Under sunny skies and temperatures climbing into the 90s, the Pahrump Valley High School track and field team turned in an impressive performance while hosting the NIAA 1A, 2A and 3A Regional Championships on Friday, May 8 and Saturday, May 9. With the top four finishers in each event earning a berth to the state meet, the Trojans rose to the challenge on their home track with personal bests, school records and numerous podium finishes throughout the two-day competition resulting in 26 athletes earning a trip to State.
The running events opened Friday with the boys 4×800-meter relay, where the Trojan quartet of Logan Tilley, Josh Slusher, Aydon Veloz and Jace Wulfenstein claimed the regional title with a winning time of 8:34.34. The girls team of Addi Nelsen, Ava Bowers, Alexis Clouser and Rosie Miller followed with a second-place finish in 10:23.73.
In the boys 110-meter hurdles, Ulisses Alvarez secured a state berth after finishing fourth in a personal-best 18.50. Manny Dupart placed seventh in 22.42 while Evan Strain finished ninth in 23.69. On the girls side, Diona Nixon narrowly missed a state qualification spot with a fifth-place finish in 17.90. Ella Odegard ran 18.19 for seventh, Kyndra Cardwell placed 11th in 20.77 and Dyana Castro recorded a personal-best 20.97 to finish 12th.
In the boys 100-meter dash, Ben De Santiago earned a fourth-place finish with a time of 11.31 to qualify for state. Aeden Redditt followed with an 11.76, while Rene Gonzalez Valdez posted a personal-best 12.32. In the girls 100-meter dash, Anjolina Mercado finished third in 13.16 to secure a state berth. Ma’liyah Collins placed sixth in 13.49, Christine Williams ran 14.51 and Cindal Monahan finished in 14.82.
The Trojans continued to pile up points in the relay events. The boys 4×200 relay team of Wulfenstein, Veloz, Alvarez and Aeden Redditt earned second place in 1:33.55, while the girls quartet of Aurora Bowers, Ma’liyah Collins, Diona Nixon and Anjolina Mercado also finished runner-up with a time of 1:50.44.
Distance runners kept the momentum rolling in the 1600-meter run. Joaquin Flores led the boys with a fourth-place finish in 4:37.35 to qualify for state. Logan Tilley added a personal-best 4:49.95 for seventh, Josh Gent ran 5:05.63 for eighth and Josh Flores crossed in 5:16.95. In the girls race, Jules Ondrisko finished just .01 behind the winner, taking second in 5:43.75. Sophie Romero clocked a personal-best 6:01.94 for sixth, Addi Nelsen finished seventh in 6:02.65 and Ava Bowers placed eighth in 6:16.88.
One of the standout moments of the meet came in the boys 400-meter dash, where Ben De Santiago once again rewrote the school record books. De Santiago captured the regional championship in 48.77, marking the fifth time this season he has broken the school record in the event. Joaquin Flores added a seventh-place finish in 54.00, while Josh Slusher and Kris Trejo both posted personal bests in 55.84 and 56.12 respectively.
In the girls 400-meter dash, Ondrisko finished third in 1:02.87 and Aurora Bowers claimed fourth in 1:03.99, sending both athletes to state. Cindal Monahan placed eighth in 1:08.31 and Avery Farruggia finished ninth in 1:10.09.
Friday’s field events also produced several strong performances. In the boys high jump, Kris Trejo cleared 5 feet, 4 inches for fifth while Evan Strain jumped 5 feet, 2 inches for sixth. Jayden Crisler earned third in the boys long jump with a leap of 20 feet, 1.5 inches, while Daniel Thompson jumped 17 feet, .25 inches and Kelan Sheppard recorded 15 feet, 3 inches.
The boys discus proved to be another highlight for the Trojans as Sonny Skinner captured the regional title with a personal-best throw of 143 feet, 3 inches. Brenden Thorn qualified for state with a fourth-place throw of 127 feet, 3 inches, while Chasen Hamann delivered a personal-best 124 feet, 6 inches for fifth. Juan Carlos Rodriguez added a throw of 96 feet, 8 inches.
For the girls, Savannah Thompson secured a state berth in the triple jump with a fourth-place mark of 31 feet, 1 inch. Sedona Norton placed sixth at 30 feet, 4 inches while Sarah Brown and Juliana Turco added jumps of 25 feet, 5 inches and 23 feet, 3.25 inches respectively. In the pole vault, Kyndra Cardwell cleared a personal-best 8 feet, 3 inches to finish third, while Citlaly Ruvalcaba cleared 5 feet, 6 inches. Julie Briggs led the girls shot put group with a personal-best throw of 25 feet for eighth place, followed by Kaitlyn Brown at 24 feet, Chanel Thorn at 21 feet, 4 inches and Cailyn Marsh at 20 feet, 8.5 inches.
