Yuma High boys, girls dominate Gila Ridge meet

Against many athletes who until this year would have been in blue and white, Yuma High proved the premier track team Wednesday at the Gila Ridge home meet.

Yuma's boys and girls ran away with first place against a field of local teams that also included San Luis and San Pasqual. And while the score was lopsided, many individual competitions remained spirited.

San Luis freshman Luz Lopez won the girls 400- and 800-meter runs, beating Criminal Lauren Mohammed by less than half a second. Lopez, who owns the San Luis record in that event, looked tired in the last 100 meters and was about to be overtaken, but pulled away from Mohammed in the last 50.

"I was very proud of her in that race," San Luis coach Brandon Barker said.

Both had done well throughout the season in that event but hadn't raced each other until Wednesday.

Lopez also won the 400, running in the event for the first time in over a month. As for Mohammed, she dropped seven seconds off her personal record in the 1600 to win.

Bridget Soares stayed undefeated for Yuma in the hurdles with two more easy wins.

Crossing the finish line several times behind the blue Yuma uniforms were the powder blue of Gila Ridge’s Zurahy Haney followed Mohammed in the 1600 and Sidewinder Paulina Sanchez in the 3200. But those second place points added up and the Hawks placed second among the girls.

The field events were where the Criminals stood out. Led by Aisha Abedi in the triple and long jump, the Criminal girls won all five field events.

The Hawks’ Tyler Vaughn was the sole boys competitor to crack Yuma High's armada at the top of field events. Vaughn won the shot put and placed second in the discus.

Daniel Green tasted victory for Gila Ridge when he won the 400, an event he usually takes second in.

"Daniel has been working hard, We expected him to do well," Gila Ridge coach Duncan Sullivan said.

With the 5A Gila Valley Region meet April 30 at Gila Ridge, each team is preparing in its own way for when they return to this field.

Yuma coach Curt Weber said this first meet back from spring break was about getting their continuity back and they used it as a work-up for regionals.

"We start the fine tuning, the workouts get a little more refined, the workouts get a little more personal and the workouts get a lot more difficult," Weber said.

Barker didn't let his runners get rusty. San Luis held practice during the vacation and on Saturdays travels to Carver Park to practice on better facilities than at home.

Sullivan has instituted times the athletes have to achieve to compete at the regional meet. Based on easier times than state qualifying benchmarks, Sullivan has raised the bar to make competing at the region tournament a goal to strive for.