Baker, Monroe, Nieves state runners-up

Yuma High's JC Baker used his final jump of the day to surpass his best triple jump of the year by nearly a foot and finished second at the 5A-II State Track and Field Championships late Saturday night at Chandler High School.
 
Baker, who was second heading into the final round with a mark of 43 feet, 6 inches, flew a school record 45 feet even to get his medal. First place went to an athlete from Sunrise Mountain at 45-7.
 
"We're going to finish with more than 20 points, which is more than I can ever remember for a Yuma High boys team," Yuma coach Curt Weber said of his team's 14th-place finish and 22.5-point total.
Cibola's Nicolette Monroe came home with three individual medals, including a second-place finish in the 400-meter dash (59.38). She was sixth in both the 100 (12.68) and 200 (26.28).
 
"She had the lead until about the last 30 meters and was right there until the end," Cibola coach Gordon Mosher said.
 
Kofa's Amanda Nieves turned in the top finish from her team, a second place in the shot put (37-10). Her brother Josh Nieves was seventh in the same event on Thursday.
 
Yuma High's Steven Rojano took fourth in high jump (6-2) for his second medal of the state championships, and Kofa's Stephanie Ledgerwood grabbed two more top-eight finishes on Saturday, running third in the 1,600 (5:17) and eighth in the 800 (2:25).
 
Lex Black was fourth in the 300 hurdles (39.02) and fifth in the 100 hurdles (15.2) for the Kings, and Paige Perry was sixth in the 400 (1:00.02).
 
Yuma's 3,200 relay team of Juan Chavez, Santos Castro, Cesar Villegas and Gabe Torregrosa also broke the school record they set earlier this season on the same track with a time of 8:17 and finished fourth. Chavez had the top split time (2:01) as the Criminals ran in the slower of the two heats but were within two seconds of the top-three times.
 
Monroe was also the second leg on the eighth-place 1,600 relay team (4:16) with Michelle Soto, Dezarae Rodriguez and Amanda Martinez.