tflagstad@journalnet.com

Highland senior Alex Litzsinger hoped her last trip to the Simplot Games would result in a podium finish.

In the girls' 1,600-meter finals Saturday at Holt Arena, Litzsinger came up just short, as she finished eighth in 5 minutes, 18.33 seconds.

"I hoped I would've run a little better, I guess," she said, "but I definitely have never run this fast so early in the season. So I'm happy about that."

Litzsinger, who is leaning toward accepting a scholarship offer to run at Utah State but is still considering Portland State and Boise State, knew most of the competitors in the field compete in an indoor season in their states. Still, she wanted to finish higher.

Regardless of her finish, though, she was thrilled to run in the fast heat in the finals.

Junior Chelsea Graham of the Edmonton Thunder won the race in 5:02.36, holding off defending champion Candace Eddy, who finished in 5:04.70.

While Litzsinger couldn't quite make the podium, Century senior Logan Standley climbed his way up there with a fourth-place finish in the boys' high jump.

Standley cleared 6 feet, 3 inches, which landed him in a four-way tie for fourth. Darrell Weatherwax of Browning, Mont., won with a jump of 6-5.

"It's real big. I PR'd today, which is what I was hoping to do," Standley said. "I wasn't expecting to do this well, but it's really great."

3-peat

Shade Weygandt earned another first-place plaque to hang on her wall when she captured the women's pole vault title.

It's the third straight year the senior from Mansfield, Texas, won the event at the Simplot Games, and she said she displays each championship memento in her bedroom.

"I love coming here," she said. "It's a great facility, and everyone's so great. The entire town's awesome."

The Texas Tech-bound athlete's mark of 12 feet, 3 inches couldn't match her 13-1 performance as a junior in Holt Arena, but she wasn't letting it sour her spirits.

"I didn't do as good this year as I did last year," Weygandt said, "but I'll take it in stride, learn from my mistakes and just keep going."

Just barely

In one of the closest races of the day, senior Cameron Marshall of the South Bay Express from San Jose, Calif., edged out junior Kyle Middlebrooks of Velocity Track Club from Anaheim, Calif., in the boys' 60-meter dash.

Immediately after the race, it was impossible to tell who won, but the official times confirmed Marshall crossed first. He finished in 6.83 seconds, while Middlebrooks came in at 6.85.

"I had a bad start coming out," Marshall said. "He got me off the blocks, but I knew the end was my strongest part of the race, and if I stayed disciplined and ran my race I was gonna get him."

Middlebrooks had a much simpler explanation of the difference.

"I guess the lean," he said while laughing. "He got me."

Marshall finished third in the event at the 2008 Simplot Games, so he was happy to finally capture the title - even though track isn't his primary sport.

The 5-foot-11, 210-pound bundle of muscle prefers football, and he's already signed on to play running back at Arizona State.

Two more

Junior Ashton Purvis of the EOYDC team from Oakland, Calif., successfully defended her titles in the girls' 60 and 200.

She finished the shorter of the two races in 7.47 seconds and the longer in 23.99.

While both marks were good enough to win, Purvis had hoped to challenge the national record in both events.

"The satisfying part is that I won," she said, "but you still want to win with a good time because you want to know you worked hard getting here."

Freshman Trinity Wilson, Purvis' teammate, did set a record with her performance in the 60-meter hurdles.

Wilson, who also competed at the Simplot Games as an eighth-grader, finished in 8.44 seconds, which set a new American standard for freshman.

"That just means I have to work harder to break the record I got," she said.

Quite a haul

Kyle Macintosh of ATS Elite - Littleton Track from Colorado left Pocatello with a nice collection of prizes.

The senior won the boys' 60-meter hurdles in 7.90, the 400 in 48.06 and capped the event by anchoring his relay team to victory in the 4x400 in 3:20.98.

"I'm feeling great," Macintosh said after the 400. "I had two good races, so I can't complain."