SILVER DOLLARS AND WOODEN NICKELS: Athletes were in a great state of mind

The Nevada Appeal’s Silver Dollars & Wooden Nickels feature recognizes achievements from the capital region and, when warranted, points out other acts that missed the mark.

SILVER DOLLAR: It says a great deal about our area when there’s just not enough room in this column to list all of local high school student-athletes who qualified for state championships this past spring. But we would like to congratulate all the area athletes who qualified for state in track, swimming and boys golf.

We would like to list area athletes who won state championships: They include Douglas High’s Shelby Koontz who won in swimming in the girls 100-yard butterfly the Douglas 200 boys medley relay team of Andre Mendes, Ryan Chen, Kevin Smithen and Joe Sullivan who took home gold.

In track, Dayton’s Kaylee Turner won the Division IA state title in the discus and Dayton’s Zach Hawley won the state title in the shot put. Sierra Lutheran had several athletes who won Division IV state titles, led by Elaina Marchegger, who won four championships. Rebeka Churchill, Abby Ferenz, Grace Boncede, Torryann Sanguinette and Rachel Hall combined to win two relays and Cali Benton won in the discus.

We will recognize Carson’s top two track athletes in Maddie Preston, who was named the Northern Division I Girls Track Athlete of the Year, and Corey Reid, arguably the state’s most versatile track athlete.

SILVER DOLLAR: Another athlete, Caitlyn Morton, is recognized for her determination. Morton, who was born with cerebral palsy, has a chance to qualify for next year’s Paralympics in Rio De Janeiro in the 100 meters next month in a national qualifier in St. Paul, Minn.

WOODEN NICKEL: She’s been an easy target for months now, but Michele Fiore threw another tantrum Thursday, walking off the floor of the Legislature after not getting her way on a campus carry bill. Fiore was banned from the chambers for the rest of the day. At this rate, we may decide to issue an inaugural Wooden Nickel of the Year winner and give it to Fiore.