KINGMAN –Lee Williams High School (LWHS) senior Wyatt Pickering won the 800-meter race and a state championship at the Arizona Division III Track and Field meet in Phoenix last weekend. The 18-year-old used a powerful kick finish to pull past the field for gold in 1:54.73.
“These past few weeks I’ve been dialing in on my last 150 meters. I left it all out there and it definitely showed,” Pickering told Runner Space.
Wyatt’s achievement had father Kelly Pickering and coach Stevann Brown beaming with pride.
“When he hit that 200 meter curve it was over,” Coach Brown said. “He just took off…and he brought himself some hardware home which is so exciting.”
Pickering said it paid off to pull out of one event to better position himself for victory in the 800.
“I didn’t want to live with any what ifs you know, so I decided to just scratch the mile and put all my focus and make sure my dream came true,” he said.
“He worked so hard for that race, not only for the past season, but for his entire life,” Brown said.
His father said Wyatt has several scholarship offers and will make a decision in coming weeks where he’ll attend college.
LWHS freshman Brook Slinkard achieved a fourth place podium finish in the triple jump. Slinkard teamed with Ellie Divis, Taylor Novak and Abigayle Harviston for 8th place in the 4 X 100 meter relay.
Also earning points for the Volunteers at the state meet were Divis in the 300-meter hurdles, Kruz Yocum in the 300-meter hurdles, Taliyah Crook in the two-mile race, Laneah Degn in the discus and Johnny MacGregor in the triple jump.
Kingman High School senior Naliq Davis also medaled at the state meet. Davis finished third in the long jump.
Dave Hawkins
