Records fall and stars rise at 36th annual Simplot Games

Records fall and stars rise at 36^th annual Simplot Games

Three meet records fall in thrilling afternoon of high school track and field

Pocatello, Idaho-Three Simplot Games meet records fell over the course of two hours during a thrilling afternoon of track and field at Idaho State’s Holt Arena today.

Ashley Blake of Las Vegas, Nevada, started things off with a record throw in the girls’ shot put, breaking a mark that had stood for two decades. Little did she know that her record would last only minutes before Stamatia Scarvelis of Santa Barbara, Calif., would set the new and current record of 53’8.25” to win the event.

“I didn’t feel bad that she beat my throw,” Blake said. “I was really happy for her.”

As Blake and Scarvelis were dueling in the infield, Sarah Feeny walked to the starting line for the girls 1600 meters. Sarah Feeny, a senior from Ogden, Utah, returned to defend the 1600-meter crown she earned at last year’s event. She was fully focused on breaking the Games’ 14-year-old record for the metric mile. She broke from the pack immediately and raced the clock to her new record of 4:46.97, breaking the old record by nearly five seconds.

“I knew what I needed to run to set the record; I’ve been thinking about this for a long time,” Feeny said. “I came out with the lead because I did not want to let anyone set my pace and come up short of my goal.”

As the crowd was still convulsing from the frenetic breaking of records, Ricky Faure and Andrew Brewster waged an eight-lap battle around the Games’ banked wooden track in the boys 1600 meters. The two high school seniors—Faure, from Rock Springs, Wyo., and Brewster, of South Jordan, Utah—traded the lead several times as the crowd roared. Brewster kicked first on the last lap, but Faure was up to the challenge and raced home in a meet record 4:10.22, just 1.77 seconds ahead of Brewer.

“Andrew made his move, and I knew that I had to make mine,” Faure said.

Other stellar Simplot Games performances included:

• Gabriella Cantrell, a senior from San Leandro, Calif., swept the girls’ 60- and 200-meter events. She out-leaned three competitors in the 60 meters, with 0.03 seconds separating first and fourth places. In the 200, she took command early and cruised to victory.
• Isaac Penner of Beaumont, Alberta, Canada, had enough energy in his legs to run 1:54.87 and top a deep 800-meter field, despite an 18-hour bus ride from his home to Holt Arena.
• Jai’Shawn Thompson of Colorado Springs, Colo., nearly doubled in the sprints, winning the 200 meters in 22.01 seconds after a runner up finish in the boys 60 meters.

 More than 1,900 athletes will come from across the U.S., Canada and Mexico to participate in the 36^th annual Simplot Games. Simplot Games remains the nation’s premier high school indoor track and field event. Sponsored by the J.R. Simplot Company since 1979, the Simplot Games are held at Idaho State University’s Holt Arena in Pocatello, Idaho.

For more information on Simplot Games, please visit our website at www.simplotgames.com. You may also contact Lisa Woodland at (208) 235-5673 or Simplot Games Media Team at media@simplotgames.com.

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Simplot Games

The Nation’s Premiere High School Track & Field Event

Pocatello, Idaho

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