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Truckee track | Quinn Parker dominates state championship meet

Sylas Wright
Sierra Sun
Shannon Litz / Nevada AppealTruckee sophomore Quinn Parker races to a first-place finish in the 100-meter dash at the 3A state championship meet on Friday. Parker won four state titles on the weekend.
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As the lone coach directing more than a dozen young athletes, Truckee’s Diana Yale described the two-day 3A State Track and Field Championships this past weekend in Reno as a and#8220;dizzyingand#8221; experience.

And yet, she couldn’t have been more pleased with it.

and#8220;I’m just thrilled and so excited,and#8221; said Yale, whose Truckee girls’ team finished fourth out of 12 schools in spite of having only four members and#8212; and all underclassmen. By comparison, most teams had between 12 and 20 girls at the state meet. and#8220;Our girls just rocked. It’s amazing what they were able to do.and#8221;



All it took was top-three finishes in eight of the nine events the Truckee girls entered, plus four individual state titles in a series dominant sprinting performances by sophomore Quinn Parker.

Parker, who was the only Truckee representative at state as a freshman last year, captured titles in the 100-, 200- and 400-meter dashes. She also teamed up with Skyler Flora, Tareyn Ryan and Gabrielle Rinne and#8212; all freshmen and#8212; to claim the title in the 4×400 relay.



and#8220;It’s really unprecedented. She’s a sophomore and she won four golds,and#8221; Yale said. and#8220;I don’t know if that’s ever happened. It’s just extraordinary.and#8221;

What was equally impressive, Yale added, is that Parker established new personal records in each of the events.

and#8220;You want to be peaking and performing at your best at state, and I think Quinn was determined and#8212; a quiet determination and#8212; to win gold in all four events,and#8221; Yale said.

Parker claimed the 100-meter title in a time of 12.63 seconds, while her freshman teammate, Tareyn Ryan finished second in the race with a personal-best time of 12.92.

The 200 and 400 weren’t even close. Parker ran the 200 in 26 seconds flat to beat out Elko junior Shaeli Wilson, who posted a 27.52. She then recorded a time of 58.62 in the 400 to outdistance Moapa Valley freshman Emily Mills (60.56).

and#8220;She walked off the track not even tired. She didn’t have any competition in the 200 or 400. She dominated,and#8221; Yale said.

Parker had help in the 4×400. Her Truckee relay squad entered as the third seed from the north, but with each of the four runners posting a personal-best time in her leg of the race, the Wolverines upset top-seeded Elko in a time of 4:11.22 to the Indians’ 4:11.54. Rinne held off a strong attack by Elko on the anchor leg to secure the victory, as Truckee never trailed from start to finish.

and#8220;I think they really surprised Elko,and#8221; Yale said, adding that all four Truckee runners set personal-best times in the race.

In addition to Parker’s dominance in the sprints, Truckee’s freshmen girls more than held their own in the distance events.

Flora showed off her endurance in both the 1,600 (1-mile) and 3,200 (2-mile), as she finished second in the 3,200 in a time of 11:53.74 and was third in the 1,600 in 5:24.23. Elko senior MaryJo Wright won both events in times of 11:45.21 and 5:12.81, respectively.

Rinne earned a medal (top four) in the 800 with a third-place finish in a time of 2:24.29, while Wright took the title in 2:16.74.

The quality results placed the Truckee girls fourth overall with 70 points. Elko won state with 163 points, while Fallon was runner-up with 89.50 and Moapa Valley was third with 83. Dayton was fifth with 68, followed by Boulder City (55), Virgin Valley (38), South Tahoe (37), Fernley (35), Spring Creek (29), Lowry (19.50) and Sparks (10).

Not to be overshadowed by his female teammates, Truckee junior Jake Pettit brought home a medal with a fourth-place finish in the 100, as he nearly set a PR with a time of 11.73 seconds. Tyson Ernst of Fallon won the 100 in 11.23.

The Truckee boys’ 4×100 relay of Javier Virrey, Trevor Mort, Tyler Griffin and Pettit finished fifth in 45.59.

Truckee finished 11th in the boys’ team results. Fallon won the boys’ championship with 171 points, followed by Elko (140), Boulder City (79), Moapa Valley (61), Fernley (49), Spring Creek (41), South Tahoe (40), Virgin Valley (37), Dayton (36), Lowry (17), Truckee (13) and Sparks (10).

A total of 13 Truckee athletes qualified to compete at the state meet, which was held at Damonte Ranch High School.


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