CORTEZ – In some ways, it was a beginning. In other ways, an ending. A handful of Montezuma-Cortez High School seniors ran their first home invitational on a newly resurfaced Panther Stadium track, just two days before they would walk across the same venue to collect their diplomas.
Facing off against familiar Southwest Colorado foes, the Panther girls posted a second-place team finish, while the boys collected third place in the Panther Twilight Invitational.
Zander Cruzan headlined the boys’ results for M-CHS, as the sprinter collected a victory in the 200 meters (23.51) to go along with a runner-up spot in the 100 (11.67). Senior Wes Atcitty placed well in both the 110 (20.70) and 300 meter (48.18) hurdles, as he took fourth place in both.
Sophomore Sawyer Smith dominated the triple jump, winning by over 3 feet in a leap of 40 feet, 2 inches. Fellow second-year Austin Wood took fourth.
The Panthers also topped the field in the 4x200 meter relay, whole sophomore Isaak Lewis paced three Panthers to score in the 3,200 meters.
Seniors also had their day on the girls’ side for head coach Bob Archibeque. Cassandra McCully continued to showcase herself as one of the top hurdlers in the region, running away with the 100 hurdles (17.74), and taking fifth in the 300.
Colorado School of Mines-bound Paige Yarbrough demonstrated her athletic range, as she topped the field in the high jump (4 feet, 10 inches) while taking third in the discus (99-1). Meanwhile, classmate Ridley Dennison continued a tremendous career in the Panther distance events, taking second in the 3,200 meters.
Defending state champion Avery Wright put together another dominant afternoon, sweeping the 100, 200, and 400, while the Panthers 4x200 relay took top honors. Sophomore Sophia Shepard picked up a win in consecutive meets in the triple jump (30-10), while Kenzie Huston leapt to a fourth-place performance in the long jump.
The Mancos boys track team celebrated four podium-topping performances at the Panther Twilight, as senior Dustin Morning won the long jump (18 feet, 7 inches) to pace Mancos to a fourth-place team performance.
Josh Lindner picked up a win in the high jump (5-10), while junior Connor Showalter won the shot put (49-7.75) to highlight the Bluejay field events. On the track, junior Edgar Hernandez took the lone running event victory for the blue-and-white, winning the 800 meters comfortably in a time of 2:10.31.
On the girls side, junior Hannah Sparks posted the highest individual place for the Jays, taking second in the long jump (14 feet, 4 inches).
Meanwhile, Mancos valedictorian Grace Manning, in the midst of putting the finishing touches on a fabulous distance running career, took home third place in the 800 meters (2:39.30), to help the Mancos girls fifth place as a team.
The Dolores Bears and Dove Creek Bulldogs sent small contingents to the Panther Twilight and walked away with some top honors on the evening.
Dolores sophomore Dylan Rantz raced to a second-place finish in the 300 hurdles, in a time of 47.11 seconds.
For the girls, Akima Edwards had a pair of strong sprints, taking third in the 100 (13.77), and fifth in the 200 (29.30). Senior Sam Castillo launched the discus 92 feet, 11 inches to take fourth place, while also collecting a fifth-place spot in the shot put.
For Dove Creek, Chorbin Cressler earned the top spots for the Bulldogs, taking second in the 400 meters (57.69) and fourth in the 100 meters (11.83).
Bulldog sophomore Trista Barnett collected points in the sprints, as she tallied a sixth-place finish in the 200 (29.35) and seventh in the 400 meters (1:08.73).
M-CHS track and field will next take to the track Saturday, May 22 at Wolverine Country Stadium for the Bayfield Invitational.
