High school boys track: Track stars run to glory
Judge's Luke Puskedra dominates in distances
Once he finished his 3,200-meter race Saturday morning, a pair of teenage girls sought out Puskedra and requested a picture with him.
Their desire to capture a moment with such a premier athlete is understandable — especially after he capped off his final state meet by eclipsing his own state record.
Puskedra won his third 3A title in the 3,200 on the final day of the state track and field championships at BYU, finishing in 8 minutes and 54.41 seconds. He trimmed 2.23 seconds off the record-setting time he posted at the BYU Invitational only two weeks ago.
"It's just good to know I put all I could into that two-mile," Puskedra said.
Puskedra maintained a steady pace through the first 400 meters before steadily pulling away from the pack. He sensed a special finish was in store when he saw an ever-growing crowd of spectators surround the track during the final couple of laps.
"It was definitely surreal," Puskedra said. "Just watching with 800 to go, I looked up and saw a bunch of people come out of their tents and onto the fence. It was great fan support. It was just outstanding."
Mountain View senior Travis Fuller accomplished a rare sweep of the 800, 1,600 and 3,200. He claimed first in the 3,200 with a time of 9:25.67 and then capped off a memorable meet by winning the 800 in 1:56.79 Fuller's sweep is more remarkable considering he also played a quarterfinal soccer game for the Bruins on Friday afternoon. Earning three state titles in two days exceeded his most ambitious expectations.
"It was a goal," Fuller said. "But seeing it and having it be tangible in front of my eyes was hard to picture right at the beginning."
Panguitch senior Trac Norris duplicated Fuller's feat on the 1A level. Norris added to his 1,600 title by winning the 800 in 1.58.27 and the 3,200 in 10:05.09.
Gordon Garrett accomplished a nice sweep of his own in the 2A ranks. The Grand senior claimed state titles in the 100, 200 and long jump. His winning 200-meter time of 21.59 seconds also set a new 2A record.
Garrett thought he earned a record-setting time in March, but it was ruled to have been wind-aided. Getting the mark again validates what he did once before.
"It makes me feel good to go out of this (a winner) and to get that back," Garrett said.
Eight runners posted times of 11 seconds or under in the 100-meter dash.
Recent comments
Congradulations Gordon. You are a great athlete and have ran some...
Garrett Fan | May 21, 2008 at 12:13 p.m.
Great job Rebels! Hold your heads up high! It was a great meet!...
Rich Rebel Fan | May 21, 2008 at 8:54 a.m.
i'll be there just like my brother who dominates you guys in...
to the panquitch coaches and rep | May 20, 2008 at 4:12 p.m.
