CORTEZ – Talk about a crowd-pleasing effort.
In front of their family and friends for their lone home track meet of the season, Montezuma-Cortez put on a show, topping the field for both the boys and girls team titles at the Bob Archibeque Invitational inside Panther Stadium on Friday afternoon.
Relay success headlined the day for the Panthers, as the boys and girls teams combined to win five of the eight relay races contested – with the girls taking top honors in the 4x200 and 4x400, while the boys bookended the day with wins in the 4x800 and 4x400 to go along with a 4x200 crown.
M-CHS got the day started with a bang, as the boys 4x800 relay composed of senior Ridge Hathale, junior Josh Yarbrough, sophomore Cruz Plewe and senior Ben Hoffman rallied from 20 meters down on the final lap to seize the win on the final straightaway.
Hoffman’s day included individual success as well, as the senior took third in the 400 and fifth in the 800, while Plewe earned runner-up in the mile and Yarbrough took sixth in the 800.
M-CHS required less drama to win their other two boys and two girls relay titles – showcasing their depth in the sprints in the process.
Two freshmen paced the M-CHS girls in the sprints, as Addison Spitzer took second in the 200 while classmate Faith Muzzy crossed in third overall. Junior Sarah Sparks added points to the Panthers tally with a seventh-place dash.
Spitzer joined junior Tatum Endres for a 2-3 finish in the 400, while Muzzy took second in the 300 hurdles, just sophomore Hayden Matthias. Matthias took second in the long jump, with just a bit further of a leap than junior Aubrie Matthias and sophomore Tinley Philpott.
Individual winners for the Panthers included a dominant showing from sophomore Tessa Jackson in the high jump, where she continues to rank among the state leaders with a leap of 5-feet-4 to her name. Jackson added a triple jump win while Endres won the pole vault, just above the height cleared by junior runner-up Mikayla Pena. Aubrie Matthias and senior Olivia Yarbrough took second and third behind Jackson in the triple jump, while Yarbrough claimed sixth in the high jump.
Senior Taylor Johnson led a strong day in the throws, where the Panthers earned five scoring efforts, led by Johnson’s runner-up in the shot put and fifth place in the discus. Junior Esperanza Vargas took fourth in the discus, while sophomores Journey Seymour and Peyton Perry took fifth and eighth, respectively.
The 100 hurdles was another big point haul, with sophomore Emma Pipkin joining both Aubrie and Hayden Matthias among the scorers. Finally, both the M-CHS 4x100 and 4x800 took eighth as the Panthers raced away from Monticello with the team title.
For the boys, the margin over second-place Ignacio was immense, courtesy of individual wins from their seniors Colby McMillian in both the 200 and 400, Atticus Keel in the 300 hurdles and triple jump, Houston Hurst in the pole vault, and Tay Wheat in the long jump.
Much like the girls team, depth proved to be the key in their runaway victory, with Keel, junior Wyatt Oliver, and sophomore Asher Bennetts scoring in both the 110 and 300 hurdles.
Oliver joined freshmen Cash Mack and Gage Mueller with points in the high jump, while Mack and Bennetts tallied in the long jump.
Sophomore Cody Case scored in the pole vault, and classmate Diego Muniz did likewise in the discus, while five Panthers landed in the top eight placers in the triple jump – Keel, Hurst, junior Bradey Fresquez, senior Xander Bennetts and junior Parley Smith.
The M-CHS 4x100 relay took runner-up to close out their scoring and the clean sweep of the team trophies.
The Panthers head to Durango next Saturday for the Ron Keller Invite before their trip to Bayfield on Saturday, April 26, for the Pine River Invitational will also serve as the Intermountain League championships.
