Traveling home from the Colorado State Track and Field Championships, members of the Dolores High School track team had to be smiling.
After all, nearly every Bears athlete performed well at the three-day meet held in Lakewood on May 15-17.
By the time the final event concluded, several Bears athletes had registered personal best times, and nearly every team member had enjoyed solid results.
Girls team performs well
Leading the girls team, sophomore Larissa Umberger produced her finest performance to date, finishing 11th overall in the 11-meter hurdles with a personal best time of 17.49.
"Larissa is a rather short girl for the hurdles," said Bears head coach Nick Kohler. "She four-steps between the hurdles, and that fits her stride perfectly. She will keep getting better, and I expect her to be on the podium in the near future."
Also doing well for the girls, Brianna Schwartz finished 15th in the 300-meter hurdles (50.39) and 16th in the 100 hurdles (17.97).
"(Brianna) is just a good girl," said Kohler. "She always worked hard, she was always polite, and she always encouraged the other athletes. Even though she never won a state title, she is the type of person that you want on your team."
Also doing well in individual events for the Bears, Taylor Elder finished 15th in the long jump (14 feet, 8½ inches), Kelly Charles finished 18th in the 300 hurdles (53.35), and Olivia Wright finished 18th in the 400 (1:03.50).
Several Dolores relays also did well, as the 4x400 made up of Charles, Elder, Wright and Schwartz finished seventh (4:14.22), and the 4x200 composed of the same runners finished 10th (1:51.05).
The Bears sprint medley relay made up of Elder, Wright, Umberger and Charles also performed well, finishing 12th overall (1:58.25).
As a team, the Bears finished 39th overall in the Class 2A standings.
Boys compete in relays
Although Dolores failed to qualify any athletes for an individual event at the state meet, the team did qualify two relays, and each did well.
In the 4x200, Ethen Upton, Guy Wallace, Mikeal Ford and Rylan Huff wrapped up their season in style, finishing 10th overall (1:51.05).
In the 4x100, Tristan Holgate, Damien Marquez, Jackson Vermule and Ruben Gomez also came through with a solid performance, crossing the line in 16th (48.44).
"On the guys side, the future looks good," said Kohler. "It's going to be fun to watch our group develop over the next few years."
