DeGroot finished third at state, behind friend and 5A 400-meter dash state champion Banks Jackson of Maple Mountain, and is locked for another trip to the state championships following a compelling performance at the annual Burchell-Armstrong City-County meet.

“For the past five months, every night right before I go to bed, I’ve been dreaming of finishing the (400-meter dash) at state,” DeGroot said. “I’ve been envisioning this moment for so long that I was just ready to go.”

DeGroot opened by snapping two meet records, first winning the 400-meter dash (47.20) to surpass Bradon Parker (48.62, Ogden 1992), and later winning the 200-meter dash (22.00) to surpass Colby Anderson (22.16, Roy 2023), during the preliminary rounds.

In the finals Thursday, the Bonneville speedster made it three new records in two days, improving to 21.56 to win the 200-meter dash, and taking the 400-meter dash at 48.28. Off the track, DeGroot won the long jump (22 feet, 1 inch) and finished 4 inches shy of Roy alum Bill Schuffenhauer’s meet record set in 1990.

CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner

DeGroot’s love is with the 400-meter dash, however, as the Laker sets his sights on a state title.

“There’s nothing you can hate about a 400,” DeGroot said. “The whole race is beautiful, even when the last 20 meters suck — you gotta love it.”

Bonneville’s boys team finished fifth overall with 57 points.

Barton headed back to state, shares plans for Arcadia Invite

Eleven seconds shy of the City-County meet record, Bonneville’s Avery Barton finished 10:55.94 in the 3,200-meter run Thursday, cementing another trip to state for the sophomore.

Barton beat out West Field’s Hailey Atwater (11:27.89) and teammate Nicole Wayment (11:28.05) by a wide margin for the top spot. The win also marks Barton’s second consecutive state-qualifying time and second gold medal after winning the meet’s 1600-meter run (5:03.67).

CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner

“I was trying to go for it but it got pretty hard after the third lap,” Barton said. “Yesterday, we started like an hour and a half later than we were supposed to. That was hard because we were expecting to start and we kept having to re-warm up because we thought we were going soon.

“Today it’s good weather and we only started a couple of minutes late so it’s a lot nicer for the mindset.”

In January, Barton qualified for the Arcadia Invitational, a two-day national competition in Arcadia, California, from April 11-12, during a trial race at the Utah Olympic Oval.

Bonneville’s girls team finished fourth overall with 71 points.

Turner, Ekstrom collect golds for Ogden

Ogden’s Bradley Ekstrom, winning the 3200-meter run (9:36.22) and Jackson Turner, winning the 110-meter hurdles (15.61) earned two of the earliest gold medals distributed Thursday.

Turner, churning out a personal best with his City-County win, will join multi-state qualifier Ekstrom at the state championships for a second time this spring. After his plans to play soccer fell through, Turner picked up the hurdles with the help of his father, Daniel, a year ago.

“I put in a lot of work this winter and sometimes it pays off,” Turner said. “I didn’t get to run soccer so I ran track last year. … I’m not the most flexible kid but my dad, he coached in college and ran in high school and won state. But I just like the hurdles.”

Ogden’s boys team finished third overall with 78 points.

Full results can be found through the official Burchell-Armstrong City-County meet page at SportTrax.com

BOYS INDIVIDUAL WINNERS

100m: Jenner Fulton, West Field, 11.04

110m hurdles: Jackson Turner, Ogden, 15.61

200m dash: Davis DeGroot, Bonneville, 21.56

400m dash: Davis DeGroot, Bonneville, 48.28

800m run: Garrison Johnson, Weber, 1:55.30

1600m run: Garrison Johnson, Weber, 4:27.17

3200m run: Bradley Ekstrom, Ogden, 9:36.22

Discus: Zach Masters, Fremont, 150-0.0

Shot put: Zach Masters, Fremont, 48-10.0

Javelin: Quin Ekberg, Utah Military-Hill Field, 150-3.0

1600m run: Garrison Johnson, Weber, 4:27.17

Long jump: Davis DeGroot, Bonneville, 22-1

High jump: Brandon Crockett, Weber, 5-10.0

4×100 relay: Fremont; Salesi Moa, Mathis Bell, Cade Hadley, Slade Parker, Triston Mann, 43.99

4×200 relay: Fremont; Kaeden Posell, Taggart Burton, Taylor Graham, John Suka, 1:34.73

4×400 relay: Fremont; Slade Parker, Mathis Bell, Kasen Richter, Orion Patten, 3:35.96

Sprint medley (2-2-4-8): Morgan; Jacob Halls, Enoch Johnson, Kenneth Whitmer, Bodie Erickson, Esplan McClellan, 3:40.17

4×800 relay: Roy; Luke Pebley, Eli Pebley, Henrik Julbert, Haven Gee, 9:02.25

300m hurdles: Austin Hamblin, Weber, 41.06

BOYS TEAM SCORES

1. Fremont 144

2. Weber 126

3. Ogden 78

4. West Field 59

5. Bonneville 57

6. Roy 36

7. Utah Military 22

8. Ben Lomond 18

GIRLS INDIVIDUAL WINNERS

100m dash: Jane Shulz, West Field, 12.99

100m hurdles: Jane Shulz, West Field, 16.16

200m dash: Haylee John, West Field, 26.84

400m dash: Hazel Coombs, Bonneville, 1:01.32

800m run: Brecklyn Bugnet, Fremont, 2:17.27

1600m run: Avery Barton, Bonneville, 5:03.67

3200m run: Avery Barton, Bonneville, 10:55.94

Discus: Charleigh Hawkins, Fremont, 106-1.0

Shot put: Abigail Hall, Weber, 33-6.5

Javelin: Abigail Hall, Weber, 91-6.5

Long jump: Haylee John, West Field, 16-9.5

High jump: Abbie Baird, Fremont 5-0.0

4×100 relay: West Field; Ava Sanchez, Kenley Fuit, Haylee John, Jane Shulz, Maleah Conger, Sophie Eastman, 51.37

4×200 relay: Weber; Kirra Bartlett, Ivee Berdinner, Dylan Strand, Kate Tomlinson, 1:54.18

4×400 relay: Fremont; Claire Hall, Aubrey Ostler, Kennedy Hansen, Hadley Hansen, Brecklyn Bugnet, 4:16.71

Sprint medley (2-2-4-8): Ogden; Shae Stephenson, Berlin Beasley, Olivia Geddes, Berlin Bartlett, 4:30.92

4×800 relay: West Field; Taylie Allen, Hailey Atwater, Shae Casperson and Kaitlyn Yerka, 11:14.38

300m hurdles: Jane Shulz, West Field, 74.68

GIRLS TEAM SCORES

1. West Field 121

2. Fremont 99

3. Weber 89

4. Bonneville 71

5. Ogden 52

6. Ben Lomond 25

7. Roy 17

8. St. Joseph 13

9. Utah Military 5

Connect with sports reporter Conner Becker via email at cbecker@standard.net and X @ctbecker.