Shaking off the early season rust, the Montezuma-Cortez and Mancos track and field teams made their mark with their season-opening performances at the Piedra Vista Turner Relays.
The Panther boys lit up the track in the sprints on March 12, while Mancos made some early statements in the field events.
A year after Montezuma-Cortez picked up all-state performances in the 3A state championships, a pair of juniors picked up right where they left off. Zander Cruzan finished just a few hundredths of a second short of a personal best, and took second in both the 100 meters (11.17 seconds) and the 200 (22.95 seconds).
Cruzan's 100-meter performance keeps him among the state’s elite in the discipline, as he nears the sub-11 second threshold. Cruzan took eight last year, and with his opening salvo, has likely secured himself a place in the state championships again.
Cruzan joined forces with Sawyer Smith on the Panthers’ 4x-100 meter relay team, which also all but punched a state ticket with a time of 45.17, likely to stand as one of the 18 fastest times when the 3A field is announced in May.
Smith, along with taking seventh individually in the 200 meters (24.09), appears poised to battle among the best in the state in the triple jump. A year after a fifth-place performance at the championships, Smith opened up the ledger for 2022 with a top spot in Piedra Vista field, leaping to a distance of 41 feet, 3.5 inches – a distance that would have been an all-state jump from a year ago.
Panthers junior Sophia Shepard paced the Panther girls with a second place in the triple jump, bounding 29 feet, 7.5 inches, while sophomore Savannah Haselroth cleared 4-feet-2 in the high jump to take fourth in the meet.
For Mancos, all-state thrower Connor Showalter put up an early season mark that will put him among the favorites in the 2A track and field championships, launching the shot put 42 feet, 7 inches to take fourth in the meet.
Meanwhile, in the high jump, Mancos senior and 2021 state qualifier Josh Lindner cleared 5-feet-10 to tie with classmate Mason Goodwin for second place. Goodwin would also add a seventh-place performance in the shot put (38 feet, 10 inches).
Mancos sophomore Chloe Endres earned the highest finish for the girls competition, taking seventh place in the 400 meters (1:12.77).
The Panthers and Bluejays teams have the opportunity to showcase their abilities in front of their home fans in the coming weeks. Mancos will host their lone home invitational of the season on Friday, April 1, before the Panthers invite the area's best to their meet on Saturday, Aprril 16.
