Winning motivation: Elite performances by distance runners highlight beginning of 2023 state track meet
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- Orem senior Tayson Echohawk (left) battles Mountain View senior Liam Heniger (right) and Olympus junior JoJo Jourdon as they sprint to the finish during the 5A boys 3,200-meter finals on the first day of the 2023 state track meet at the Robinson Track and Field Complex in Provo on Thursday, May 18, 2023.
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- American Fork junior Daniel Simmons leads the pack during the 6A boys 3,200-meter finals on the first day of the 2023 state track meet at the Robinson Track and Field Complex in Provo on Thursday, May 18, 2023.
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- Orem senior Tayson Echohawk (center) stands atop the podium with Mountain View senior Liam Heniger (right) and Olympus junior JoJo Jourdon after the 5A boys 3,200-meter finals on the first day of the 2023 state track meet at the Robinson Track and Field Complex in Provo on Thursday, May 18, 2023.
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- Westlake senior Shelby Jensen wins the 6A girls 3,200-meter finals on the first day of the 2023 state track meet at the Robinson Track and Field Complex in Provo on Thursday, May 18, 2023.
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- Skyridge senior Cameron Beck prepares to throw the shotput in the 6A boys competition on the first day of the 2023 state track meet at the Robinson Track and Field Complex in Provo on Thursday, May 18, 2023.
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- Orem senior Cole Johnson celebrates clearing the bar in the 5A boys high jump on the first day of the 2023 state track meet at the Robinson Track and Field Complex in Provo on Thursday, May 18, 2023.
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- Lone Peak senior Harmonie Ragin competes in the 6A girls long jump on the first day of the 2023 state track meet at the Robinson Track and Field Complex in Provo on Thursday, May 18, 2023.
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- Orem senior Cole Johnson clears the bar in the 5A boys high jump on the first day of the 2023 state track meet at the Robinson Track and Field Complex in Provo on Thursday, May 18, 2023.
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- American Fork senior Sophie Swindle competes in the 6A girls long jump on the first day of the 2023 state track meet at the Robinson Track and Field Complex in Provo on Thursday, May 18, 2023.
Distance running requires athletes to push their bodies hard.
As Orem senior Tayson Echohawk and American Fork junior Daniel Simmons got ready for their respective 5A and 6A 3,200-meter finals at the Robison Track and Field Complex in Provo on Thursday, the importance of health was on their minds for good reason.
Echohawk recalled trying to get back to full speed after dealing with illness earlier in 2023.
“This whole season hasn’t been perfect but it’s probably my favorite season I’ve ever had,” Echohawk said. “I got sick right before nationals in indoor and it kind of just threw my whole season off. I wasn’t running up top, winning races.”
He said he faced a different challenge in trying to stay positive when things weren’t going well.
“The endurance just wasn’t there for races,” Echohawk said. “I wanted to keep running faster but I just couldn’t. My legs wouldn’t. But a bigger toll was mental. Not being where you know you should be puts a lot in your head. It was more fighting through that. Once I realized I am fast and I can compete, it started to come back. I’d say a lot of it was mental more than it was physical.”
He certainly needed to be in peak form to start the 2023 state track meet, since he was going up against some incredible runners in the two-mile race.
As the runner pounded around the track, a trio of runners that included Mountain View senior Liam Heniger and Olympus junior JoJo Jourdon separated from the others — but couldn’t get away from each other.
It looked to be anybody’s race as they ran stride for stride around the final turn and into the home stretch.
“With 200 meters to go, I saw Liam had a decent gap but I knew JoJo had a good kick,” Echohawk said. “I told myself that I wasn’t just going to have all the hard work I put in this whole season go to waste. I was going to really give everything I could.”
Echohawk put on a burst of speed with 100 meters left and neither of the other two could chase him down, giving him the state title in a time of 9:03.29.
