Track team to send 11 to state

The Mountain Home track team will send four girls and seven boys to this week's 4A State Track & Field Championships at Dona Larson Park in Boise.

Mountain Home will send four girls in four events in the 4A girls competition as a result of their efforts at the district meet at Kuna last Thursday and Friday.

Willow Freer qualified for state with her third-place effort in the pole vault. Sable Lohmeier qualified with her third-place effort in the discus throw, and Alexandra Tatum qualified in the long jump, where she finished fourth at district.

Mountain Home finished eighth in the girls competition.

Bishop Kelly ran away with the district title, running up 219.5 points. Skyview was a distant second with 92 points, Emmett and Middleton tied for third with 85 points, Columbia had 62.5, Caldwell 51, Kuna 43, Mountain Home 34 and Nampa 30.

Seven Tiger boys had good enough efforts at the district meet to qualify for state.

AJ Daniels will be competing in four events. He will be running the 100- and 200-meter dashes, where he placed fourth and second, respectively. He is also a member of both the 4-100-meter relay (with Sam Benzie, Chance Llewellyn and Jonathan Deese) and 4x200-meter relay (along with Jacob Ryan, Chance Llewellyn and Jonathan Deese), which came in second and third respectively.

Deese also qualified in the 200 meters with his sixth-place effort at district. Benzie is going to state after his sixth-place effort in the 100 meters.

Ryan Eckstrom will compete in three events: the 110-meter high hurdles and 300-meter hurdles, where he placed second in both, and the pole vault, where he came in third. Also qualifying for state was Cody Boguslawski, with his sixth-place effort in the discus throw.

Skyview won the boys district title with 137 points. Kuna was second with 125, Emmett third with 82, Caldwell scored 80.5, Bishop Kelly 77, Mountain Home 64, Columbia and Middleton 51.75 and Nampa, 30.75.

"We were sure hit by the injury bug the last seven days leading up to district," said Tigers track coach Rich Urquidi. "That was the worst week in the 20 years I have been at the high school. We did not get as many as we had hoped to state, but we like the chances of many of our athletes going into state. We think many have a good chance of placing."

The State 4A Track & Field Championships will be held Friday and Saturday at Dona Larson Park in Boise.

Field events start at 10 a.m. Friday, with running events getting under way at 3:30 p.m. Field events get under way Saturday morning at 9 a.m. with running events starting at 1 p.m.