BAYFIELD – What a ride it’s been for Montezuma-Cortez boys athletics during the 2024-25 academic calendar.
In Intermountain League action, the Panthers have put together an impressive last nine months, enjoying their best year across all disciplines since the league’s inception a decade ago.
M-CHS can add a boys track and field league title to their football crown in fall and the program’s highest finish in boys basketball (runner-up) as an IML member. With baseball sitting in the pole position to win their second title in three years, it’s fair to say that it’s been “The Year of the Panther.”
On Saturday afternoon in Bayfield, the Panthers turned to the same formula that allowed them to win their home invitational a few weeks earlier – athletes scoring in virtually every event to help the Panthers hold off Alamosa for the top spot.
The Panthers entered the weekend knowing that there would be several events, including the 400 and the hurdles, where they would pile up big points. It was also their ability to nullify Alamosa’s big point events in the distance races that allowed head coach Bob Archibeque’s squad to sustain their lead.
M-CHS held up their end of the bargain by dominating the 400 and both hurdle races, going 1-2-3 in the quarter-mile with seniors Colby McMillian, Houston Hurst and Ben Hoffman leaving the competition in their wake. Meanwhile, in the hurdles, senior Atticus Keel, junior Wyatt Oliver, and sophomore Asher Bennetts scored in both the 110 and 300 races, with Keel and Oliver going 1-2 in the 300.
The Panthers cruised to a comfortable win in the 4x200, while the other three relays all finished in the top four. They enjoyed multiple scoring athletes in the field events, with Hurst and sophomore Cody Case tallying points in the pole vault, along with Keel and junior Parley Smith each scoring in the triple jump.
Senior Tay Wheat took third in the long jump, while both sophomore Trey Hall (fifth) and freshman Gage Mueller (eighth) scored in the high jump.
On the track, sophomore Cruz Plewe took fourth in the 3,200 and eighth in the 1,600, while Hoffman earned seventh in the 800. McMillian added a fifth place run in both the 100 and 200, as Hurst took sixth in the 200 and senior Ridge Hathale came in eighth. All told, the Panthers accrued 136.83 points, beating the Mean Moose (118) and Pagosa Springs (107) for the title.
The Panthers continued their streak of third place team finishes at the IML meet, as the orange-and-black accrued 99.5 points to finish behind league champ Alamosa and runner-up Centauri.
Sophomore Tessa Jackson helped pace the Panthers effort, winning the high jump and taking seventh in the 200 dash. Classmate Hayden Matthias took gold in the long jump, just in front of freshman Aubrieana Forsman. Matthias added points in the hurdle races as well, taking third in the 300 and fifth in the 100.
The hurdles added big points for the Panthers, as junior Aubrie Matthias took fourth in the 100 and eighth in the 300, while freshman Faith Muzzy earned fourth in the 300.
Multiple scorers in the field events helped the cause, with juniors Tatum Endres and Mikayla Pena earning third and seventh, respectively, in the pole vault. Sophomore Journey Seymour and senior Taylor Johnson matched the pole vault placements with their throws in the shot put.
Panthers freshman Addison Spitzer ran to a fifth-place finish in the 400, and freshman Addalynn Nielson crossed the line in eighth in the 3,200.
Both the 4x200 and 4 x 400 took home second place efforts, while the 4 800 finished fourth and 4x100 came in fifth to round out the scoring for the Panthers.
With the league meet in the rearview mirror, the Panthers look forward to adding more state qualifying performances in the coming weeks. They’ll head to Pueblo and Colorado Springs next weekend to compete at the Pueblo Twilight on May 2 and the Doherty Invitational the following day.
