The Durango High School boys and girls track teams both scored team titles Thursday at the 22-team High Altitude Challenge in Alamosa. DHS won the titles despite skipping the boys 3,200-meter run and the girls 4x400 relay while DHS also didn’t compete in the girls discus, which was canceled because of darkness.
“Our distance runners ran well at a higher altitude, and our sprinters ran well in chilly and windy conditions,” said DHS head coach Johnny Bertrand.
Sydney Flores won the shot put and almost matched her personal record with a heave of 37 feet, 10 inches.
Jessica McVaugh, Mason Turner, Angela McManus and Sofia Voss won the medley relay in 1:59.36.
In the girls 4x800, Abby Fehr, Nina Quayle, Dewa Ilg, Tea Forest won by almost 30 seconds in 10:33.59.
Mason Turner, Seneca Wilson, Jessica McVaugh, Halle Moore finished second in the 4x200 in 1:57.06.
Willow Lott ran a PR to win the 1,600 in 5:27.33. McManus finished second in 5:33.17.
DHS also took the top three spots in the boys 1,600. Land Lambert won in 4:34.50, Damian Frausto crossed second in 4:35.76, and Nathaniel Ellis finished third in 4:58.55.
Bertrand said Jaxon Fancher “had a huge day,” winning both the 200 and 400 in personal bests of 23.16 and 51.28.
Landon Roberts had his best day at the track, getting personal records in long jump (first, 20 feet, 9.70 inches), the 100 (fifth, 11.69), the 200 (fourth, 23.65) and the 400 (second, 51.53).
Avery Cerwin and Abby Fehr both ran PRs in the 800, taking second and third in 2:28.49 and 2:29.41, respectively. “Avery is still just figuring out how good she can be after coming to track and field from soccer this year,” Bertrand said.
Luke Swenk led DHS in the boys 800, crossing second in a personal record 2:10.12.
Dewa Ilg also won the 3,200 with a personal record of 12:13.55. Nina Quayle placed second in 12:23.15.
The DHS boys won their team title with 152 points, followed by Alamosa (86), Centauri (63), Florence (60) and Peyton (54).
The DHS girls scored 118 points to take first, followed by Alamosa (110), Gunnison (104.5), Peyton (59) and Rye (43.5)
DHS will next race in its home meet, the Ron Keller Invitational April 23 at DHS. Field events will begin at 9 a.m., followed by running events at 10 a.m.
