With each season, Colorado School of Mines and Montezuma-Cortez track and field standout Aryelle Wright digs deeper into the record books.
Now a junior at Mines, Wright and three teammates – Randi Higashi, Mackenzie Duck and Grace Galvin – set the Orediggers record in the indoor 4x400 meter relay, posting a time of 3 minutes, 55.39 seconds at the Colorado University Invitational in Boulder and besting her mark by more than a second.
In the same meet Jan. 28-29, Wright also ran the 800 meters in 2:14.06 for a national qualifying provisional time.
During a barnstorming sophomore year, Wright broke both the indoor and outdoor school records in the 800 meters, posting a time of 2:10.61 outdoors and qualifying for the Division II National Championships during both the indoor and outdoor seasons.
She became the first Oredigger woman to earn All-American honors in the 800 meters, finishing 10th in the nation outdoors after placing 11th indoors at the national championships.
While focusing on the 800 meters, Wright also neared her 400 meter personal best a week later at the Mines Winter Classic on Feb. 5. She broke into the top five in Mines history with a time of 57.98 seconds, just a shade off the time that won her the 3A state title for M-CHS in 2018.
Wright, who also shares the Oredigger record of 3:50.72 in the 4x400 relay, is now preparing for the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference championships, Feb. 25- 26 at Western Colorado University in Gunnison.
She majors in quantitative bioscience and engineering, a program designed for premed students at Mines.
Wright became one of the most decorated athletes in Montezuma County history, dominating for four years at Dolores and Montezuma-Cortez high schools. She landed all-state accolades each of her four years, making the podium in individual and relays.
Next season will add an extra layer of excitement to Wright’s career for Mines, as her sister Avery, who is wrapping up her athletics career for M-CHS, joins the Orediggers team.
Wright and her teammates hope to culminate their indoor season at the NCAA Division II National Championship meet March 11-12 at Pittsburg State University in Kansas.
