The days are ticking down until the Intermountain Conference track and field championships and the boys 100 and 200-meter sprints are shaping up to be barnburners, with four runners from three different schools putting up top times in the state in the two events.

Redmond sophomore Carter Wachs, Summit senior Nicholas Leary along with Caldera senior Cohen Montoya and freshman Waylon Clarke hold three of the top four Class 5A times in the 100 and all four of the fastest times in the 200.

The times between the four have been so fast, with fractions of a second being the difference, it leaves some of the runners constantly checking times around the state to see how their times are stacking up.

“I’m always looking at other people’s times,” Wachs said. “And I always hope there is somebody close to me so I can push myself to be better. I’m really looking forward to the rest of the season to see what we all can do.”

Here is how close the four are to one another. Leary has run the fastest 100 time in the IMC (second in 5A) with a time of 10.93 seconds, which he ran at the Need for Speed Invitational on April 12. Just three days before that, Wachs ran a 10.95 100 at the Redmond Farewell Fest meet. Last week, Clarke also broke the 11-second barrier with a time of 10.95 in a dual meet against Ridgeview.

The 200 might be an even more competitive race than the 100. With Montoya, Wachs, Clarke and Leary holding the top four times in 5A entering the weekend.

Montoya holds 5A’s fastest time when he ran a 22.05 on April 9. Wachs holds the second fastest time with a 22.15 run on April 16, Clarke ran a 22.29 on April 9 and Leary ran a 22.30 on April 4.

It’s been a steady climb for Montoya, who is also one of 5A’s fastest 400 runners, has made a leap from not qualifying for state in the 200 to the top in his final year.

“I’ve been expecting this time for a while,” Montorya said. “I think my coaches have planned it out to where this year I’ll peak. You want to peak in your senior year. So it feels really good getting these times.”

For Wachs, the younger brother of former Redmond track star Nathan Wachs, the jump he made from his freshman to sophomore year is perhaps more mental than physical.

“Last year, I used the excuse that I was just a freshman and I shouldn’t be winning against these guys,” Wachs said. “But my mentality changed, now it is ‘I want to beat these guys.’ Even if they are older, they are pushing me to be better.”

Part of what is going to make the end of the season so enticing in sprints at the IMC championships on May 22, aside from discovering who the fastest runner is in the conference, is that each conference only has two automatic bids to the state championships at Hayward Field.

The rest will have to either meet a qualifying standard mark (third place average of the last three State Championships) or receive a wild card spot by having one of the five fastest times in the state at IMC championships.

“Winning those races would give me so much confidence going into state,” Montoya said. “If I won the IMC it would prove a lot.”