Arizona track and field: Hurdler, others help Mountain Lions shine

By Jason W. Brooks
Mail | X: @JasonWBrooks2

MESA — It’s tough for every Division 1 track and field program to stay in the limelight in Arizona.

Mountain Ridge athletes did their part this year, sending as large and as impactful a contingent to the 2026 Open Championships on May 15-16 as it had in recent years, especially on the boys side.

Highlighted by senior Sanel Eminovic’s 300-meter hurdles state title, the Mountain Lion teams showed the crowd at Mesa Community College that their athletes can compete with the best in the state, across all divisions.

The Mountain Ridge boys placed eighth among 47 scoring teams with 31 team points. The girls were 18th with 10 points.

Eminovic’s time of 37.24 seconds in the 300 hurdles final was a personal best and almost a full second faster than runner-up Ryan Patterson-Lopez of Deer Valley.

Eminovic also was runner-up in the 110 hurdles — only 0.32 seconds behind winner Jett Merrill of Ironwood Ridge.

Collin Foley was sixth in the 1600 meters and placed 10th in the 3,200. He also led off the 4-by-800 meter relay, in which he and Amherst Parsons, Gage Mahn and Eric Reed nearly took first place.

Reed, the Red Mountain anchor chased down Reed and won by 0.54 seconds, giving the Mountain Ridge team a still-impressive second place in the 18-team relay.

Ethan Holley placed seventh in the javelin.
Foley, one of the seniors, said the program brought more MRHS athletes to the meet than in past seasons.

“We had more, for sure,” Foley said. “We had a great season, I think.”

Foley said he hoped to eclipse both his personal-best and the school record in the 3200, but he came up a few seconds slower than he would have liked — especially after keeping pace with the race’s top runners in the first few laps.

“Having just run the 4-by-800 a couple of hours before, I was probably more tired than I should have been,” Foley said.

On the girls side, MRHS senior Cameron Mailloux finished her career with a fifth-place finish in the triple jump. Her best jump was 37-feet, 4-inches.

Avery Luke, a junior, placed third in the shotput and was 11th in the discus.

The MRHS 4-by-800 relay team of Emma Langer, Kaydence Porter, Sydney McCracken and Sadie Jensen placed 12th, running its best time of the season.

Foley said he has hope the program can keep growing in the years ahead.

“We have an amazing track team,” Foley said. “It’s a deep squad that can really cover a lot of points.”

Email Jason W. Brooks at jbrooks@iniusa.org. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.

Jason W. Brooks
News Editor | Chandler Independent

Jason W. Brooks joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in July 2021 as an associate editor. After a year covering Buckeye, he has covered Chandler since the fall of 2022, in addition to assisting the Daily Independent throughout his time at INI.

Education: University of New Mexico, bachelor of arts in journalism and mass communication, print emphasis, English minor.

Random Fact: He and his siblings witnessed a Space Shuttle launch and landing in the same year in person, on opposite coasts.

Hobbies: Karaoke, bicycling and American Sign Language.

Community: He supports animal shelters.