Melton, Crawshaw lead Panther track and field teams

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A pair of personal best finishes in long-distance races paced the Pahranagat Valley High School track and field teams at Indian Springs on Tuesday, April 14, and at Pahrump Valley High School on Thursday, April 16. 

The girls took second at Indian Springs behind junior Sydnee Melton’s second-place finish in the mile. The boys took third behind junior Gaige Crawshaw’s first-place finish in the two-mile race.

Crawshaw also broke his personal record in the 100-meter dash with a time of 13.63 seconds and finished 400 meters in under a minute for the first time. 

“Gaige is doing great things with all his races. He just keeps getting faster and faster and always tells me after each race ‘I can go more’ and then next race he goes and does even better,” said PVHS head coach Taylor Poulsen. 

The Lady Panthers also got a second-place finish by freshman Hattilyn Jones, who cleared 4.5 feet in the high jump for the first time. Senior Ember Moffitt threw the discus a personal best 44.75 feet for a top-10 finish.

On Thursday, both PVHS teams took third once again thanks to Crawshaw and Melton. Crawshaw won the 1,600-meter race with a personal best time of 5:14.23. Melton won the 3,200 meters with a personal record of 17:24.

“Sydnee did awesome in her first 3,200-meter run. She is only gonna get faster in the next few weeks as she gets more confident in her running,” Poulsen said.

Jones also improved in the mile, nearly breaking the seven-minute mark for the first time to place second. She was fourth in the 800 meters with another personal best of 3:05.93. 

In the throws, junior Alice Lytle took fifth in the shot put with a personal best throw of 24 feet, five inches. She was eighth in the discus. In the jumps, freshman Zoe Lasike had a personal best long jump and triple jump to place fourth in both events.

For the boys, senior Daniel Miller also set a personal record with a shot put throw of 37 feet to finish second. He was fifth in the discus, and junior Dallen Miller was second in the high jump, clearing five feet for the first time. Classmate Kaden Hagfeldt won the 110-meter hurdles in 16.7 seconds. 

The Panther track and field teams travel to Moapa Valley for the Richard Lewis Invitational on Friday, April 24. First events are scheduled for 3 p.m.