By Brian Shaw | [email protected]

Boys track

For the Cottonwood High School boys track team it’s been a long time since the Colts have qualified so many athletes for the state championships.

But as a new member of Region 7, it seems that Cottonwood has been given a new lease on life on the track and has been handed those gold-plated horseshoes with which it can aspire for a state title.

To do just that, the Colts hopped in the big yellow school bus and took the three-hour drive to Uintah High School in Vernal, host of this year’s Region 7 Championships.

There they finished fourth as a team, which in turn qualifies them for the 5A state championships to be held May 19-21 at BYU after press time.

Individually, the Colts also had some nice performances in Vernal. Senior Calvin Frodsham finished third in the 110 meter hurdles with a time of 16.12 seconds, which also was a personal record for him.

Frodsham followed that great performance up with another one in the 300 meter hurdles, finishing in 41.72 seconds — good enough for third place.

Another great performance came from Cottonwood senior Tailsua Davidson, who took second in discus, throwing the stone a whopping 124-00 feet.

Both Frodsham and Davidson qualified for the 5A state championships based on their finishes.

One other nice story in boys track came from three Cottonwood football players who also participate on the Colts track team. The first, senior Luke Davis, finished third in the javelin with a throw of 145-09 feet, a personal record. Davis played on both the offensive and defensive lines for the Cottonwood football team and will qualify for state.

Another Colts football player who also runs track is junior James Holm, who finished in sixth place in both the 100 and 200 meters for Cottonwood. Holm, who is a wide receiver and defensive back on the football team, ran the 100 final in 11.42 seconds and finished the 200 final in 23.75.

The third Cottonwood football player who competed on the boys track team this spring was junior Luciano Greco who also played wideout and DB for the Colts this year. He finished 16th overall in the long jump and does not qualify for the state championships in that event but will get another try next year, barring injury.

Both Holm and Greco did not qualify for state in their individual events, because only the top four finishers from each event in the region championships go through. However, both Holm and Greco will be at state competing in relay events for Cottonwood.

For the two Colts football players who are running track this year and are slated to play football next year, it was an experience for them that Cottonwood head football coach Casey Miller believes will benefit them in many ways—including in the weight room and in the classroom.

“We are starting to get kids interested in working hard and wanting to get better,” explained Miller. “The kids on football are now lifting year-round, which is improving overall strength and athleticism. The ones who show up regularly are really improving.”

The Colts boys track team also had some spirited efforts in several team events. Cottonwood finished second in the 4x100 relay of which Holm and Frodsham were part. The team’s time of 45.10 seconds qualified them for the state championships as well.

Cottonwood also finished well in the 4x400 team relay and the 4x800, finishing second and third in those events.

In all, the Colts boys not only qualified for the state championships as a team, they also did individually, making the 2022 season one to remember for many reasons, and perhaps many more to come.

Girls track

The Colts had a few standout girls in Vernal who were able to qualify for state. The first was senior Cora Cumming competed in the 800 meters and finished fourth in a time of 2:29.25 minutes.

Cumming also competed in the 3200 meters, which for those unaware, is eight laps around a track. She was fifth, with a personal record time of 12:57.58 and narrowly missed out qualifying in that event for state.

Cumming was, however, part of the Colts 4x800 meter relay team that finished fourth at Uintah High and qualified for state, touching the tape in 11:01.32 minutes.

The second Colts girls track athlete to qualify for state is someone who will sound familiar to those who followed Cottonwood’s basketball team. Sophomore Alivia Hutton, whose pink hair and high energy were very noticeable this year on the basketball court, finished the 110 meter hurdles in 17.67 seconds in fourth place.