class 5A individual titles included Springville senior Warrick Small (boys 110-meter hurdles), Maple Mountain senior Morgan Honsvick (girls shot put) and Timpview junior Chevas Gregory (boys shot put).
For complete details from the state track and field meet, go to https://meettrax.com.
Class 5A team scores
Girls
1. Timpview, 158
2. Highland, 60
5. Springville, 32
8. Maple Mountain, 29
12. (tie) Spanish Fork, 19
17. (tie) Wasatch, 13
20. Cedar Valley, 7.5
23. Salem Hills, 4
Boys
1. Maple Mountain, 73
2. Woods Cross, 67
8. (tie) Springville, 28
Timpview, 28
11. Cedar Valley, 23
18. Salem Hills, 9.5
21. Spanish Fork, 6
23. Wasatch, 4
