Enjoying the sunshine of one of the first springlike days in Southwest Colorado, Mancos turned in plenty of top performances in its lone home meet of the 2022 track and field season, en route to fourth-place finishes for the boys and girls teams.
Dove Creek joined the party in a big way, posting a number of early season marks that will surely stand to place plenty of Bulldogs in the 1A state championship field in late May. The Bulldog boys finished sixth in the field as a team, while the girls took eighth overall.
Continuing to establish herself near the top of every sprint in the Four Corners, Mancos senior Desi Dainty-Guilfoyle landed two top-three finishes, headlined by a runner-up finish in the 100-meter dash (14.11). She would later add a third-place run in the 200 meters (29.64), while freshman Adaline Kearns also provided a strong finish, claiming sixth place (30.50).
The Bluejays added another event with multiple scorers in the 1,600 meters, where freshman Teagan Archer (6:17) and sophomore Clara Most (6:44) claimed second and fifth, respectively. The duo enjoyed a strong day, providing two of the four legs of the Bluejays 4x800 meter relay (11:49), which claimed the runner-up spot.
In the field events, sophomore Teya Yeomans captured a pair of second-place efforts, taking silver in both the high jump (4-8) and shot put (31 feet, 1.5 inches). Senior Tina Bayles added a fourth-place mark in the high jump (4-6) to round out the top five finishers for Mancos.
For the boys, the defending San Juan Basin League champs showed that they’re again going to be a menace, as they hauled in three individual titles – Edgar Hernandez in the 1,600 (4:53), Mason Goodwin in the high jump (6-3) and Connor Showalter in the shot put (49 feet, 9.5 inches).
Add to that mix a slew of other top five performances that helped the Jays to account for themselves well in front of their home fans.
Goodwin would add a third-place mark in the shot put, and eighth in the 100-meter dash, while classmate Jesse Henry took fourth in the shot put.
Hernandez showed his range, coming off the mile with a second-place finish in the 400 meters (55.41).
Senior Connor Sehnert took third in the 3,200 meters (12:10), while sophomore Levi Manning earned a fourth-place finish in the discus (103 feet even). Senior Josh Linder took fourth in the high jump (5-8).
The Dove Creek field events took center stage in the Bluejay Invitational, as both the Dove Creek girls and boys enjoyed high marks during the busy afternoon. Two individual champions emerged for the Lady ‘Dogs, as juniors Tara Glover and Trista Barnett both topped the large fields in Mancos.
Glover’s shot put of 32 feet, 5.5 inches bested the field, while Barnett leaped to a distance of 13 feet, 10 inches in the long jump. Neither would end their day of piling up points there, as Barnett added a fifth-place run in the 200 meters (30.04), and Glover emerged in fifth place in the discus (87 feet even).
Junior Rylee Hickman finished narrowly behind her teammate in the long jump, taking third, just 3 inches behind Barnett. The fleet-footed combination would work together on the track as well, as the Bulldogs brought the baton around the track in the 4x100 meters in a time of 57.47, good for third overall. Freshman Ralynn Hickman would also tally points in the 100 meters, taking eighth (14.86).
While the boys team left Mancos without an first-place mark, they came awfully close on numerous occasions – most notably in the 4 x 200 meter relay, where the Bulldogs were nosed out by Pagosa Springs (1:39.03 to 1:39.66).
Senior Chorbin Cressler appears as if he’ll be a qualifier for state in multiple disciplines, as his 200-meter dash time of 23.81 put him second to only M-CHS junior Zander Cruzan. In the jumps, Kade Hankins finished second in the long jump, eclipsing 20 feet (20 feet 4 inches), while clearing 5-8 in the high jump, good for third.
Junior Quaden Huffaker added to the scoring equation for the Bulldogs, taking fourth in the triple jump (35 feet, 6 inches) and sixth in the 200 (25.21).
While M-CHS sent a limited contingent as the school enjoyed its spring break, the Panthers in attendance made plenty of noise. Cruzan’s continued dominance in the sprinting events, highlighted by another double title in the 100 and 200 joined with a triple jump title for Sophia Shepard.
San Juan (Utah) took home the boys team title, narrowly edging Pagosa Springs by four points, while the Pirates girls team ran away with the team crown, topping their closest pursuer, San Juan (UT) by over 40 points.
Most of the local squads will turn their focus to Ignacio on Saturday, April 9, for the Abel Velasquez Invitational, before M-CHS hosts their invitational the following weekend.
