Tiger track sending 18 to state meet

The Mountain Home Tigers finished third in the girls competition and fourth in the boys competition at last week's District III 4A Track and Field Meet at Emmett.

They also qualified nine girls and nine boys on to this week's State Meet at BSU.

Middleton won the girls competition, racking up 120.33 points.

Bishop Kelly was a close second with 116 points, Mountain Home right behind with 115.83. Skyview had 99.33, Emmett, 91.5, Kuna, 56, Nampa, 55, and Columbia, 35.

Emily Moranda won both hurdle events, and was a member of the 4x100-meter relay (with Francesca Hale, Sherica Holmon and Alyssa Saltzgaber) that finished first. She was also on the 4x400 meter relay team (with Kristie Sigloh, Lauren Moore and Fran Hale) that finished second.

Second place efforts, besides the 4x400 relay, went to Dani Dean in the high jump and Jasmyn Jewett in the long jump.

Jewett was also a member of the medley relay team (with Sherica Holman, Lauren Moore and Kristie Sigloh) that finished third, and placed fifth in the triple jump.

Kristie Sigloh had third place efforts in the long jump and 400-meter dash, and Francesca Hale finished third in both hurdle events.

Other placers that qualified for state were Sherica Holmon with a fourth-place finish in the 100-meter dash, and Alyssa Saltzgaber, a fourth in the triple jump.

Middleton also won the boys competition, scoring 117.5 points.

Emmett was a close second with 116, followed by Bishop Kelly, 112.5, Mountain Home was fourth with 97, Nampa had 87, Kuna, 75, Skyview, 57, and Columbia, 41.

Brandon Doble came in first in the 110-meter high hurdles, second in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles, fourth in the triple jump, and he was a member of the 4x100-meter relay team (along with Robert Moss Robert Daniels and Zacq Hale) that finished second.

Josh Driskell won the shot put and was third in the discus throw. Nick O'Briant won the high jump.

Tyree Harmon finished third in the high hurdles, and the Tiger 4x200-meter relay team of Robert Moss, Robert Daniels, Nick Barrie and Zacq Hale came in third.

Other state qualifiers were Garrett Wood, who placed fourth in the pole vault, Zacq Hale, a fifth in the triple jump, and Robert Moss, fifth in the 100-meter dash.

Tiger head track coach Rich Urquidi was pleased with their efforts at the district meet.

"We are pleased! We were talking on the bus on the way home, we just had nothing but good things to say about them. We were right there at the end on both sides. We wanted to finish in the top three, and we did in the girls and in the boys, we were just a few points off, so we're really happy.

"We've got good, quality kids going to state, and I think they will place well there. It's the best I've ever done with the kids, so I'm real happy.

"There's some girls that really stepped up for us," he went on. "Emily (Moranda) in both hurdles won, and she anchored the 4x100 that won, and was on the 4x400 that just lost like in the last meter, and they broke a school record.

"I didn't even think about what their time was until we got on the bus on the way home and when I was passing out medals and they said we ran a 4:08 (4:08.13), I had to go back and look, and we beat the old record by 10 seconds, and that was a long record, going back to 1979, so the girls really stepped up.

"Fran Hale stepped up in the relays and both hurdles, and Kristie Sigloh, she ran three 400s in the 60s, and our jumpers did really well, we got two of them in both the jumps, so we're real pleased.

"In the boys, it was just tough. We placed in some things that we knew we were going to place, and there were a couple that we just didn't quite get done. We just kind of ran out of horses there at the end, but we were pleased with everybody's efforts.

The State 4A Track and Field Championships run tomorrow and Friday at Bronco Stadium in Boise.