LAKEWOOD – The Four Corners representatives saved their best for last on the final day of the state track and field championships at Jefferson County Stadium in Lakewood.
Saturday’s medal haul began with a bang, and the day just continued to get better from there.
Both Mancos’ Destiny Kramer and M-CHS’ Tessa Jackson took third in the 2A and 3A high jumps, respectively, with Kramer breaking through with a season-best 5’ 1”, while Jackson finished just an inch shy of a state title with a leap of 5’ 3 “.
More bronze medals went to Montezuma County athletes, as Dolores’ Michael Rantz nearly broke the 50-second barrier in the 400 meters, crossing in 50.01 for third place. Mancos’ Jonah Ritter matched the placement in the 100 dash, finishing in 11.18. It was part of a busy day for both Rantz and Ritter, as the Bear took ninth in the 100 (11.37) and anchored the seventh-place DHS 4 x 400 relay along with Aaron Nielson, Bridger Beyhan, and Tray Traweek (3:31.41).
M-CHS also scored podium finishes in the 400 and 4 x 400 relay, as Colby McMillian took fifth in the open 400 (49.70), and helped the Panthers team along with Houston Hurst, Ben Hoffman, and Isaac Dozal to take seventh in 3:27.02.
Dove Creek’s Jessica Alexander capped off her outstanding athletic career with a 12th place run in the 1A 1,600, crossing the line in 6:17.69.
The weekend closed with 10 podium finishes for the Four Corners schools, with Saturday’s nine medal performances joining M-CHS’ Trey Hall taking fourth in the high jump on Thursday.
Along with the M-CHS and Dolores boys 4 x 400 relays qualifying for finals, the Panthers and Bears girls 4 x 400 relays also took to the track for their preliminary heats on Friday afternoon, and the M-CHS group of Tatum Endres, Tessa Jackson, Hayden Matthias, and Addison Spitzer claimed 12th in a time of 4:16.22. DHS’ relay team of Elia and Maya Lowe, Kendall Chavez and Emilynn Hill earned 17th in the 2A crossing the line in 4:27.45.
In the boys 4 x 100, where Mancos placed 16th in a time of 45.99 with James Potts, Levi Priestley, Michael Resner, and Jonah Ritter.
M-CHS had a pair of girls 300 hurdlers take on the field in the preliminary heats, and Faith Muzzy came away 17th in a time of 51.30 while Hayden Matthias came in one place after in 51.67.
The Panthers had multiple field event athletes in action on Friday, including both of their pole vaulters. Tatum Endres took 16th in the girls competition, clearing 7’ 5”, while Houston Hurst claimed 14th with a vault of 11’ 6” on the boys side.
Tay Wheat earned 16th place for the Panthers in the 3A long jump, as he leaped 18’ 9” to close out the day for Four Corners athletes.
Along with Hall’s fourth-place leap in the high jump (6’ 3”), Mancos’ Jonah Ritter qualified in the 100 and 200 and DHS’ Michael Rantz advanced in the 100 and 400.
Mancos’ Brooke Jabour raced in both the 100 and 200 dashes, and took 12th in the longer discipline (27.15), and 16th in the shorter (13.25) to close out her fantastic season.
Dolores’ Coralea Wright took 17th in the 100 hurdles (17.74) and teammate Aaron Nielson finished 14th in the 100 dash preliminaries (11.46).
Both the Dolores boys and girls 4 x 800 relays were in action – where the girls team of Maya and Elia Lowe, Emilynn Hill, and Kendall Chavez took 10th place (10:38), while the boys group of Joseph Padilla, Owen Lowe, Miles Brown, and Bridger Beyhan claimed 15th (8:46).
