6A track and field: BYU signee Danny Simmons paces fallen records to open meet

PROVO — Danny Simmons has made a habit of breaking records since the American Fork cross country star moved to Utah from Idaho.

The habit continued Thursday on the first day of the 6A state track and field championships at BYU's Robison Track.

The BYU signee opened the day posting a state-record 8-minute, 36.79-second finish in the 3,200-meter run and ended on American Fork's title-winning 4x800-meter relay team that finished in 7:35.22.

Simmons started out the day about as well as can be expected, smashing his own state record in the 3,200-meter run by nearly six seconds.

The senior who plans to run with the BYU cross country team in the fall before serving a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints admitted he opened "maybe a little too fast" with a 1:03.77 opening split, but settled into the race to finish in 8:36.79 — ahead of his state record mark set in March of 8:42.47, per the UHSAA record book.

"I was just really trying to hone in and focus on doing my best race," Simmons said. "If I do that, it's going to be the best for everybody. I was a little scared the first lap, and ran too fast than what I was planning, but it worked out; I was really, really close to the time that I wanted to run. I was trying to go 8:34, but I'm very pleased with 8:36."

Simmons will get another shot at a state record Saturday, when he'll try to break the 4-minute mile and best his state record mark of 4:01.78 in the 1,600-meter run.

Thursday's finish will certainly give him confidence for that feat.

"I certainly feel more confidence going in with these two under my belt," Simmons said. "But what makes the biggest difference is just believing that it's going to be the best every time. If you do that, negativity is an illusion; and win or lose, it's going to be a good race."

Corner Canyon's boys 4x200-meter relay team of Chryshaun Lee, Mason Hamilton, Tate Kjar and Jerome Myles broke their own 6A record of 1:25.61.

Bingham's girls 4x200-meter relay squad likewise broke a 6A record, with McKenzie Ritter, Kaitlyn Durham, Angelina Appel and Andrea Amoah finishing in 1:37.74.

Here's a complete list of Thursday's early results from the first day of the Utah High School Activities Association 6A track and field meet.

6A state track and field championships

Full results available through Meet Trax

Boys team scores

1. American Fork, 45
2. Corner Canyon, 33
3. Lone Peak, 26
4. Skyridge, 21
5. Herriman, 21
6. Weber, 21
7. Mountain Ridge, 18
8. Copper Hills, 17
9. Lehi, 17

