High school track: Davis' Haws breaks 3,200 record; twins spur Spanish Fork to a win
Haws had posted an impressive 3,200 time when she raced at the Arcadia Invitational last month. If she could finish in 10 minutes and 32.91 seconds near sea level, rising to new heights at altitude wouldn't be far behind.
"Once you break a barrier, you have more confidence to do it (again)," Haws said.
Haws broke her barrier on Saturday, winning the 3,200 in 10 minutes and 44.24 seconds to set a 5A state record. Bingham's Laura Zeigle set the previous record in 2001 with a time of 10:47.52.
Not only did Haws beat that mark, but second-place finisher Candace Eddy also surpassed it. Eddy finished in 10:46.59, a scant 2.25 seconds behind her Darts' teammate.
Haws took the lead about a mile into the race and stayed in control. Eddy remained on her heels throughout the final laps.
With Eddy's finishing abilities, Haws said it helped her to have an early lead.
"I knew if she took the lead at the mile, it would have been harder to get away from her," Haws said. "So I just had to make my move at the mile."
Stewart started by claiming first the 100 meters with a time of 12.00 seconds. Stewart fell .02 seconds shy of a new invitational record and .10 short of a new 5A state record.
That near-miss served as a precursor to a more incredible performance in the 400, where Stewart finally claimed a 5A state record. She literally stumbled across the finish line with a time of 53.39 seconds, eclipsing the old mark — 54.18 seconds — her twin, Nachelle, set in 2006.
"This is my favorite track meet," said Stewart, who is ranked first nationally in the 400. "Good things always seem to happen here."
Stewart went all-out in the first 200 meters, instead of conserving speed and energy for a later stage where it might not have been readily available. The drain of getting a new record showed with her collapse past the finish line.
"The last 10 meters I could not get my legs up," Stewart said. "And I thought, crossing the line, 'Oh my gosh, I'm not going to be able to catch myself."'
Nachelle Stewart claimed a state record of her own later in the day in the 800. Her event winning time of 2 minutes and 8.48 seconds easily toppled the old 5A mark of 2:10.41 set in 2001 by Mountain View's Heidi Magill.
Natalie Stewart capped things off by winning the 200 in 24.61 seconds, a time which put her .61 seconds ahead of Nachelle, who claimed second place after finishing in 25.22 seconds.
All of it proved to be more than enough help for Spanish Fork in successfully defending last year's BYU Invitational team championship. The Dons scored 89 points to claim top team honors at the state's oldest high school track meet for a second consecutive spring.
E-mail: jcoon@desnews.com
Recent comments
These are amazing young ladies on and off the track!
Christine | May 19, 2008 at 9:38 a.m.
Man it was AWESOME to watch these girls....they are amazing
JB | May 4, 2008 at 6:57 p.m.
Both of these young ladies are deserving of every award and accolade...
The twins are amazing! | May 4, 2008 at 6:14 a.m.
