LAKEWOOD – The representation from Four Corners in the track and field state championships made their presence felt in a busy opening day on the Jefferson County Stadium track in Lakewood.
M-CHS sophomore Trey Hall’s leap of 6’ 3” in the high jump – good for fourth place – served as the first of what will be many more podium finishes to come for southwest Colorado teams.
In the preliminary heats of the sprints, Mancos junior Jonah Ritter set himself up with two chances for a state title, qualifying as the second fastest time in the 2A 100 meters (11.17) and fourth fastest in the 200 (22.58). M-CHS senior Colby McMillian posted the fourth best time in the 3A 400 meters (50.17) to advance to the Saturday finals as well.
Dolores junior Michael Rantz will join Ritter in the final of the 2A 100 dash with a ninth-place preliminary time of 11.27, while the Bear also qualified as the third fastest time in the 400 (50.53).
The Bears had the most activity on Day 1, with both the boys and girls 4 x 800 relays in action – 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).
Bears senior Coralea Wright took 17th in the 100 hurdles (17.74) and DHS junior Aaron Nielson finished 14th in the 100 dash preliminaries (11.46).
Mancos junior 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. Ritter also raced the 400 dash as part of his busy weekend, and took 18th (54.08).
Action at JeffCo will continue on Friday, with both Dolores and M-CHS featuring boys and girls 4 x 400 relay teams in their preliminary heats, along with plenty of field event competition.