Girls team scores

1. American Fork, 61.5
2. Lone Peak, 26
3. Herriman, 25
4. Layton, 25
5. Syracue, 22
6. Mountain Ridge, 18
7. Bingham, 14
8. Corner Canyon, 13
9. Riverton, 13
   • Girls 3200M: 1. Cailey Bracken, Mountain Ridge, 10:37.64. 2. Maya Bybee, Lone Peak, 10:47.83. 3. Avalon Mecham, American Fork, 10:49.38. 4. Natalia Boltz, American Fork, 10:54.08. 5. Isabel Preston, Riverton, 10:54.76. 6. Alayna Wardle, Herriman, 10:55.82. 7. Millie Robinson, Westlake, 11:00.20. 8. Abigail Hartle, Lone Peak, 11:01.36.
   • Boys 3200M: 1. Daniel Simmons, American Fork, 8:36.79. 2. William Steadman, Herriman, 8:57.90. 3. Zach Hillhouse, Pleasant Grove, 9:02.63. 4. Kaden Evans, American Fork, 9:02.73. 5. Ben Jaster, American Fork, 9:07.74. 6. Ben Bradshaw, American Fork, 9:08.74. 7. Jack Beckstrom, Herriman, 9:09.25. 8. Max Hofheins, Herriman, 9:10.51.
   • Girls 4x800M relay: 1. Lone Peak, 9:03.94. 2. American Fork, 9:11.39. 3. Herriman, 9:321.85. 4. Corner Canyon, 9:32.40. 5. Westlake, 9:33.41. 6. Riverton, 9:38.74. 7. Davis, 9:43.43. 8. Fremont, 9:45.15.
   • Boys 4x800M relay: 1. American Fork, 7:35.22. 2. Herriman, 7:39.52. 3. Corner Canyon, 7:52.52. 4. Riverton, 7:52.59. 5. Layton, 8:00.07. 6. Lone Peak, 8:02.65. 7. Davis, 8:03.40. 8. Bingham, 8:03.49.
   • Girls 4x200M relay: 1. Bingham, 1:37.74. 2. Corner Canyon, 1:40.14. 3. American Fork, 1:41.15. 4. Lone Peak, 1:43.83. 5. Farmington, 1:43.89. 6. Skyridge, 1:44.83. 7. Fremont, 1:45.47. 8. Syracuse, 1:46.14.
   • Boys 4x200M relay: 1. Corner Canyon, 1:24.61. 2. Bingham, 1:26.85. 3. Farmington, 1:27.44. 4. Lone Peak, 1:27.97. 5. American Fork, 1:28.43. 6. Weber, 1:29.01. 7. Fremont, 1:29.59. 8. skyridge, 1:29.65.
   • Boys discus: 1. Matthew Bryant, Lone Peak, 179-8.0. 2. Adam Hawkes, Mountain Ridge, 161-10.0. 3. Tina'u Fiaui, Corner Canyon, 157-2.0. 4. David Houle, American Fork, 156-0.0. 5. Jacob DeYoung, Bingham, 154-9.0. 6. Jensen Somerville, Lehi, 147-7.0. 7. Jarom Parker, Davis, 147-0.0. 8. Madden Jensen, American Fork, 145-0.0.
   • Girls shot put: 1. Clara Baker, American Fork, 41-9.5. 2. Carly Trujillo, Mountain Ridge, 39-3.5. 3. Burklie Burton, Layton, 37-9.0. 4. Anastasia Witte, Layton, 35-7.0. 5. Addie Freeland, Herriman, 34-7.0. 6. Lacee Pace, Westlake, 33-9.0. 7. Abigail Combs, American Fork, 33-0.75. 8. Lottie Krutsch, Davis, 32-5.5.
   • Boys shot put: 1. Adam Hawkes, Mountain Ridge, 57-2.75. 2. Matthew Bryant, Lone Peak, 55-9.5. 3. Asher Bowcutt, Copper Hills, 52-4.25. 4. Jensen Somerville, Lehi, 52-1.0. 5. Toby Mealer, Lehi, 51-1.25. 6. David Houle, American Fork, 50-5.75. 7. Tina'u Fiaui, Corner Canyon, 49-3.0. 8. Alrick Stanley, Copper Hills, 48-8.25.
   • Girls javelin: 1. Addie Freeland, Herriman, 108-11.0. 2. Anastasia Witte, Layton, 108-0.0. 3. Burklie Burton, Layton, 107-9.0. 4. Ruth Bevan, Riverton, 104-9.0. 5. Clara Baker, American Fork, 104-6.0. 6. Grace Carpenter, American Fork, 100-11.0. 7. Keira Stephany, Herriman, 96-0. 8. Ellie Pitcher, Davis, 92-1.0.
   • Boys javelin: 1. Keaton Peery, Copper Hills, 183-4.0. 2. Hayden Gribble, Corner Canyon, 178-7.0. 3. Whit Slack, Skyridge, 159-9.0. 4. Skyler Forsyth, Layton, 168-4.0. 5. Edward Hutchings, Skyridge, 159-9.0. 6. Jack Burke, Skyridge, 156-5.0. 7. Pearce Fowler, Pleasant Grove, 155-3.0. 8. Joseph Covey, Corner Canyon, 155-3.0.
   • Girls long jump: 1. Kate Glazier, Lehi, 17-7.75. 2. Cortnie Barker, Syracuse, 17-1.75. 3. Zoe Hein, Copper Hills, 17-0.5. 4. Presley Gray, American Fork, 16-11.25. 5. Addisyn Webb, Farmington, 16-11.25. 6. Lily Collier, American Fork, 16-10.5. 7. Aubrey Galloway, Lone Peak, 16-10.25. 8. Jenica Nielsen, Riverton, 16-10.0.
   • Boys long jump: 1. Josh Hamblin, Weber, 22-3.0. 2. Jacob Hamblin, Weber, 22-0.75. 3. Tyler Warnick, Riverton, 22-0.5. 4. Joshua Keel, Lehi, 21-10.5. 5. Benton Goodwin, Skyridge, 21-10.5. 6. Jack Burke, Skyridge, 21-3.5. 7. Devante Stieb, Herriman, 21-2.75. 8. Adam Lott, Fremont, 21-1.75.
   • Girls high jump: 1. Cortnie Barker, Syracuse, 6-0.25. 2. Presley Gray, American Fork, 5-10.0. 3. Cami Cvitkowvich, Weber, 5-8.0. 4. Sophie Sparrow, Weber, 5-4.0. 5. Abby Tullis, Bingham, 5-4.0. 6. Malea Hansen, Syracuse, 5-4.0. 7. Abigail Dotson, Skyridge, 5-0.0. 7. Emma Gibb, American Fork, 5-0.0.

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