As spring arrives, the 2025 track and field season officially gets underway. Athletes from Montezuma-Cortez, Mancos, Dolores, and Dove Creek are gearing up for another exciting season, ready to build on last year’s achievements and challenges for even more success at the state level.
The Bulldogs, Bears, and Bluejays look forward to another battle for San Juan Basin League supremacy, while the Panthers are eyeing another battle for an Intermountain League crown.
The Panthers aim to continue their strong track tradition, led by a promising group of underclassmen. For the M-CHS boys, a chance to battle for an IML title has been on their minds, where depth in the sprints, hurdles, jumps, and relays over the past couple seasons have spurred league success for longtime head coach Bob Archibeque’s squad.
M-CHS boasts a healthy class of senior leaders to help guide the program – which looks to carry more than 75 student-athletes between the boys and girls teams.
While some key athletes graduated for the boys, there’s plenty of talent back, meaning the Panthers will be well-stocked to field solid relays once again, just like they did in 2024, where the 400-meter and 1,600-meter relay teams qualified for state.
On the girls side, sophomore Tessa Jackson made an impact last year, tying for eighth in the high jump at the state meet, and will look to help a youthful girls program to continued growth this spring.
The Bluejays aim to continue their solid presence on the track and field scene, with younger athletes coming to step up. Junior Jonah Ritter is one of the top returnees, having posted impressive performances last year in both the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes, finishing fourth and fifth, respectively, with times of 11.27 and 22.77. Ritter’s sprinting abilities make him a threat to pile up points even in the largest invitationals that the Jays face this season.
Senior Teagan Archer leads an experienced distance program on the girls side, and the Jays hope to continue to field strong relays and field events to defend their girls San Juan Basin League title.
The Bears have been building the pieces of a strong track and field program over the recent years, with junior Michael Rantz spearheading the team’s efforts. Rantz made waves last year by breaking Dolores’ school record in the 400 meters, finishing fourth in Class 2A with a time of 51.26 seconds. Now an upperclassman, he will be looking to target even loftier goals as he’s proven himself to be one of the best sprinters in the region.
The relay teams also showed promise last season. With athletes like sophomore Aaron Nielson, junior Bridger Beyhan, and senior Tray Traweek, they will look to improve upon their 14th-place finisher in the 1,600 meter relay team. Meanwhile, the girls’ distance program continues to pace the Bears track and field squad, with seniors Maya Lowe, Keira LaRose and Elia Lowe joining sophomore Kendall Chavez as part of a state qualifying 3,200 meter relay team a year ago.
The Bulldogs enter the track season with a powerful mix of seasoned and rising athletes. Senior Ralynn Hickman, who narrowly missed out on a state title in the long jump last season, placed second overall. Hickman leads a group of Bulldogs aiming to qualify a sizable contingent to Lakewood this May.
The boys team finished 14th overall at last year’s state competition, and hope that they can continue their recent run of success while leaning on multisport athletes from the baseball team helping to solidify DC as a squad that can vie for a top spot in the SJBL.
All four area teams open their seasons at the Durango Dust Off Invitational on March 8, with highlights on the schedule including the Bob Archibeque Invitational in Cortez on April 11 and the San Juan Basin League meet in Ignacio on April 29, which leads up to the state championships in Lakewood from May 15-17.
