Centennial’s McDonough achieves pole vault repeat in region meet

Trevor McDonough got involved with pole vaulting before he set foot on the Centennial campus four years ago.

On Saturday morning, the senior solidified himself as one of the top vaulters in Southern Nevada.

McDonough cleared 14 feet, 6 inches to tie his personal record and win a second consecutive boys Sunset Region individual title at Del Sol.

The second day of both region meets is next Saturday at Del Sol.

“I’m one of the main captains on the team,” McDonough said. “So it just feels good to see all my hard work over the last five years paying off.”

McDonough, who won the region title last year by clearing 13 feet, was followed by teammates in second and third as Joshua Rudnick cleared 13-0 and Austin Brooks 12-6, giving Centennial 25 points from the event. Blake Rhynes gave the Bulldogs an extra point by finishing eighth with an 11-6 vault.

“I’ve been hoping all season that we could go No. 1 through 3 and get all three spots at state,” McDonough said. “It just feels great we all got it done. It’s definitely a huge help at state (with points).”

Silverado’s Micah Weber won the pole vault in the Sunrise, clearing 13-6.

Also, Centennial sophomore James Johnson won the Sunset triple jump with a personal record of 45-1¼ feet.

Canyon Springs’ Isaiah Johnson reached 45-6¼ on his sixth and final jump to win the Sunrise triple jump.

Cimarron-Memorial’s Armond Whitney won the Sunset shot put with a mark of 47-5¼ and Liberty’s Darrell Kaanaana won the Sunrise with a 53-9½ effort.

Centennial leads the Sunset with 49 points. In the Sunrise, Silverado has 27 points, two more than Liberty.

GIRLS

Bishop Gorman’s Vashti Cunningham admits she used to get nervous when people cheered for her at big events. Now she’s learned to tune everything out.

Before a crowd of spectators and cameras, Cunningham easily won the Sunset Region high jump and long jump to become the day’s only two-event winner.

“I used to get really nervous when people would cheer,” Cunningham said. “Now I kind of tune everyone out because I don’t really like all the eyes on me. I’m not really an attention person.”

Cunningham broke her own meet record from last year in the high jump by clearing 6 feet 4 inches and won the long jump with a leap of 17-5.

“Everyone’s sort of keeping a close eye now,” Cunningham said. “I was just thinking, ‘Oh, I already broke the new meet record, so now I can chill.’ But everyone still wants me to jump higher.”

Cunningham, who last month set the national prep record in the high jump at 6-4¼, made three attempts to clear 6-5 but all were unsuccessful.

Green Valley’s Maddie Thurlow won the Sunrise high jump (5-1), and teammate Yamilei Rodriguez won the long jump (16-9). Silverado’s Monet Salazar won the Sunrise discus (131-0) and Desert Oasis’ Tawny Rodriguez (126-7) won the Sunset discus.

Centennial, seeking its eighth consecutive region title, leads the Sunset with 23.5 points. Silverado leads the Sunrise with 30.20.

Contact reporter Ashton Ferguson at aferguson@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0430. Follow him on Twitter: @af_ferguson.