Week 2 of az xc/tf 03/06-07: Highlights from Saunders Montague, Aztec Invitational, Levi Wallace, Rattler Booster
Week 2 of Arizona track and field kicked off with tons of new state-leading marks and highlight performances from meets across the state. Many of this week’s top marks came from Queen Creek’s Saunders Montague Desert Classic Invite, Corona Del Sol’s Aztec Invitational, Tucson High’s Levi Wallace Invitational, and North Canyon’s Rattler Booster.
Friday Night- Saunders Montague Desert Classic Invite
The Desert Classic down in Queen Creek saw a total of eight new state-leading marks on the men’s side. Basha’s Mason Aughe took the state lead in the shot put with a 56-1.50, while also cashing in an AZ #2 in the discus in 172-8.00. A couple of Hamilton Huskies grabbed new state leads as well, as Christian Hinton posted a 48.58 over 400m, and Colorado State commit Zarian Rodriguez got his first AIA mark in the 1600m with a 4:14.53. Rodriguez’s mark of 4:13.15 still leads the all performances list from Distance in the Desert #4, and a few seconds off of his lifetime best of 4:11.61.
Another Queen Creek Bulldog, Dash Wasson, also bettered his state-lead, adding a full foot on last week’s mark with a 16’ 6”. Wasson is the defending AIA Open state champion and is committed to Nebraska, known as a powerhouse in the field events. His new mark also jumped him to a new U.S. #4.
Mountain Ridge’s Sanel Eminovic dropped his previous state-leading time, posting a 14.12 over 100mH, which is also good for a US #13 mark. Eminovic is coming off of a third-place finish at last year’s AIA Open championships.
Chandler High’s 4x400m relay ran a new AZ #1 of 3:21.51.
On the girl’s side, Makayla Armstrong of Maricopa High School jumped her way to two new state-leading marks in the long and triple jump, posting a 19' 0" for long and 38' 7.25" for triple. Armstrong won these two events at last week’s Shadow Ridge Showcase, and is coming off 9th and 13th place finishes in the long and triple jumps at last year’s AIA Open state championships.
Nicole Ripperdan ran a new AZ #1 in the 800m in her first of the season at home, running 2:13.83, nearly six seconds faster than what she ran at this meet last year, and within 3 seconds of her lifetime best. Ripperdan is the defending open state-champion in the event.
The recently announced Arizona State commit Taylor Drewery of Basha High posted a new AZ #1 on the 3200m in 10:54.97 in her season opener. Drewery is the three-time defending AIA D1 cross country champion and finished 10th at the NXR Southwest Regional championships this past November.
Mountain Ridge’s Avery Luke took the state lead in the shot put with a personal best of 40' 10". Luke is undefeated in the event this year, and is coming off an 11th place at last year’s open state championships.
Saturday- Aztec Invitational
It was a sprint and relays fest at Corona Del Sol’s Aztec Invitational, with five boys jumping into this year’s AIA 100m top 10 list, led by Highland’s Brody Heussner in 10.71, good enough for an AZ #2. Heussner also helped Highland’s 4x100m relay team to a state lead with a time of 41.30.
Amare Holley of Red Mountain took the state lead in the 200m, posting a 21.46 as the first guy in Arizona to dip under 22.00 this year so far.
A few teams took a shot at an early season 4x800m relay, with Casteel(8:03.94) taking the win over Red Mountain(8:04.58) and Highland(8:07.01). Those are the new top three marks in the state this year.
The Highland 4x800m relay was the only AZ #1 mark on the girls side, posting a 9:20.19.
Tucson High’s Levi Wallace Invitational
The first major invitational from down south took place this past weekend, as Ironwood Ridge’s Jet Merrill stole the new AZ #1 mark in the 100m with a 10.69. Merrill finished runner-up at last year’s AIA open state championships in the 110mH and is the #1 returner in the event. Merrill has not run the 110mH yet this season.
Other state leading marks came from Salpointe Catholic’s Isaac Moyle in the Javelin with a 187' 10" and Canyon Del Oro’s Sean McCarthy in the high jump with a 6' 7". Moyle is the defending state champion in the event, while McCarthy finished bronze in last year’s state championship.
On the girl’s side, Milanni Pedraza of Catalina Foothills took the state lead in the 1600m with a 5:09.82. This is Pedraza’s first track season on athletic.net’s database, and finished 15th at the DII cross country championships this past November.
Her teammate Aliyah Akinbile landed her a state lead in the 300mH in 43.24. She also won the 100mH in 14.55, good enough for an AZ #3.
Rattler Booster Invitational
Williams Field’s Malachi Joyner threw for 172' 10" in the discus, which was good enough to take the state lead. Joyner took silver in last year’s open state championships. Ajani Leggett of Sunnyslope posted a 48' 10" in the triple jump, also taking the state lead.
The girls saw three new state leading marks, starting with Tziporah Korto of ALA West Foothills who ran an AZ #1 over 200m in 24.41. Faith Gentry of South Mountain threw a state-leading 142' 4" in the javelin. Gentry was the state runner-up in 2024.
The North Canyon Lady Rattlers took the state-leading time in the 4x400m relay at home in 3:52.21.
The Rattler Booster saw AZ #2 marks in Aliyah Tomegah of North Canyon in the triple jump with a 36' 10", Kyra Hogarth of Chandler in the pole vault with a 12' 0", Mikaela Lett of Williams Field in the discus with a 128' 3", North Canyon 4x100m relay in 47.34 and Aulani Gleason of Mesquite in the 400m in 56.31.
What’s next?
Week 3 of Arizona track starts to ramp up with major invitationals. This weekend, the four major invitationals are the Brophy Devon Allen Invitational, the Mountain Ridge Invitational, the Red Mountain Rampage, and the Ironwood Ridge Nighthawk Early Bird Invitational in Tucson, with all four meets having 25+ teams in attendance.
