By Marcus Hill
...
As the kids say, Olivia Sheridan and Noah Schneiderman were in the wind.
Sheridan, from Palmer High School, and Schneiderman, from Liberty, crushed the competition in the two-mile race en route to new meet records at the seventh annual Petrelli and Hunt Invitational at Garry Berry Stadium.
Schneiderman earned his second best time of the year at 9:44.22 while Sheridan's first-place time of 11:40.50 beat the previous meet record in the girls' race by 17.21 seconds.
Pine Creek's Natalie Buchanan set the pace in 2021 at 11:57.71 and Sheridan cruised past that time and her competition in Saturday's race.
Shortly after the first lap, Sheridan built a 15-second gap between herself and the nearest competitor.
Midway through the race, she lapped two-thirds of the field.
Onlookers continually glanced at one another and exchanged smiles illustrating how impressed they were as Sheridan continued to bolster her lead.
As the bell rang to signal the final lap - for Sheridan - she maintained her stoic demeanor and blazing pace as she breezed past her competition.
She was rewarded with the No. 6 time in 4A.
In the boys 3,200, Saturday marked the third time in as many years that the 2-mile record fell.
After the original mark, set in 2017 at the inaugural meet, Air Academy's Alex Maline ran a 9:57.79 in 2021 to set the new standard.
The following season, Benjamin Townsend, Schneiderman's teammate, shaved six seconds off the meet record at 9:51.44. In 2022, Schneiderman completed the 3,200 in 10:06.78 behind Townsend to finish second.
During this year's run, Schneiderman built a sizeable lead between him and the 15 other runners in the event.
By the third lap, Schneiderman had more than a 20-second lead on the field and by lap six, Schneiderman began the lane shuffle to eek past runners as he lapped them.
Harrison leaps to success
Harrison coaches and athletes watched Cameron Champagnie anxiously as he began his approach in the triple jump finals.
Champagnie battled the wind and a couple of scratches in prelims and the finals but remained poised as he attempted to find his best mark of the afternoon.
The Panthers senior rocked back on his left heel and exploded forward with his right foot as he sprinted down the lane to take off.
As Champagnie elevated and landed in the pit Harrison's coaches yelled "Yes sir! That's the one!"
Champagnie landed in the pit, smiled and nodded in approval as he stood and dusted the sand from his legs and shorts.
"Forty-four feet, seven inches."
Champagnie's coaches and teammates celebrated as they heard the numbers.
Champagnie bolted around the net separating the field and pit at Garry Berry Stadium and jumped into the arms of his coaches who celebrated the senior's career-best mark.
That's currently a 3A No. 3.
Earlier in the meet, at the long jump pit, where Champagnie placed third with a mark of 20-07.50, his teammate Jamison Taylor also had a career day.
After multiple scratches in the long jump, Panthers coaches pulled Taylor aside and provided pointers with his form and noting why he continued to scratch in the event.
Taylor took heed to the advice and, fighting through wind, took off for his best jump of the day.
"Twenty-two feet, seven and one-quarter inches."
Taylor briefly paused in the sand as he processed the jump. His mark was more than a foot ahead of Thomas Maclaren's Isaac Templin, who placed second with a distance of 21-04.
Taylor arose from the pit, pumped his fist in excitement and smiled. The words "You see?" rang out after he exited the pit, showcasing that following his coaches' advice was best for business.
"I kept my focus and kept driving and made sure to not pay attention to the board," Taylor said. "I had to trust in my coaches and let my weight carry me and be confident in my mark."
In two of their three meets this season, Taylor and Champagnie have swept the long and triple jump against their competition.
Also of note, Mitchell sophomore Kuron Reed earned another second-place finish in the triple jump. His jump of 41-04.5 placed behind Champagnie. At the Harrison Invite, Reed fell just three inches shy of winning the event in his first time in the competition.
Discovery Canyon, Widefield girls dominate relays
No team stood a chance against any Thunder or Gladiator girls relay runner who wielded a baton.
Discovery Canyon began the day with three consecutive victories in relays. Their most dominant came in the 4x800 meter relay where they finished in 10:12.28.
The time of the Thunder's quartet was more than 47 seconds faster than Palmer, which completed the race second in 10:59.88.
Discovery Canyon opened the meet with 1:54.85, more than two seconds ahead of James Irwin's runners, which crossed the finish line at 1:57.09.
In their final relay victory of the meet, Discovery Canyon staved off Falcon 4x100 relay and clocked in at 50.93.
Widefield finished third in the race with a time of 52.66 and metaphorically stole Discovery Canyon's thunder.
Widefield scorched the competition with a season-best time of 1:47.72 to finish first in the 4x200 relay and logged another season-best in the meet's finale.
The Gladiators finished in 4:28.97, nearly 15 seconds ahead of Falcon's 4:43.66 second-place pace.