A record-breaking run, vault and a three-peat highlight day one of Idaho's 5A/4A Track and Field State Championships

Here are the biggest storylines from Friday's events

Brandon Walton | May 21, 2022

A record-breaking run, vault and a three-peat highlight day one of Idaho's 5A/4A Track and Field State Championships /

BOISE - The 2022 Idaho Class 5A/4A Track and Field State Championships got underway Friday at Dona Larsen Park. It was the first time the tournament had been held there in four years.

If you missed it, no need to fear. We've got you covered.

Here are the biggest storylines from day one.

Performances are in alphabetical order.

LANDON HELMS, EMMETT: LONG JUMP & POLE VAULT

There isn’t much Landon Helms hasn’t done.

But one thing he hasn't accomplished is capturing four state championships in one meet. After Friday, he’s halfway there.

Helms won his first-ever 4A boys long jump title with a mark of 23 feet, 1 inch a week after placing seventh at districts. He needed an at-large bid just to make it into the field.

“At districts, I was really flat off the boards,” Helms said. “I’ve always said senior year is my redemption year, so this was my double redemption week. Not only for last year, but for long jump. I was just fired up, I was ready to go and I just executed.”

Then a few hours later, Helms notched his third consecutive 4A boys pole vault championship with a jump of 15-0. But it was a far cry from the 17-2 he logged earlier in the season. After securing the state title, Helms first tried to break the classification mark of 16-0. However, he was jumping into the wind and just couldn’t quite clear it. Helms also had hopes of breaking Eagle’s Donovan Kilmartin’s all-classification record of 16-6.

“I really need to take a step back and really be more humble,” Helms said. “Take in the moment, accept what I’ve done, realize what I’ve done and really just appreciate it.”

Helms, who signed with Texas A&M, will try to make it 4-for-4 when he competes in the 110- and 300-meter hurdles Saturday.

ELI LAWRENCE, MERIDIAN: TRIPLE JUMP

Eli Lawrence didn’t get a warmup. He was too busy trying to find his spikes.

But in the end, he probably would have still won the triple jump without them.

Lawrence won by five feet with a mark of 49-6.25 to win his third consecutive 5A boys triple jump state title.

“It means a lot,” Lawrence said. “It’s bittersweet to know that we didn’t get our COVID season because I could have been a four (timer).

Lawrence, who just signed with Washington State, was a little disappointed and hard on himself, though. That’s because he missed out on Capital’s Kasen Covington’s all-classification record of 49-10.25 by less than four inches. The record has stood since 2010 and will for at least another year. Covington was actually in the stands coaching his alma mater.

“I feel like it’s bad to say I’m not happy,” said Lawrence while laughing. “But when you’re so close to the record. And that’s all I was really going for this week was the record. When I didn’t hit it, I was really bummed. But all in all, I’m grateful that I won it.”

But Lawrence still more than pleased the crowd, including his father Wendell, who competed in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics in the very same event for the Bahamas. His older sister Josie, also won a state championship in the triple jump for Mountain View in 2013.

JACOBA LUTEYN, BISHOP KELLY: SHOT PUT

Jacoba Luteyn lost out on a shot put state championship last year by an inch.

She left no doubt this time around and even set a new classification record in the process.

Luteyn, who will walk on at Virginia Tech next year, smashed the 16-year record of Moscow’s Kelsey Taylor (43-10.50) with a heave of 44-3.25 to claim the 4A girls shot put state championship.

The throw was more than a foot better than her personal record of 43-0 that she just set at last week’s district meet. It also beat the next closest competitor by six feet.

“I’m ecstatic actually,” Luteyn said. “I wasn’t going into the meet thinking I wanted to break the state record. I just wanted to go out there and do my best and so when I hit it, I was so excited and I’m still feeling that excitement.”

TATUM RICHARDS, EMMETT: POLE VAULT

It’s not about how you start, it’s about how you finish.

Tatum Richards took that mantra to heart.

After beginning the season by breaking a pole and spraining her wrist, Richards broke her own all-classification record Friday. She jumped 13-0 to win back-to-back 4A girls pole vault state titles. The record-breaking mark was also three feet better than the rest of the field.

“It’s so special for me because 13 has been a hard bar for me,” Richards said. “Waiting a long time, so that was super awesome to be able to do it at state.”

NELAH ROBERTS, SKYLINE: 3,200-METER RUN

Nelah Roberts, only a sophomore, was a team player a week ago at districts by pacing an injured teammate in order to get her to state. It resulted in a time of 11 minutes, 36.92 seconds - her worst time of the year.

But Roberts was let loose Friday and broke the record of arguably Idaho’s best-ever girls long-distance runner in the process. She came in at 10:30.63 - just seventeen-tenths of a second better than the 2017 time of 10:30.80 put up by Mountain View’s Lexy Halladay, who is now at BYU.

It was almost two seconds better than her previous personal record of 10:32.37 at California’s Arcadia Invitational on April 9. Roberts didn’t find out she had done it until she was on the podium receiving her first-place medal.

“It’s super cool to see where she (Halladay) is now and what my potential is,” Roberts said. “If I’m already breaking her records, maybe I can be as good as she is in college now or better.”

HONORABLE MENTION:

JAMES ONANUBOSI, BISHOP KELLLY: 100-METER DASH

The senior broke his own 4A classification record with a blazing time of 10.51 seconds in the prelims of the 100.

The University of Arizona signee is the event’s defending state champion.

(All photos by Loren Orr)

5A/4A TRACK PHOTO GALLERY