Chandler High’s girls celebrated well into the night, performing a choreographed routine to mark another championship for the jewel of Arizona’s track and field program for girls.

Chandler’s state win streak now stands at eight. But there were plenty of other great performances during Saturday’s track and field state finals at Mesa Community College.

“Talent wise, this is the best track and field championship I’ve seen in 40 years,” said David Hines, the Arizona Interscholastic Association’s track and field tournament director.

Here are some of the highlights from Saturday’s championships at Mesa Community College:

• Chandler’s Ky Westbrook set a new state record in the 200-meters (23.39).  Westbrook said her form broke down at the 70-meter mark during the 100-meter race but still posted the third fastest time (11.45) ever in Arizona in that event. Westbrook’s 23.39 in the 200 ranks as the fifth best performance in the nation this season.
• Mountain Pointe sophomore Paul Lucas broke away from Brophy’s Devon Allen at the end of the 100-meter race to take that title. Lucas said he wants to become the fastest sprinter to come out of Arizona. The sophomore is off to a good start after posting the fifth best mark (10.44) in Arizona prep history. Later on in the night Saturday, Allen defeated Lucas in the 200.

The top two times in that event were 20.98 and 21.10.

• Saturday marked the end of the in-state high school careers of two of the more celebrated distance runners in Arizona history, Cibola’s Bernie Montoya and Xavier’s Sarah Fakler.

Montoya received a well-deserved standing ovation down the stretch of the 1,600-meter event he handily won in 4:05.89, just six-tenths of a second off the state record. He capped his in-state high school career by setting a new state record (1:50.19), the second fastest in the nation this season, in the 800 meters.

Fakler won the 3,200-meter event in 10:30.34.

• Five pole vaulters cleared 16-feet for the first time during a state competition, but the only person to clear 17-feet was Horizon’s Grant Sisserson, the Division I champ. Sisserson’s attempts to break the state record (17-4 ¾) failed, but the senior also deserves a standing ovation for winning the most competitive pole vault event in Arizona prep history.
• Higley sprinter Tristan DaCosta won four gold medals at state.  

Saturday’s results for every event haven’t been posted on aia365.com yet, but I’ll update this story once the results are posted.

Below are a couple of videos that were recorded during Saturday’s championship events.

Click here to see Westbrook breaking the 200-meter state record. The race starts at the 17 second mark. 

Click here to see Allen’s victory in the 200. The race starts at the 13 second mark.

Click here to se Lucas’ win in the 100.

Click here to see Westbrook’s 100-meter victory. The race starts at the 20 second mark.

Click here to see Sisserson’s vault at 17-feet to win the D-I championship.