Saturday’s running events opened with the 3200-meter run. Logan Tilley paced the Trojan boys with a fifth-place finish in 10:36.01, followed by Joaquin Flores in sixth at 10:42.68. Josh Flores ran a personal-best 11:09.79 for eighth and Josh Gent placed ninth in 11:21.39. In the girls race, Sophie Romero earned a trip to state with a third-place finish in 13:11.44. Addi Nelsen finished sixth in 13:35.11, Alexis Clouser took seventh in 14:00.72 and Kimberly Trejo completed the race in 15:41.99.
The boys 4×100 relay team of Aeden Redditt, Justin Byers, Ulisses Alvarez and Jace Wulfenstein placed fourth in 45.59 to qualify for state. The girls team of Aurora Bowers, Rosie Miller, Ma’liyah Collins and Anjolina Mercado took third in 52.12.
The boys 300-meter hurdles saw several strong performances for the Trojans as Jayden Crisler finished third with a time of 43.22. Ulisses Alvarez placed sixth in 46.84, while Kris Trejo and Manny Dupart each recorded personal bests of 47.12 and 48.46 respectively.
The record-breaking performance came in the girls 300-meter hurdles, where Ondrisko delivered one of the most dramatic finishes of the weekend. In a near photo finish between the top three runners, she finished third in a personal-best 47.15, breaking the school record in the process. First place crossed in 47.10 and second in 47.14. Diona Nixon placed sixth in 51.09, Ella Odegard finished eighth in 52.91 and Kyndra Cardwell added a personal-best 1:00.54.
The boys 800-meter run saw another school record fall as De Santiago won the regional championship in a personal-best 1:56.54. Joaquin Flores also qualified for state with a personal-best third-place finish of 2:00.10. Logan Tilley ran a personal-best 2:10.59 while Josh Gent finished in 2:15.36.
Ondrisko continued her standout weekend in the girls 800, capturing the regional title in 2:29.18. Ava Bowers finished seventh in 2:39.07 and Alexis Clouser ran 2:50.35.
In the boys 200-meter dash, De Santiago added a second-place finish in 22.54 while Rene Gonzalez Valdez ran 25.04. Anjolina Mercado highlighted the girls race with a personal-best 27.04 to finish third and qualify for state. Ma’liyah Collins placed fifth in 27.69 and Cindal Monahan finished in 30.66.
The meet concluded with the 4×400-meter relays. The Trojan boys team of Aeden Redditt, Josh Slusher, Aydon Veloz and Jace Wulfenstein placed third in 3:37.40, while the girls team of Ava Bowers, Rosie Miller, Aurora Bowers and Ella Odegard finished second in 4:23.75.
Saturday’s field events added more medals and state qualifiers for Pahrump Valley. Rosie Miller cleared 5 feet in the girls high jump to finish third, while Kimberly Trejo cleared 4 feet, 6 inches. In the girls long jump, Diona Nixon earned second with a personal-best leap of 16 feet, 3.5 inches. Savannah Thompson finished sixth at 14 feet, 9.25 inches, Sedona Norton placed ninth at 13 feet, 5.25 inches and Melanie Carson jumped 12 feet, 3 inches.
Kaitlyn Brown led the girls discus throwers with a personal-best second-place mark of 88 feet, 5 inches. Nyomi Skinner finished seventh with a personal-best 78 feet, 9 inches, Julie Briggs placed eighth at 74 feet, 7 inches and Chanel Thorn threw 65 feet, 7 inches.
Jayden Crisler claimed the regional championship in the boys triple jump with a personal-best leap of 45 feet, 2 inches. Daniel Thompson added a sixth-place finish at 35 feet, 5.25 inches. Crisler also earned fourth in the pole vault after clearing 11 feet, 6 inches, while Joseph Scheer cleared 8 feet, 6 inches.
In the boys shot put, Sonny Skinner added another state qualification with a personal-best fourth-place throw of 45 feet, 4.25 inches. Brenden Thorn threw 35 feet, 5 inches, Taysom Christensen reached 32 feet, 5 inches and Chasen Hamann recorded 30 feet, 6.5 inches.
Head Coach Dan Nagle praised both the athletes and the community effort behind hosting the championship meet.
“Regionals is a huge undertaking, and our community truly came together to make it a success,” Nagle said. “The athletes put on an incredible show, breaking three school records and proving that all the hard work was worth it. I really want to thank all the volunteers, parents, and coaches who helped make this such a great event.”
