ORDER GAME PHOTOS

The biggest meet in Idaho over the weekend was the annual Tiger-Grizz Invitational in Idaho Falls, and athletes from 1A to 5A had moments in the spotlight at the 50th edition of the meet.

A total of 13 meet records were broken over the course of two days at Ravsten Stadium, not including the two records established in javelin, which was new to the program as it is an exhibition event in Idaho track and field this season.

Skyline senior Nelah Roberts ran 10:28.41 to win Friday's girls 3,200, destroying her meet record of 10:53.65 set in 2022, and ran a No. 4 Idaho all-time 4:51.42 to win Saturday's varsity girls 1,600 in another meet record. The previous record of 4:53.37 was set in 2017 by Jackson's Anna Gibson, now a professional runner for Brooks.

Roberts, who also placed third in Saturday's girls 800 finals in 2:23.92, became a four-time Tiger-Grizz champion in the 3,200 and three-time Tiger-Grizz champion in the varsity girls 1,600 with her wins. Her meet record 1,600 was also a personal best, improving on her 4:58.06 from 2022.

"By the last race of the day, I was pretty exhausted from the weekend," Roberts said after receiving her 800 third-place medal.

Toward the end of the meet, she watched her brother Davis Roberts place third in Saturday's freshman boys 1,600 final in 4:45.29, a personal best for him.

"He's worked so, so hard and been doing really well," she said. "It's been great to cheer him on and see him doing so well."

She and Madison's Drew Davidson, who cleared a meet record 15-4 to win Friday's boys pole vault finals, were voted Female and Male Athletes of the Meet by coaches. Davidson's 15-4 is an eastern Idaho all-time best and is the top boys pole vault mark in Idaho thus far this season.

Century senior Matejah Mangum also became a multiple Tiger-Grizz champion upon winning Saturday's girls 200 finals in 25.65 and the varsity girls 100 finals in 12.35. She has won four consecutive Tiger-Grizz girls 200 finals and three total Tiger-Grizz varsity girls 100 finals.

Mangum's 100 personal best of 11.82 from the Rigby Physical Therapy Invitational on April 9 is the fastest thus far this season in Idaho and one of three sub-12 second times this spring along with the 11.93s by Capital's Christine Huckins and Mountain View's Quincy Keller. 

Mangum expressed much gratitude Saturday for this moment in Idaho girls sprinting and to predecessors Claire Petersen of Skyline and Abby Hancock of Rigby, who last year became Idaho's first girls ever on record to break 11.9 for the 100. Mangum, Idaho's three-time defending 4A state 200 champion, teamed up with Petersen (2023 Idaho Gatorade Player of the Year for girls track, three-time 4A girls 100 state champion, two-time 4A girls 100 hurdles state champion and three-time 4A girls 300 hurdles state champion now at Utah State), Hancock (two-time 5A girls 100 and 200 state champion now at Weber State) and Columbia's Adeline Wimer (2023 5A girls 400 champion now at Idaho) at the 2023 Simplot Games to place third in the girls 4x200 in 1:42.81.

"I was so grateful to have Claire and Abby," Mangum said. "They were the first people to push me."

Mangum said after she signed her national letter of intent with Utah, she and her coaches wrote down her goals for this season: 24.2 for the 200, 5-7 for high jump, 19 feet for long jump and 11.7 for the 100.  Huckins, a sophomore who currently owns Idaho's No. 1 all-time fastest girls 200 (24.57) from the Knight Invite on April 20, ran an 11.51 in the 100 at a club meet last summer, but an Idaho girl has yet to break 11.8 for the 100 during the high school season.

"I saw her run when she was at Simplot and I was in shock," Mangum said of Huckins' 200 finals win in 24.38 and second-place finish in the 60 meter finals in 7.59 at February's Simplot Games in Pocatello.

Challis freshman Lilly Stebbins had quite the Tiger-Grizz debut, clearing 5-8 to win Friday's girls high jump final and winning Saturday's freshman girls 100 hurdles in 16.12. Her 5-8 is an eastern Idaho all-time best, tied for No. 6 Idaho all-time and it leads girls high jump in Idaho thus far this season. It also broke the Tiger-Grizz meet record of 5-7.5 by Skyline's Sydney Wendt from 2006.

