IDAHO 5A/4A TRACK: Wexler keeps his focus, nabs hurdles title

BOISE - As Ozzy Wexler approached the first hurdle, his coach in the far stands said more than once, "Keep your eyes up."

Wexler couldn't hear him. He didn't need to.

The Lewiston High junior maintained his focus, even in the midst of a catastrophe at the second-to-last hurdle to his immediate left, as Wexler burst into the lead to win the 5A boys' 300-meter hurdles Saturday at the Idaho state large-school track meet.

Kate Wray of Moscow placed a close second in the 4A girls' 100-meter dash while Lewiston distance runners Sakti Woodbury and Joey Perez scored third-and sixth-place medals on a warm day at Dona Larsen Park.

Wexler barreled from behind on the homestretch but still trailed premeet favorite Skyler Galgan of Mountain View heading into the penultimate hurdle. That's when both Galgan in lane 2 and Alex Bindner of Capital in lane 1 struck the hurdle and toppled to the track as Wexler took the lead. He clipped the final hurdle but still won handily in a personal-record 39.09 seconds for his first state championship.

"I'm just extremely happy right now," he said. "I put a lot of work in this season. My biggest thing is I've got to stay confident, look up for the hurdles and trust that I can do what I've been taught by coach. I did that, and it worked."

He was referring to Keith Stuffle, a former Pac-12 and Big Sky hurdler who helmed the Lewiston program for a decade before stepping away after the 2015 season. Nobody was happier than Wexler when Stuffle decided to return when the job abruptly became open shortly before this season began.

"I was thankful to get pretty much the best hurdles coach I've ever known as a new head coach," said Wexler, who had placed sixth at State a year ago. "That (the hiring) was probably my favorite part of the season, more so than now. I would not have got here without Stuffle. I kept my same habits at the beginning of the year. He kinda coached me out of them. They're still there, but not nearly as much."

Not long after telling Wexler to keep his eyes up, Stuffle was saying at the curve, "He's going to win."

Eighty meters later, it looked like Stuffle was right - even before the mishap in the inside lanes.

Wray, the Moscow senior whose hopes for a state 100-meter title were dashed in heartbreaking fashion last year, looked like a long-shot to win this time after posting only the fourth-fastest time in the prelims Friday.

But she powered into the lead midway through the finals and made a credible push for the title before getting caught at the finish line. The favored Chloe Barylski of Ridgevue won in 12.57 seconds and the MHS runner was second in 12.61 to lead the Bears to 12th in the 4A girls' team scoring.

Wray said she was glad she discarded offseason thoughts of quitting track after drawing a disputed false-start disqualification at a district meet that kept her out of State, which she'd been favored to win.

"After yesterday's race (in the prelims) my coach said, 'You really need to focus on your drive phase and getting out there,' " she said. "I think that really helped. So once I got out of that drive phase, I was like, 'This is the last 100-meter I'm ever going to run, so I've got to give it all I've got.' I think I did."

Woodbury, a Lewiston senior, faced long odds of beating the favored Caleb Stamper of Timberline-Boise in the 5A boys' 800, but he thought such a speedy opponent might help him break the Bengals' 35-year-old school record of 1:55.8.

It didn't happen. Woodbury opened strongly and led briefly along the first backstretch before falling off the pace and placing third in 1:56.73.

"I'm pretty disappointed in myself," Woodbury said, though he'd appeared to have nothing left in the tank at race's end. "I don't know what I did. It's all a blur right now, but I felt terrible when I finished. ... I saw it (the scoreboard clock) hit 56 just as I crossed the finish line, so I was really mad."

Perez, another Bengal senior, took sixth in the 1,600 in 4:26.46 as Lewiston placed 10th in the boys' team scoring.

The Bengals' tight-knit 1,600 relay team, which had posted the top district-meet time, was disqualified for a lane violation.

"I didn't see it (the violation), so I can't argue it," Stuffle said. "We had to let it go and walk away smiling."

Jaxon Skinner of Moscow took fourth in the 4A boys' 110 hurdles, and Eden Schumaker of the Bears placed seventh in the girls' 400.

IDAHO 5A/4A STATE TRACK MEET

Final day

TOP TEAMS

5A girls - Mountain View 134, Rocky Mountain 96, Boise 651/2, Eagle 55, Lake City 43.

5A boys - Rocky Mountain 101, Mountain View 951/2, Borah 47, Madison 461/2, Timberline-Boise 44 (Also: Lewiston 10th with 35).

4A girls - Bishop Kelly 113, Twin Falls 95, Middleton 37, Pocatello 54, Skyline 46 (Also: Moscow 12th with 21.)

4A boys - Bishop Kelly 851/2, Twin Falls 801/2, Pocatello 73, Canyon Ridge 70, Skyline 52.

PLACERS FROM DISTRICT II

CLASS 5A

LEWISTON

Girls

100 hurdles - 8, Ashley Dahl 17.02.

Boys

800 - 3, Sakti Woodbury 1:56.73.

1600 - 6, Joey Perez 4:26.46.

300 hurdles - 1, Ozzy Wexler 39.09.

800 relay - 7, Lewiston 1:30.81.

1600 relay - Lewiston DQ.

CLASS 4A

MOSCOW

Girls

100 - 2, Kate Wray 12.61.

400 - 7, Eden Schumaker 59.21.

Boys

110 hurdles - 4, Jaxon Skinner 1:56.9.

800 relay - 7, Moscow 1:32.02.

1600 relay - 8, Moscow 3:34.99.

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Grummert may be contacted at daleg@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2290.