Devils are on the right track

The Davis High track and field season officially got under way on Saturday at the Sacramento State Classic, but the Blue Devils already look to be in midseason form.

DHS’ girls squad was paced by Courtney Meyer’s second school-record pole vault performance in as many weeks and a dominating 1-2 finish in the girls 1,500 meters. For the local boys, Nick Denton posted two top-five finishes in the throws, while Paul Mohr and Blake Croft took second and third in the 800.

“The meet was fantastic overall,” Devils coach Spencer Elliott told The Enterprise. “This was our first official competition, and I was pleased with the efforts and the performances.”

Meyer’s vault put the new Davis benchmark at 11 feet and tied her at the top of Saturday’s standings with Annelise Spargo. The Blue Devils also got good heights from Danielle Gantar, whose 8-06 put her in fifth place, and Kaity Honeychurch (8-00, seventh).

In the 1,500, DHS’ Sophie Meads got the win in 4:49.08, with Laney Teaford just behind at 4:49.67 as both “looked confident and strong,” according to Elliott. Teaford also performed well in the 800, taking fourth place (2:23.58), two spots ahead of teammate Jeanne-Marie McPherson (2:26.90).

Two other Devil seniors earned multiple top-10 finishes including Ellie Eaton, who was second in the 400 — crossing in 58.77, which Elliott called “a terrific time” — and fifth in the 200 (26.53). Rose Stephens took fourth place in the 300 hurdles (47.18) and 10th in the 100-meter version of that event.

In field events, Davis saw Liz Lee capture fifth in the girls triple jump, Caitlin Mazzoleni match that in the high jump and freshman Joseena John end up seventh in the long jump.

Denton was even stronger for the Blue Devil boys in the field, putting up an excellent early season mark of 50-03.50 to finish second in the shot put and posting a third-place 146-11 in the discus. That finish was duplicated by DHS’ Kunwoo Hong, who went 41-09.00 in the triple jump, while Spencer LaHaye’s pole vault of 13 feet was good for eighth.

On the track, Elliott said Mohr (1:58.68) and Croft (1:59.41) ran “awesome 800s.” Mohr was just 0.47 second behind the winner — Trent Brendal of Granite Bay — and Elliott added that Croft’s time was “phenomenal” for a sophomore.

Another highlight was the 4×400 relay as Croft teamed with Alexander McIntyre, Ben Salcedo and Maito Okamoto to cross the line in fourth (3:29.65).

Salcedo added a ninth-place finish in the 400, a placing that was matched by Jack Scranton in the 3,000.