The final finish line of the 2017 track and field season has been crossed with the Lady Falcons managing to defend their state championship with a repeat performance to cap off another high-flying season.

The Falcons sent 12 girls and seven boys to the state meet, hosted May 5-6 out of Mesa Community College. Going into the meet, head coach Todd Brecto said he felt that the local ladies had another state title in their future, but that it would require plenty of hard work during these final days of competition.

“We did it!” he exclaimed. “It was a hard-fought battle, but we accomplished our goal to defend the girls’ state title. Words are hard to describe the feelings…Satisfaction, exhilaration, excitement, exhausted.”

The first day of competition, May 5, was the hottest in the state so far, reaching 105 at the state meet. Brecto said this made for an extremely long day.

“The Falcons were competing in the high heat for about 10 hours on Friday,” he added. “the two-day state meet is set up with some final events on Friday and some preliminary races on Friday with finals on Saturday.”

In other words, some of the athletes needed to bring their “A” game two days in a row in order to earn some team points.

Top finishers for the Falcons began in the long jump, where Amara Feyrer-Melk took home the silver medal and Sherifa Momoh found her way to the podium in fourth.

“This was a great start to the competition, scoring 13 points in the long jump,” Brecto said. He added that several other athletes gave gutsy performances throughout the day for the ladies, earning personal bests along the way.

Over to the triple jump and Feyrer-Melk was on fire once again, finishing in second place for her second event. Tiffany Frasca also scored some team points with a seventh place finish.

Several other Falcons earned top finishes in their heats throughout the first day of competition, including a school record-breaking run from the 4x400 team of Kelsey Schultz, Alaina Olmstead, Sherifa Momoh and Erika Yost. This set up a lot of local ladies to continue into the finals on Saturday.

Over to the boys and Same Aker earned his best pole valut of the season, clearing 12’6” for eighth place overall. The boys 4x100 team of JP Iwaoka, Mathew Chalmers, Ahmed Momoh and Larkin Lipps finished 12, just outside of making the finals.

Brecto said that, at the end of the day, the local ladies were looking good heading into the finals, as projected team scores had four teams battling for the top spot.

“It was going to be a nail-biter the final day,” coach Brecto added.

On Saturday, the Falcons got to enjoy high temperatures with a side of heavy wind. But that didn’t stop Madison George from earning a third place finish in the pole vault at 10’.

Kelsey Schultz earned some additional team points with a fourth place run in the 100m hurdles, with Erika Yost placing fourth in the 100m dash and Alaina Olmstead placing ninth in the same event.

The 4x100 team broke the school record once again, with Olmstead, Schultz, George and Yost placing second with a time of 50.15.

Yost went on to take fourth in the 400m run with Schultz defending her 300m state title to claim gold once again in that competitive event.

“[She took] home the gold medal in an unbelievable come-from-behind finish,” Brecto added. “I was so proud of her.”

Heading into the 4x400, the Falcons were behind Walden Grove by a single point.

“The girls showed incredible will power, placing second in the 4x400 relay,” Brecto added. That was enough to move the Falcons ahead by five points, good enough for the overall crown.

“We went to battle in every event on Friday and Saturday and claimed a hard-fought victory,” Brecto said. “My assistant coaches, working tirelessly in practice every day, deserve a round of applause, as they were a big part of our success this season.”

Brecto said he and his athletes could not have achieved the lofty goal of a state repeat without the help of Dr. Steve Feyrer-Melk in the jumps, Dan Hodge in pole vault, Don Carillo in sprints and relays, and Courtney Preston helping keep everyone healthy.