State track: Catch up on championship performances from Boise-area athletes
Boise-area athletes finished atop the podium in more than 30 events between the 6A and 5A classifications on the final day of the Idaho high school state track and field championships.
Despite steady rain throughout most of the meet Saturday at Mountain View High School, there were also four overall records established.
Here is a breakdown of Treasure Valley winners, record setters and big news:
▪ Rocky Mountain senior Emme Hamm made her move with 200 meters to go, going from third to first in the 6A girls 1,600. Hamm won in a career-best 4 minutes, 49.65 seconds.
“I feel like it helps being a senior,” Hamm said. “My coach is always saying, ‘senior desperation,’ and so we’re at the end. Sometimes you get there and you have nothing and sometimes you have that final gear and you’re just like, ‘Hey, here we go.’ It ended up working out, just giving it everything.”
Hamm amazingly still had gas left in the tank in the 800, leading from start to finish for a career-best time of 2:11.71.
In the final race of the meet, Hamm anchored the Grizzlies’ winning 4x400 relay to victory in 3:58.50 with teammates Aubrey Montoya, Lily Munson and Hallie Heemeyer.
Hamm wrapped up state with four gold medals, including a win in the 4x800 relay on Friday.
“It’s pretty cool, obviously, but I definitely couldn’t have done it without all my teammates’ support,” Hamm said.
▪ Mountain View’s Talia Johnson, Taysia Johnson, Addie Lee and Quincy Keller collected a first-place showing in the 6A girls 4x200 relay. The Mavericks crossed the line in 1:40.38, the fastest time in the state this season.
▪ Keller finished the meet with four gold medals. She won the 6A girls 100 (11.84), 200 (24.45) and anchored the Mavericks’ winning 4x100 relay (47.83) alongside teammates Talia Johnson, Bree Cardon and Lee.
Keller also set the overall state meet record in the 200 with a time of 23.97 in Friday’s prelims.
“I think we just had a lot of people that just did what they needed to do today for girls and boys on the field and on the track, whatever it was,” Keller said. “So that was super cool to see us all come together and be able to pull that off.”
▪ Emmett senior Kenyon Carter held off Hillcrest’s Garrett Cook by seven-hundredths of a second to win the 5A boys 110 hurdles. Carter crossed in 14.11 to Cook’s 14.18.
Carter then joined teammates Lucas Alvarado, Jax Banuelos and Wyatt Parks for victory in the 4x100 relay (42.22).
With only three races in between, Carter closed out the meet with his third gold medal, winning the 300 hurdles in 38.05. He set the classification record in Friday’s prelims in 37.66.
“It’s crazy. I didn’t think it was gonna be possible,” Carter said. “Last year was my first year running track, so to go from not even thinking about running track ever in my life to almost on cloud nine right now, it’s honestly insane.”
▪ Before the rain started falling, Timberline sophomore Nadja Burkholder blasted off one of her best jumps of the season. Burkholder went 38 feet, 7.5 inches — just 1.5 inches shy of her career best — to win the 6A girls triple jump.
“I had this goal for two years, and it’s just so accomplishing to finally get that goal and be first,” said Burkholder, who placed second in the event last season. “That’s what I’ve been striving for for so long.”
▪ Eagle junior Ambrose Brainard cleared 6-6 on his first attempt in the 6A boys high jump to win a tiebreaker with Thunder Ridge sophomore Titan Nebeker, who also made it over 6-6, but on his third attempt.
Brainard just learned to high jump this season, joining the sport to help stay in shape for basketball.
“I mean, I would not have expected it at all,” Brainard said. “I was just here to kind of get in shape for summer ball, so I’m happy I won state. It’s exciting.”
[Related: See the top eight finishers in every event]
▪ Every single one of Madilyn McCarty’s throws would have been good enough to win state. But it was the Mountain View senior’s final toss that ended up being her best. After placing third a year ago, McCarty won the 6A girls discus with a distance of 128-1.
“Last year I actually did go in seeded first and ended up falling down a few places, which was really frustrating,” said McCarty, who is committed to Northwest Nazarene. “It just feels amazing to be able to come back and do that, especially when the two people who were ahead of me last year came back this year.
“We had a very strong field, so it was definitely a little bit of pressure knowing that it wasn’t going to be easy.”
▪ Columbia freshman Ammon Hammer made a dazzling state debut, setting a career record on his way to victory in the 5A boys pole vault. Hammer cleared 15-0, surpassing his previous best of 14-9.
▪ On his final jump, Rocky Mountain senior Timothy Price went 46-1 for his best distance of the day, but he already had the 6A boys triple jump win in the bag. Price’s first jump in the prelims would have been good enough to win, regardless.
“Just attacking my first phase and being able to put a big jump out there early on so I didn’t have to worry about my last jumps,” Price said.
