CORTEZ – With five of the eight San Juan Basin League track and field teams converging on the Bob Archibeque Invitational on Friday, the meet had the feel of a midseason measuring stick with the league meet just a few weeks away.
While the Ignacio boys and Dolores girls finished the highest in the field of SJBL competition in Cortez, Friday’s meet also demonstrated that there’ll be plenty of fireworks when the full complement of league teams show up in Ignacio on April 29 for the SJBL meet.
Mancos junior Jonah Ritter paced the way for the Bluejays, closing in on his 100-meter personal best set in last year’s 2A state meet with a win in the dash in Cortez. Just over a tenth of a second away from his best mark, Ritter claimed the lone Bluejays individual title with a time of 11.37.
“I’ve been getting better starts,” said Ritter after his dash victory, “and now I have the expectation to be able to go out there and win, whether it’s in meets around here or the state meet.”
He then joined forces with sophomores Michael Resner, James Potts and freshman Levi Priestley in a victorious 4x100 relay with a time of 45.84 that will have the Jays liking their chances to run the circuit in Lakewood in mid-May.
“It would mean a lot to me for my teammates to be able to experience something that I’ve been able to (going to the state meet),” reflected Ritter about the possibility of being a part of a relay team at state for the first time. Mancos heads into the final month of the season as a top-10 team in the 2A in the 4x100.
Ritter added a runner-up finish in the 400 – where he’s already run under 52 seconds this year, while Resner took second in the long jump and Priestley claimed sixth in the 400.
Freshman Cuinn Archer broke through with a fifth place run in the 3,200 and sophomore Gavin Smith added a seventh-place mark in the long jump to round out the scoring for the youthful Jays.
Mancos leaned on junior Brooke Jabour for success in the 100 and the 4x100, with the Jays taking second in both events with times of 13.30 and 54.05, respectively. Junior Destiny Kramer added a third-place throw in the discus, while senior Sarah Knezek claimed sixth in the high jump, and sophomore Trinity Angle matched that placement in the long jump. Senior Teagan Archer capped the Bluejay scoring with a seventh-place run in the mile.
For the Bears, more is better.
Nearly 50 athletes between the boys and girls teams has DHS dreaming big with the SJBL championships on the horizon. Between the boys and girls, the Bears filled in all eight relays, scoring in each one with the girls earning runner-up in the 4x200, 4x400, and 4x800.
Junior Kayson Green narrowly missed out on a personal best as he scored the Bears individual title in the shot put, while the boys team added a fifth place run from freshman Joseph Padilla in the 1,600, sixth-place 300 hurdle effort from sophomore Koby McClellan, and 7-8 finish in the 400 from the tandem of senior Tray Traweek and sophomore Miles Brown.
The girls enjoyed plenty of success, too, led by seniors Coralea Wright and Maya Lowe, who took second in the 300 hurdles and 800 meters, respectively. Wright added a fourth place mark in the 100 hurdles, while freshmen Elisia Winter (high jump) and Addy Thompson (triple jump) took fourth as well.
Sophomore Eleri Brown took sixth in the discus, while sophomore Kendall Chavez claimed fifth in the 400 and freshman Emilynn Hill earned eighth in the 300 hurdles.
Dove Creek continue to see their program grow with each passing week, as sophomore Gavin Gill led the way for the Bulldogs with a pair of placements in the throwing events (fourth – discus, fifth – shot put). Junior Johnathan Davis took fourth in the 800 and junior Bobby Pastorius took seventh in the 110 hurdles, while a pair of Bulldogs relay teams scored as well.
For the girls team, seniors Ralynn Hickman (third – long jump) and Jessica Alexander (sixth – 1,600) added to a sixth-place 4x100 relay for their scoring.
The Ron Keller Invitational in Durango on Saturday, April 19 awaits as the next opportunity for the area teams to compete as they get closer to the league meet at the end of the month.
