State Track: The First and Last Stop for Accomplishing Goals

Both Tyler Cox and Tabetha Henrie had been to the Brigham Young University track many times throughout their high school careers. Over the past three years, they had helped Panguitch win state championships competing in events like hurdles, high jump, long jump, the 400 meter dash and the mile.

But that sunny day in May 2024 was different. It was their last chance to see their personal goals realized before high school track was over.

Of all the sports The Byway has reported on, track is the most goal oriented. Basketball and cheerleading are very much about teamwork. Cross country is more about endurance. Wrestling builds stamina as well as adaptability. Volleyball builds confidence. But track is all about setting and accomplishing personal goals. That is why it’s difficult.

That was pretty clear when I talked to the two Panguitch seniors about their experiences with track.

All season Tyler had been trying to beat Panguitch’s school record for 110 meter hurdles, and he had the whole team rooting for him. In addition, over the past four years, his time had been improving, but he had taken second place at most of his state competitions.

“All of my four years of track the team had taken state, but I haven’t always taken state in my events,” said Tyler. “This makes me want to keep pushing to take state as well as beating my school record before I graduate.”

It was that mindset that would push him to achieve his goals.

Similarly, Tabetha, who is 5”7’ and very athletic, had always excelled at track. Her sophomore year she made the Panguitch leaderboards in high jump, long jump, and 100 meters, but she wasn’t always intentional about what her goals were. 

Throughout her high school years, Tabetha struggled with confidence and competing priorities with basketball. Most of all, she always hated running the 800 meter dash.

“I have absolutely hated the 800 for three years,” she said, “but this year I have been in a better distance shape. I have done the 800 more this year, and I’ve had goals I wanted to meet.”

This year Tabetha received a full ride scholarship to go run for Salt Lake Community College and she had the opportunity to get more scholarships if she ran a certain time for the 800, 1600 and 3200 meter dash. That pushed her to work really hard and kind of enjoy doing it, especially the 800.

Tyler ended up making a new Panguitch record by running a 15.04 time at the state preliminaries. He went on to win his first state titles in both hurdles events, with a time of 15.49 in 110 meter hurdles, and 40.6 in 300 meter hurdles. 

He likes that there’s always a chance to win in his events. Little slip-ups can be a lot more detrimental when running hurdles. “Hitting hurdles can make you slower, which can ruin a race for anyone, any race,” he said.

But getting over the hurdles more smoothly and becoming consistent between races helped Tyler take it to the win.

Tabetha also won first place in almost all of her events — her favorite ones, and the ones she had to work a little harder at. Her favorite event, the 400 meter dash, she ran in 1:01.39, just a little over a second slower than her personal best. The 800 she ran in 2:23.1. And the 1600, which she hasn’t done as often, she ran in 5:27.87.

Panguitch’s track teams took first and second place and won eight additional state titles. Among them were two beaming seniors who had certainly made the most of the sport that’s all about goals.

– by Abbie Call

Feature image caption: All of the Panguitch track team’s medals at state. Between them, they won 8 golds plus the boys team’s trophy, 11 silvers, and 6 bronzes. Courtesy of Tyler Cox.

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