Since she arrived for her first high school track practice earlier this spring, Montezuma-Cortez High School sprinter Avery Wright has stood out as one of the most talented first-year athletes in her school’s history.
The freshman’s show of greatness continued last week when she competed in the Colorado State High School Track and Field Championships in Lakewood, May 16-18, and came home with two individual state titles.
Among Wright’s impressive performances was a top finish in the 100-meter dash, which she won in a scorching time of 12.36 seconds. The performance came after Wright ran a time of 12.48 seconds in the preliminary round and entered finals as the event’s top-ranked competitor.
Wright also finished first in the 200-meter dash with a time of 25.23 seconds, which was good enough to beat Lutheran High School’s Regan Aurich and (25.34) and Coal Ridge High School’s Peyton Garrison (25.52).
While Wright led the way for M-CHS on the girls’ side, junior Titus Jackson set the tone for the M-CHS boys’ team with a second-place finish in the 300-meter hurdles (39.25) and a third-place finish in the 110-meter hurdles (14.97).
Other top individual finishers for M-CHS included senior Aryelle Wright, who placed fifth in the 200-meter dash (25.21) and fifth in the 400-meter dash (58.20), and senior Morgan Short, who finished ninth in the 200-meter dash (26.80) and 11th in the long jump (16 feet, 5 ¾ inches).
Junior Hayden Leggett placed 10th in the pole vault (8 feet, 6 inches), and senior Jens Jorgensen finished 13th in the high jump, after he cleared a bar set at 5 feet 11 inches.
In the relay events, M-CHS was led by the girls’ 4x100-meter relay comprised of Eliana Short, Morgan Short, Avery Wright and Aryelle Wright, who finished second overall (49.52) just behind Eaton High School (49.05).
The group also competed in the 4x200-meter relay and set a Class 3A meet record in the preliminary round (1:42.61) before finishing eighth overall in finals (1:48.64).
The M-CHS boys’ team’s 4x400-meter relay made up of Stevie Fuentes, Jayden Karo, Tyler Cutrone and Jackson placed ninth overall (3:39.49), while the 4x200-meter relay comprised of Andrew Wood, Karo, Cutrone and Jackson finished 10th (1:32.71).
The boys’ team’s 4x800-meter relay made up of John Whyte, Karo, Cutrone and Fuentes placed 11th overall (8:25.52) and the team’s 4x100-meter relay comprised of Andrew Wood, Matthew Broughton, Karo and Cutrone placed 17th (46.37).
Rounding out M-CHS’s relays that competed in state meet was the girls’ 800-meter sprint medley made up of Elaina Short, Kenzie Huston, Kylie Lake and Leggett, which finished in 16th place overall (2:00.59).
The M-CHS boys’ team placed 17th in the Class 3A team standings with 17 points, and the M-CHS girls’ team placed sixth in the Class 3A team standings with 41 points. Lutheran High School finished first in the boys’ and girls’ team standings.
