Payson Roundup | Payson, AZ

A time-tested senior and a freshman newcomer led the Lady Longhorn charge at the East region track-and-field championships last weekend at Snowflake High School.

The veteran, Sarah Agnes, cleared 9 feet and won the pole vault, while freshman Maddie Nossek won the long jump with a leap of 15 feet, 5 inches.

Agnes' gold-medal leap, accomplished in gusty, blowing winds, came a few days after she cleared 10 feet, 3 inches, setting the school pole-vault record.

She set the record April 27 at the Winslow Invitational. Her mark is also the 10th best in the state this year among all athletes representing classes 1A through 5A.

For Nossek, her jump didn't match the school long-jump record she set two weeks earlier at the Payson Rotary Invitational. Battling windy conditions in Snowflake, Nossek was almost a foot shy of her record-setting jump of 16 feet, 4 inches.

Along with the two regional gold-medals winners, the Lady Horns showed promise for the future, with nine underclassmen earning East points.

Although head coach Chuck Hardt, who was named the East coach of the year, will be retiring after this season, the cupboard won't be bare when he departs.

Freshmen who won regional points were Katie Hancock, Kyndel Lann, Esther Linkey, Lucy Schouten and Nossek.

Sophomores were Jenna Robertson, Brooke Larned, Nikki DeWees and Talia Schaal.

Robertson's showing in the finals earned her the honor of East region athlete of the year.

Assistant coach Chuck Yale said the emergence of Payson's young athletes into a team that finished third overall behind champion Blue Ridge and runner-up Snowflake is an omen of good things to come for the team.

"We only had two seniors," he said.

Results from Snowflake

3-A East Regionals: Boys

Boys Discus Throw

Nick Ford, first place, 142' 8"

Morgan Cassuto, second place, 139' 6"

David Hill, seventh place, 128' 4"

Boys 3200 Meter Run

Carlan Pontious, third place, 10:50.81

Carlos Lopez, fourth place, 11:09.10

Josh Frewin, 16th place, 13:20.25

Boys 4X800 Meter Relay

Payson team, first place, 8:46.93

Boys 800 Meter Run

Jimmy Behrens, sixth place, heat #1, 2:31.50

Carlan Pontious, first place, heat #2, 2:05.50

Carlos Lopez, third place, heat #2, 2:10.34

Josh Lymer, fourth place, heat #2, 2:11.88

Boys 1600 Meter Run

Carlan Pontious, first place, heat #2, 4:41.91

Carlos Lopez, third place, heat #2, 4:58.98

Josh Lymer, fifth place, heat #2, 5:08.09

Boys Long Jump

Chase Sevey, fifth place, 19' 5"

Boys Triple Jump

Chase Sevey, second place, 40' 11.25'

Jourdain Wood, third place, 37' 5.75"

Boys 200 Meter Dash

Brandon Alexander, fourth place, 23.91

Nate Doyle, fifth place, 24.09

Boys 300 Meter Hurdles

Jourdain Wood, sixth place, 45.04

Boys Shot Put

Morgan Cassuto, first place, 51' 0.25"

Matt Wilson, second place, 45' 2.75"

Scott Andrus, fourth place, 42' 6.75"

David Hill, sixth place, 41' 1"

Boys 110 Meter Hurdles

Donovan Swanson, sixth place, 17.49

Boys 400 Meter Dash

Nate Doyle, third place, 53.07

Boys Pole Vault

Nick Goodman, second place overall, 12' 0"

Boys High Jump

Cody York, first place overall, 6'

Boys 4X400 Meter Relay

Payson team, fifth place, 3:41.68

Boys 4X100 Meter Relay

Payson team, fourth place, 47.38

3-A East Regionals: Girls

Girls Long Jump

Maddie Nossek, first place, 15' 5.75"

Jenna Robertson, third place, 14' 9.25"

Girls 100 Meter Dash

Katie Hancock, fifth place, 13.26

Girls 200 Meter Dash

Katie Hancock, fifth place, 29.14

Girls 400 Meter Dash

Janet Echols, second place, 1:04.73

Kyndel Lann, sixth place, 1:11.36

Panda Stackhouse, seventh place, 1:11.50

Girls 800 Meter Run

Brooke Larned, seventh place, 2:46.46

Girls 1600 Meter Run

Lana Cluff, fourth place, 6:07.29

Girls 300 Meter Hurdles

Nikki DeWees, second place, 52.17

Jenna Robertson, fifth place, 52.83

Talia Schaal, seventh place, 56.14

Girls 100 Meter Hurdles

Talia Schaal, fifth place, 18.55

Girls Pole Vault

Sarah Agnes, first place, 9' 0"

Girls 3200 Meter Run

Lana Cluff, fifth place, 13:55.23

Brooke Larned, seventh place, 14:29.78

Esther Linkey, eighth place, 14:30.50

Lucy Schouten, ninth place, 14:37.56

Girls 4X100 Meter Relay

Payson team, second place, 54.46

Girls High Jump

Jenna Robertson, second place, 5' 0"

Maddie Nossek, fourth place, 4' 10"

Nikki DeWees, seventh place, 4' 6"

Girls 4X800 Meter Relay

Payson team, second place, 11:13.14

Girls 4X400 Meter Relay

Payson team, second place, 4:22.54