MANCOS – Tightly paired while completing their first lap in the 1,600-meter run on Tuesday, Corey Gomez and James Martin finished their fourth – and last – around Mancos High School’s track even tighter.
To the Ignacio coaches’ joy, they were still outpacing the pursuit.
Ultimately, the junior Gomez exercised a touch of seniority and beat his freshman teammate across the finish line by only seven-hundredths of a second. Gomez won in 5 minutes, 27.91 seconds, Martin crossed second in 5:27.98 while Dolores’ Aaron Nielson clocked a third-place 5:29.74. The IHS duo earned 18 of the Bobcat boys’ eventual 90 team points at the 2A/1A San Juan Basin League Track & Field Championships.
All told, that landed IHS in third place, only three points behind runner-up Mancos. Totaling 85 points, Ouray was a close fourth and Dolores (68) ably filled out the top five, but none came remotely close to Dove Creek’s overwhelming score of 175.
Also combining for an 18-point take-away, freshmen Lincoln deKay and Zane Pontine went 1-2 (clearing 8 feet, 6 inches and 8-0, respectively) as the only entered pole vaulters. Martin was also runner-up in the 3,200, his 12:31.23 trailing the 12:17.20 of Telluride’s Sean McKillop, and deKay took second in the 110-meter hurdles in 18.17, finishing behind DCHS’ Kade Hankins (16.67).
Kyle Rima earned Ignacio another runner-up result with his 105-03 best discus throw, and the junior also finished fifth in the shot put (32-2.20) with senior John Riepel stepping up to second (36-3.00). Gomez – who did not join Martin in the 3,200 – placed fourth in the 800, clocking a 2:24.63. Sophomore Kendrick Nossaman finished fourth in the 400 (56.18).
The Bobcats’ 4x100 relay (52.26) also scored fourth-place points, while the 4x200 (1:50.59) came in fifth.
Freshman Evan Perkins booked IHS’ only sixth-place result; he gutted out the 3,200 in 14:59.62.
Fortunate to have five uniformed competitors, Ignacio still surged to third in the final girls’ team standings. Led by junior Maci Barnes’ victorious sprints in the 200 (29.08) and 400 (1:04.27), plus her second-place in the 100 (13.96), the IHS girls piled up 96 points and finished behind only Nucla (115) and the meet-hosting Jays (139). DCHS (86) and THS (43) rounded out the top five on a sunny day with an occasional breeze and a temperature in the low 70s.
Clearing 4-10, freshman Juliann Avila won the high jump title. Junior Lauren deKay cleared 7-06 as an unopposed pole vaulter. Barnes also placed second in the long jump (15-10). Freshman Samantha Riddell did likewise in the 200 (30.92), while Avila took third in both the triple jump (27-07.70) and 300-meter hurdles (54.73), plus fourth in the 100 hurdles (19.11).
Riddell earned fourth in the high jump (4-05). Junior Kacey Brown placed fifth in the 1,600 (6:36.77), and deKay was fifth at double the distance (16:12.57). Brown also placed fifth in the shot put (21-07) and Riddell ended up sixth in the 100 (15.03) at a meet where no ’Cat finished lower than 10th in any one event.
2023 SJBL Track & Field championships Girls team scores: 1. Mancos 139, 2. Nucla 115, 3. IGNACIO 96, 4. Dove Creek 86, 5. Telluride 43, 6. Dolores 42, 7. Ouray 36.
Boys team scores: 1. Dove Creek 175, 2. Mancos 93, 3. IGNACIO 90, 4. Ouray 85, 5. Dolores 68, 6. Telluride 40, 7. Nucla 8.
