STATE MEET: Allgood, Howerton-Davis put on wind-aided throw show on first day of girls meet

RENO — In weather more suited for an outdoor hockey game than a track meet, two Southern Nevada throwers put on a wind-aided show of force at the Class 4A state track meet at Damonte Ranch in Reno.

Avione Allgood of Legacy and Destenae Howerton-Davis of Canyon Springs finished 1-2 in the girls discus. Allgood’s top throw of 143 feet, 8 inches was the 42nd best throw in the nation this year, according to the website dyestat.com.

Howerton-Davis’ runner-up throw of 141 feet, 11 inches was the 50th best throw in the country by a high school girl.

Western finished in second place with 33 team points after the first day, nine points behind leader McQueen’s 41.

Howerton-Davis has constantly been in the shadow of Allgood for two years, but Friday’s meet marked the first time the Pioneer thrower has heaved for more than 140 in a meet.

“I was hoping to go over 150 today,” Howerton-Davis said. “I was pretty confident; I felt it was there ... still, I was excited to go over 140. The weather didn’t bother me. I was able to adjust to the wind.”

Both girls also will compete Saturday in the shot put as the top two seeds.

Rancho’s girls 800-medley relay team pulled off a major upset of the day thanks to a lightning-quick anchor leg by Teyler Williams, who overtook runners from second-place Reed and third-place Arbor View. The Rams started the day as the No. 6 seed.

The race was a setback for race-favorite Western, which was disqualified for a bad exchange.

But Paradise Sanders helped Western get back in the game later with a win in the girls 400. Top-seeded McQueen finished fifth in that race.

The Warriors also dominated the girls 200, garnering 23 points with a first-, second-, and fourth-place finishers. Loren Jackson was first, Antionette Garrett was second, and Tierra Tyler took fourth behind Rancho’s Aisha Momodu.

Jackson, who usually plays second fiddle to Tyler and Garrett for the Warriors squad, said Friday’s race was special.

“I didn’t expect to win and I didn’t know I had won until Tierra told me,” Jackson said. “We knew we needed to win in order for us have a chance (to win the team title).”

The Warriors still have two relays, the 400 and 1600, which they are favored to win, as well as the 100, where both Jackson and defending state champion Tyler are competing.

McQueen’s Celina Whitfield won the girls 100-meter hurdles in 15.50 seconds, overtaking Centennial’s Karli Johonnot, who tripped over the final hurdle. Johonnot finished in 15.71.

Johonnot stormed to the top of the podium in the high jump with a leap of 5 feet, 4 inches. The Centennial junior will compete in the 300 hurdles and the pole vault on Saturday.

One of the most competitive races of the day was the girls 1600-meter run. Pahrump Valley’s Ashley Lindgren took an early lead and managed to hold off a series of challengers through the first three laps. But at the bell, Shelby McIntyre of South Tahoe took the lead and ran away from the field, winning in 5:18.54 and more than two seconds ahead of the field. Erika Root of Reno (5:20.63) finished second, Coronado's Lauren Lucas (5:26.36) was third, and Lindgren (5:26.36) fell to fourth place.