Canyon View wins West Valley-centric relay at state
Jaguar girls place third at Open meet
Canyon View senior and 4-by-800 relay anchor Aniya Smith pulls away from Audrey O'Connor of Basha in their May 17 race at the AIA Open State Track & Field Championships in Mesa. Smith and her team won the race.
Independent Newsmedia/Jason W. Brooks
MESA — Aniya Smith knew the person she had to beat was wearing the same type of white track and field jersey as she and her Canyon View teammates.
That person was Audrey O'Connor of Basha. She and Smith were the anchors of the 4-by-800-meter relay — the first track event held May 17 as part of the 2025 AIA Open State Track & Field Championships.
Smith got the baton from teammate Ryane Ast just after O'Connor had taken off, but by the end of the first of the two anchor laps, Smith was right on her Basha opponents’ heels.
You must be a member to read this story.
Join our family of readers starting at $5 for your first month and support local, unbiased journalism.
Click here to see your options for becoming a subscriber.
Register to comment
Click here create a free account for posting comments.
Note that free accounts do not include access to premium content on this site.
I am anchor
WEST VALLEY PREPS
Canyon View wins West Valley-centric relay at state
Jaguar girls place third at Open meet
Independent Newsmedia/Jason W. Brooks
Canyon View senior and 4-by-800 relay anchor Aniya Smith pulls away from Audrey O'Connor of Basha in their May 17 race at the AIA Open State Track & Field Championships in Mesa. Smith and her team won the race.
MESA — Aniya Smith knew the person she had to beat was wearing the same type of white track and field jersey as she and her Canyon View teammates.
That person was Audrey O'Connor of Basha. She and Smith were the anchors of the 4-by-800-meter relay — the first track event held May 17 as part of the 2025 AIA Open State Track & Field Championships.
Smith got the baton from teammate Ryane Ast just after O'Connor had taken off, but by the end of the first of the two anchor laps, Smith was right on her Basha opponents’ heels.
The Canyon View senior then overtook O'Connor early in the final lap and kept ahead of her, giving the Jaguars the win.
Taelyn Janssen ran the first two laps of the relay for the Jaguars, with Peyton-Rae Isaac taking the baton for the second leg.
O’Connor High and Mountain Ridge also had teams in the 4-by-800 relay. O’Connor placed fourth and MRHS was fifth.
The win helped the Canyon View girls team place third overall at the two-day Open meet with 44 points. Chandler High ran away with first place with 74 points; runner-up North Canyon had 47.
The Jaguar girls bested several West Valley teams who had qualifiers at the all-classes meet. Liberty placed fifth with 33 points; ALA-West Foothills was 16th with 15 points.
Smith ended up in first place in three of the four events that she competed in at the Open meet. In addition to the 4-by-800, she anchored the winning 4-by-400 relay and she won the 400 meters with a time of 54.4 seconds.
Isaac and Ast placed third and fourth in the 400 meters, respectively. Rylee Fields placed eighth in the discus for the Canyon View girls.
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.
By 
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here