▪ A day after winning the triple jump, Bishop Kelly senior Owen Kane finished atop the podium once again, this time placing first in the 5A boys long jump with a mark of 21-0.50. His winning jump was just 1.5 inches better than runner-up Lucas Alvarado of Emmett.
▪ Despite winning by a significant margin, Mountain View’s Omar Osman, Behr Scott, Catcher Gennette and Jacob Allen pushed themselves to an overall meet record in the 6A boys 4x200 relay. The Mavericks clocked a 1:26.34, dipping just below Kuna’s record of 1:26.42 from last season.
▪ Reigning individual cross country champion Nate Stadtlander lost the lead as the bell lap approached, but the Meridian senior closed the gap down the stretch and sprinted to his second straight win in the 6A boys 1,600. Stadtlander won in 4:09.39.
“I went out, stuck to my race plan and just got it done,” said Stadtlander, who is committed to Oklahoma State. “It was a huge weight off my shoulders.”
Stadtlander had another come-from-behind win in the 800 later in the afternoon, overtaking Timberline’s Nick Janecko down the stretch for a victory in 1:52.92.
▪ With about 300 meters to go, Bishop Kelly senior Zoey Stauffer took over the lead and then continued to put distance between herself and second place, crossing the finish line in a personal-best 5:09.58 to win the 5A girls 1,600. BK made it a sweep in 5A as fellow senior Isaac Edwards won the boys race in a career-best 4:19.38.
▪ Eagle senior Makenzie Baisch, a West Point commit, set personal bests in a sweep of the 100 hurdles (14.60) and 300 hurdles (43.86). Baisch trailed in the 300 hurdles until passing teammate and runner-up Ellery Brooks down the stretch.
“The last 300 of my high school career. It’s crazy,” Baisch said. “It means a lot to me.”
▪ After matching the overall meet record in Friday’s prelims, Highland junior Spencer Van Orden broke it with a 13.60 to repeat as the 6A boys 110 hurdles champ. The previous record of 13.69 was established by Emmett’s Landon Helms in 2022. Van Orden’s season-best of 13.55 from last week’s district meet ranks No. 15 in the nation.
Van Orden established another record in winning the 6A boys 300 hurdles with a time of 36.51. He surpassed the record of 37.20 set by Nampa’s Tegon Lords in Friday’s prelims. Van Orden’s new 300 hurdles time ranks No. 12 nationally.
▪ Treasure Valley runners nearly made it a sweep of the 400 finals. Meridian senior Hannah Bingham won in 6A girls (56.49), Kuna senior Myles Johnson-Nicholson claimed a come-from-behind victory in 6A boys (48.07), and Skyview sophomore Isla Anderson set a school record in the 5A girls race (57.60).
▪ Vallivue senior David Gummersall spent last year’s state meet watching from the stands after breaking his right leg in a freak accident at the district meet the week before. He completed an epic comeback with a second-place finish in the 5A boys 400 on Saturday, running a season-best 48.80.
▪ Timberline junior Hudson Lewis (10.70) stayed unbeaten in the 6A boys 100 this season, edging Boise’s Eli Rich (10.73) by three-hundredths of a second for the victory. Rich turned the tables in the 6A boys 200, though, taking the victory in a personal-best 21.55.
▪ Skyview junior Skotlynd Cagle won a tiebreaker in the 5A girls pole vault with defending champion Addi Richards of Emmett. Both girls cleared 11-6 on their first attempt, so the tiebreaker went to the previous clearance of 11-0, which Cagle got over on her first try and Richards on her second.
▪ Mountain View showcased its team speed, winning another relay between Beau Stewart, Jacob Allen, Cashton Gennette and Catcher Gennette in the 6A boys 4x100 relay (41.64).
▪ After Post Falls was disqualified, Timberline’s Ethan Kirkendall, Nick Janecko, Mason Pierce and Asher Hella ended up the winners in the 6A boys 4x400 relay in an overall meet record of 3:18.62. Their time was just one-hundredth of a second faster than the previous record of 3:18.63 by Eagle in 2022.
▪ The Bishop Kelly boys added to their already insurmountable lead in the 5A team race with one final victory in the 4x400 relay. Mason Schweitzer, Isaac Edwards, Dylan Gale and Beck Humphrey ran a combined 3:23.55. The Knights finished with 113 team points to second-place Skyline’s 57.
▪ The Mountain View girls won their first 6A team championship since 2018, holding off Rocky Mountain 93 to 90.5. The Mountain View boys ended Rocky Mountain’s run of eight straight 6A team championships with 100 points to the Grizzlies’ 74. It was the first boys title in program history for the Mavericks. And the Moscow girls won their first team title since 2006 with 95 points to second-place Bishop Kelly’s 79.
This story was originally published May 17, 2025 at 7:19 PM.