“I never knew I had it until I crossed the line,” Echohawk said. “The first thing I did as I crossed the line was look over at my parents. I saw them getting emotional and I was too because it’s been a hard season. Crossing that line was the biggest feeling of success, not just winning the race but coming back from where I was. Looking at all my family celebrating, it was really, really special.”
Simmons didn’t quite have the same drama in the 6A race, although it also featured an extremely gifted field. He pulled away from Herriman senior Noah Jenkins and Farmington senior Spencer Bradshaw to win by over four seconds, ending up with a time of 8:52.14.
But while he has been in top form this year — he set a new Utah state record in the event at BYU’s high school meet on May 5 with a time of 8:49.05 — Simmons was thinking about a couple of his teammates who weren’t as fortunate.
On the insides of his arms, he wrote “Jaster” and “Bradshaw” in honor of Cavemen runners Ben Jaster and Ben Bradshaw.
“A couple weeks ago, my teammate Ben Bradshaw found out that he has two stress fractures in his knees,” Simmons said. “So he wasn’t able to participate today but he came to watch. He would have been racing with us in the 3,200 meters.
“Then Ben Jaster has been really iron deficient all season and found out just a couple of weeks ago as well. He’s had a really tight quad and he hasn’t been able to run super well.”
The American Fork junior explained that he had never done anything like that before and was surprised at how he felt participating in that gesture.
“As soon as I wrote it on there, I just felt a really different feeling,” Simmons said. “It’s hard to describe. I just felt like a form of brotherly love that’s different than anything I’ve ever really felt. I felt like they were here with me, and I was with them. It touched me and helped me feel more calm and ready to go on the line as well.”
He said he just wanted Jaster and Bradshaw to know he was there for them.
“Whatever I do, I count as their victory too. Whatever they do, I count as my victory. We’re brothers and it’s pretty special.”
Although most of the races on the first day of the state track meet are heats setting up Saturday’s finals, Simmons and Echohawk weren’t the only Utah Valley athletes to have success.
The county again showed its dominance in distance running as Westlake senior Shelby Jensen won the 6A girls 3,200 meters (10:43.73) and Timpview sophomore Jane Hedengren won the 5A girls 3,200 meters by almost five seconds (10:46.77).
It was no surprise to see the relay teams come out on top as well. Mountain View girls won the 4×800-meter relay in 9:21.90, while Lone Peak girls (9:11.91) blew past Skyridge and American Fork to win the 6A event.
On the boys side, Mountain View had no trouble winning the 5A race (7:44.59) but Lone Peak was second behind Herriman.
In the 4x200meter relay, Timpanogos (1:41.38) edged Timpview by half a second to win the 5A girls race, Maple Mountain (1:27.17) won the 5A boys competition and American Fork ended up second behind Corner Canyon in the 6A boys race.
There were also excellent performances in the field events.
Timpanogos junior Brendan Croft and Orem senior Jackson Merrill tied for the best 5A boys pole vault at 15-feet, 5.75-inches but Croft won the tiebreaker. Maple Mountain junior Bentley Smith came in third in the competition.
Maple Mountain junior Morgan Honsvick defeated Wasatch junior Bailey Sweat and Timpanogos sophomore Norah Christensen in the 5A girls shot put with a throw of 36 feet, 9.25 inches, while American Fork junior Clara Baker won the 6A girls shot put competition with a throw of 40 feet.
Skyridge senior Miley Richards’s throw of 116 feet, 8 inches was the top toss in the 6A girls javelin, while Springville senior Walker Deede hurled the javelin 182 feet, 0.25 inches to win the 5A boys competition.
Lone Peak sophomore Aubrey Galloway (6A girls long jump), Orem senior Cole Johnson (5A boys high jump, discus and javelin), Provo senior Nathan Victor (5A boys long jump), Skyridge senior Cameron Beck (6A boys shot put) and Mountain View senior Mia Strauss (5A girls discus) all finished second in their respective events.
The state 5A and 6A meet will continue on Saturday at the Robison Track and Field Complex in Provo.
For complete results, go to http://runnercard.com.
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