Raider boys, girls win Scorcher Invite

Cibola's Nicolette Monroe was none too pleased with her 100-meter dash at Saturday's State Farm Scorcher Invitational on her home track.
 
A first-place finish with room to spare, her time of 13.14 seconds did not land her a state qualifying standard score.
 
So when it came time to run the 200, Monroe let loose.
 
Her 24.96 blitz easily broke the 27.05 barrier needed to qualify and busted the meet record she set last year as well.
 
Monroe was one of three Yuma-area girls that accomplished the ultimate goal of Saturday's meet, and her points helped the Raider girls hold off Kofa in the overall team competition.
 
"I'm so shocked. That was way past what my goal was," said Monroe, who was named the female MVP of the meet. " I don't know what I was expecting. I just wanted to have a good race, so I'm pretty proud of myself."
 
Cibola's boys also took home the team title, as Raider high jumper Deante Gaines was one of nine Yuma-area boys to post a state-qualifying mark or time.
 
Kofa's Amanda Garcia qualified for state in the 300 hurdles (48.25) along with her win in the 100 hurdles, and Gila Ridge's Destiny Dilworth topped the high jump state-qualifying standard of 4 feet, 10 inches en route to winning the event, eventually clearing the 5-foot mark on her second attempt at that height.
 
"Once we got to 4-10 me and one other girl made it, and then we went to 4-11 and she missed it and I made it," Dilworth said. "This was my first time trying to qualify this season, so it makes me think I can do better, maybe even get to 5-5."
 
Cibola's 3,200 relay team (Amanda Martinez, Monica Huston, Kiana Diehl and Michelle Soto) and Yuma Catholic's 400 relay team (Danielle Dornstadter, Torrina Harris, Krysta Aitken and Amy Ford) also assured themselves a trip to their respective Arizona State Track and Field Championships in May.
 
On the boys side, Yuma High's JC Baker needed only one attempt in the triple jump to break his own meet record by more than an inch, win the event and qualify for state with mark of 42 feet, eight inches.
 
"It's definitely a relief and it takes some stress off my back," Baker said. "Today was about qualifying and getting used to the meets and getting the jitters out to make sure I'm ready for region."
 
Baker also qualified in the long jump (20-4) and the 100 dash (10.98), but the top finishes in those events belonged to Yuma Catholic's Ed Harris (20-6) and Kofa's Tevin Alford (10.91). The third-place time in the 100 was also a state qualifier, posted by Gila Ridge's Kelvin Harold (11.09)
 
"JC's been my rival ever since we were in elementary, and it was a great race. I slipped and I had to come back on him, and then I pulled away," Alford said. "It's great to get to state, but when I'm out there I'm just trying to win the race."
 
Harris won both hurdles events and had a state-qualifying mark in the triple jump, a feat he had already accomplished at previous meets. The same goes for Shamrock jumper Paul Corona in all three of his events. Corona won Saturday's pole vault competition at 14 feet. Yuma Catholic added its boys 1,600 relay team (Tyler Moreno, Phillip Hoovestal, Geordon Koenigs and Robert Norton) to its list of state qualifiers.
 
Cibola's distance runners dominated the distance races as Richard Clayton won both the mile and two-mile runs and Monica Huston led from start to finish in her two-mile race, lapping some of her competitors and finishing 47 seconds ahead of Gila Ridge's Ashleigh Price.
 
Kofa's Adly Wiley finished second in the 400 and 800 behind runners from Holtville and El Centro-Central. Other female meet winners included Cibola's Dezarae Rodriguez (pole vault) and Savannah Miller (shot put), and Yuma Catholic's Amy Ford (triple jump).
 
Cibola's Josh Lopez  ran down Calexico's Eric Brockoff in the final 40 meters of the 800 to win by .07 with a time of 2:07.73. Other individual male winners included Kofa's Robert White (high jump) and Josh Nieves (shot put), and Cibola's Frank Fasseta (discus).