Racing around their new track while competing against athletes from 11 schools, the Mancos High School girls and boys track teams more than held their own during the Mancos Bluejays Invitational Track Meet on May 29.
Pacing the many members of the Bluejays boys team that turned in top-five individual finishes was junior Connor Showalter, who placed first in the shot put with a throw of 51 feet, 11 inches, and second in the triple jump with a mark of 38 feet, 10 inches.
Junior Edgar Hernandez also performed well for Mancos, with a second-place finish in the 800-meter run (2:05.87), a second-place finish in the 1,600-meter run (4:47.38), and a fourth-place finish in the triple jump (36 feet, 5 inches).
Other top finishers included Dustin Morning, who placed fourth in the shot put (41 feet, 8 inches), Cole Dainty-Guifoyle, who finished fourth in the long jump (18 feet, 5 inches), and Josh Linder, who placed fifth in the high jump (5 feet, 6 inches).
As a team, the Bluejays finished sixth out of the 12 teams in the boys’ standings. Durango High School won the boys championship.
On the girls’ side, Mancos was paced by senior stalwart Grace Manning, who finished fourth overall in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 6:06.22.
Desi Dainty-Guifoyle finished fourth in the 100-meter dash (13.87) and fourth in the 200-meter dash 29.12). Clara Most placed sixth in the 800-meter run (3:03.06), and Chloe Endres crossed the line seventh in the 800-meter run (3:04.10).
Overall, the Lady Jays team finished 10th in the 12-team meet, which was won by Durango High School.
Next up for the Mancos High School track teams will be the Ron Keller Invitational, in Durango on June 5.
