DENVER – The final days of the spring sports season are drawing near, and Southwest Colorado once again has plenty of exciting finishes ahead for their area athletes. M-CHS, Mancos, Dolores and Dove Creek are sending off their envoys to Jefferson County Stadium for the 3A, 2A and 1A state track and field championships over the weekend of Thursday, May 14 through Saturday, May 16.
The 2A girls golf championships at Lone Tree Golf Club kick off on Monday, May 18, for their two-day, 36-hole event and M-CHS will send two individuals to the tournament, while both M-CHS and Dolores baseball will kick off regional action on Saturday, May 16, in the 3A and 2A state tournaments, respectively.
Mancos senior Jonah Ritter’s state title pursuit highlights the area qualifiers heading to ‘JeffCo’ over the weekend – the all-state sprinter enters both the 100 and 200 meters as the No. 2 seed in each event, having recently broken the school record in the 200 meters (21.88) and sits within a whisker of the MHS record in the 100 (PR of 10.96, Mancos record is 10.88).
Freshman Tymbri Priestley will also be in the running for a state title – the first-year Bluejay enters as the second-fastest qualifier in the 200 meters, fourth in the 400, and fifth in the 100-dash heading into the weekend. Priestley will also compete in the long jump, while senior Destiny Kramer looks to follow up from her third-place high jump from 2025 with a repeat appearance in the event.
Sophomore Levi Priestley makes his individual state debut in the 400 meters for the Jays.
Dolores senior Michael Rantz spearheads the Bears delegation to Denver, entered in both the 100 and 400 individually and part of the Bears 4 x 100 and 4 x 400 relays. DHS also will send sophomore Joseph Padilla in the 2-mile and their 4 x 800 relay.
M-CHS will send three jumpers, two hurdlers, and a relay between their boys and girls program, with junior high jumpers Tessa Jackson and Trey Hall within 2 inches of the state best in the 3A this year. They’ll be joined by sophomore Addison Spitzer in her state meet debut in the high jump, while junior Hayden Matthias qualified in both the 100 and 300 hurdles, with sophomore Faith Muzzy making a return trip to Lakewood in the 300, as well.
The M-CHS boys also advanced with their 4 x 400 relay as the final qualifier in the field.
In the 1A, Dove Creek sends a 4 x 800 relay that includes senior distance standout Mason Forst, who also landed a spot in both the 1,600 and 3,200 runs for the ‘Dogs. Classmate Josh Kibel also advanced in the shot put for Dove Creek.
M-CHS seniors Afton Unrein and Amita Crowley have put together a pair of impressive careers, and the duo have two more rounds left to put the finishing touches on their orange-and-black legacy. Both ranked inside the top 25 in the 2A field based on their season scoring average, Unrein and Crowley head to the south side of the Denver metro area for their championship event, beginning on Monday morning at Lone Tree GC with the champion crowned on Tuesday afternoon.
The Panthers and Bears enter the opening stages of the state tournament with high hopes as they kick off the postseason on Saturday. For the third time in four years, No. 3 M-CHS (18-5) enters the 3A field as a regional host, with their first assignment coming in a tournament-opening matchup against No. 30 Berthoud (9-14). The Spartans are one of a trio of north-central Colorado schools that will converge on the Four Corners this weekend – No. 14 Brush (13-10) and No. 19 Timnath (14-9) collide in the other regional semifinal.
Dolores (10-11), meanwhile, will return to the postseason for the first time in seven years as the No. 28 seed in the 2A bracket, and they’ll travel to No. 5 Denver Christian (15-8) for a 10 a.m. opening pitch in their regional encounter. The winner will move on for a 3 p.m. clash with either No. 12 Fowler (13-7) or No. 21 Wiggins (11-12).
Both regional semifinals and the championship game are slated to be completed on Saturday, whittling both the 3A and 2A fields from 32 to eight.
