IGNACIO – The Mancos girls showcased their strength in numbers by clinching the program’s third straight San Juan Basin League track and field championship on Tuesday afternoon in Ignacio.
The Jays scored points in 16 of the 19 events, dominating the field events and winning five event titles en route to the girls team championship with 143 points. Mancos ended the day with a 38-point edge over second-place Telluride.
Dolores (64 points) placed fourth in the team results behind a sprint medley relay title and plenty of top three finishes. while Dove Creek (30 points) placed sixth in the team results with runner-up finishes in the 400-meter relay and sprint medley relay events.
Mancos seniors Teya Yeomans, Akima Kane and Mandi Peacock secured the top three spots in the shot put, while Kane took third in the discus.
Yeomans also placed second in the high jump, while fellow seniors Haylie Higgins and Sam Simmons finished in order behind her.
Sophomore Aysia Mathews won the triple jump and took second in the long jump. Brooke Jabour added an individual league title in the 100 dash, and Mathews took third in that event.
Junior Teagan Archer won the 3,200 meters, and sophomore Maddie Swortwood-Green came in second.
Mathews, Yeomans, Brooke Jabour and Adaline Kearns won the 400 girls relay.
Archer added a third-place run in the 1,600, while Jabour, Simmons, Tylee Greenlee and Ona Parera took third in the 800 relay. Senior Chloe Endres placed sixth in the 800 and was part of the 3,200 relay squad, which placed fourth in that event.
For Dolores won the sprint medley and placed second in both the 3,200 and 1,600 relays. Juniors Maya and Elia Lowe, Everlee Heaton and Keira LaRose ran in the 3,200. Maya and Elia Lowe, LaRose and freshman Kendall Chavez ran in the 1,600.
Junior Coralea Wright paced a trio of Bears in the 300 hurdles. Wright took second place, senior Kayla Tallmadge took third place, and sophomore Taylor Erautt placed fifth.
Erautt placed third in the 100 hurdles, while junior Emma Kemp claimed sixth in the 200 meters. Senior Layne Hedgren and freshman Cheyanne Keim placed seventh in discus and shot put, respectively.
Dove Creek’s girls 400 relay team (juniors Ralynn Hickman, Aspen Nye, and sophomores Ambrynn Huffaker and Grace Myers) placed second.
Dove Creek matched that performance in the sprint medley, and Hickman scored third in the long jump. Sophomore Casey Kricheldorf took fifth in the discus, and freshman Lilianna Boyd claimed eighth in the shot put.
Huffaker, Myers, and freshmen Mykaela Fury and Ariana Rockwell placed fourth in the girls 800 relay.
Mancos and Dolores look to tally additional state-qualifying performances over the next two weeks, with trips to Pueblo and Grand Junction on deck. Meanwhile, Dove Creek heads to Pagosa Springs on Saturday for the Terry Allen Invitational.