Marsh Valley sophomore Lydia Townsend added a Tiger-Grizz win to her growing list of accolades, running a meet record 14.71 in Friday's varsity girls 100 hurdles prelims and winning Saturday's finals in 15.25. Her 14.71 is the fastest time in girls 100 hurdles thus far this season in Idaho, and it made two consecutive weeks she has broken 15 seconds for the event.

Four athletes in Friday's prelims broke the Tiger-Grizz boys 110 hurdles meet record of 14.84 set by South Fremont's John Weaver in 1981 and tied by Rigby's Cody Cordingley last season: Hillcrest's Mason Edwards (14.53), Cordingley (14.45), Highland's Spencer Van Orden (14.38) and Rigby's Eli Taylor (14.24). The prelims set the tone for Saturday's finals, as Edwards won in 14.48, Taylor was second in 14.50, Van Orden was third in 14.69 and Cordingley was fourth in 14.73.

"I don't get a lot of fast races," Edwards said of Saturday's final. "I knew I had to have a good start and stay strong in the in between and finish. I didn't have a good start, but I had a good finish."

Also a member of Hillcrest's boys 4x400, Edwards won three medals at last year's 4A state meet: third in 110 hurdles, fifth in 300 hurdles and third in the 4x400.

"I want to be state champion in the 110s and 300s," Edwards said.

Those same four boys currently own the fastest times in Idaho this season for 110 hurdles: Edwards (14.20), Taylor (14.24), Van Orden (14.38) and Cordingley (14.45). Additionally, Taylor broke his boys 300 hurdles meet record of 38.89 from last season with a 37.97 in Friday's prelims. He is the only boys 300 hurdler thus far this season to break 38 seconds. He has run sub-38 three times, including a personal best and No. 1 Idaho all-time best 37.51 from the Rigby Physical Therapy Invite on April 19. He scratched from Saturday's Tiger-Grizz 300 hurdles finals, which went to Van Orden in a Highland school record 38.05.

Statements Made at Bandanna Invite, Legends Invite, Nike Jesuit Twilight Relays

Rocky Mountain competed at the annual Nike Jesuit Twilight Relays in Portland over the weekend. Both Grizzlies' 4x800 teams placed second at the meet. The boys team of Jaymon Clark, Pierece Richardson, Thomas Kurtz and Sam Jensen ran 8:10.47 while the girls team of Emme Hamm, Hallie Heemeyer, Belle Draney and Chloe Pollock finished in 9:28.83. The girls' time is currently the fastest in Idaho this season for the 4x800. Additionally, Landon Heemeyer placed sixth in the boys elite 1-mile in a personal best 4:09.10 and Cody Lucas was fifth in the boys 3,200 in 9:11.04.

At the Bandanna Invite at Mountain View High School, site of next month's 5A/4A state championships, Vallivue's David Gummersall won the boys 400 in a new personal best 48.49, which is the fastest time in Idaho this season for any classification.

Also at Bandanna, District 3 throwers Kai Twaddle-Dunham of Centennial and Rakeem Johnson of Bishop Kelly both surpassed 191 feet in the boys discus final. Twaddle-Dunham won with 194-3, a personal best and No. 3 Idaho all-time best while Johnston placed second with a personal best and No. 4 Idaho all-time mark of 192-10. Those marks put Twaddle-Dunham at No. 9 in the U.S. for boys discus and Johnson at No. 10 in the U.S. as of April 29.

At the Legends Invite in Walla Walla, Wash., Coeur d'Alene's Wyatt Carr, Mitchell Rietze, Kyle Rohlinger and Jacob King won the boys 4x800 in 8:07.76, the fastest time in the event in Idaho this season. 

Additionally, at the same meet, Capital's Lee-Bailey Dennis, Stella Gray, Kennedy Patterson and Christine Huckins placed second in the girls 4x100 in 47.91, making them the first Idaho girls 4x100 team ever on record to break 48 seconds. Patterson, Gray, Damaris Stuffle and Huckins also won the 4x400 in 3:59.58 to become the first Idaho team thus far this season to break four minutes in the girls 4x400.

On the Horizon

One weekend separates us from district meets and state qualifications.