Nice New Mexico weather led to some nice results for a pair of Pine River schools: Both the Bayfield and Ignacio High School track and field teams took a few top spots and a bevy of personal records at the Aztec Invitational this weekend.
“Overall for as worn out as our kids are and just mentally drained, we did really well,” IHS coach Tony Kimball said. “Set a lot of PRs down there. Really one of the first nice weather meats for us, and it made a huge difference.”
BHS
Keith Wickman went 1-2 in the meet’s top two speed events, winning the 200-meter dash in 22.88 seconds and taking second in the 100 in 11.58.
Brady Fields took eighth in the 110 hurdles, then the boys 4x400-meter relay took fifth in 3 minutes, 50.7 seconds.
Michael Hawkins pushed the field events to a good start with a first-place finish in the shot put with a 48-foot, 3-inch throw. Aubrey Brown took fourth in the discus with a 123-5 throw.
TJ Pazell was seventh in the shot at 39-8 , and he took third in javelin with a 148-foot sling.
The Wolverines went 1-2-7 in the pole vault when Micahel Voss jumped 12-6 for the win. John Arnold cleared 12 for second, and Tyler Meyers was seventh with a 10-6 jump.
The boys finished fifth with 39 points.
For the girls, Eva-Lou Edwards put together a “really nice time” in the 3,200-meter run, finishing first in 11:16.96, BHS head coach Sherri Kimball said.
Brittany Hunter was sixth in the 400 in 1:04.73, and Aubrey Lorenzen was fifth in the 1,600 in 5:58.5.
The girls 4x100 and 4x200 teams both took fifth.
Jessie Roukema took eighth in the high jump with a 4-8 leap, but she’s still looking to hit the 5-foot mark.
The BHS girls finished eighth overall.
“This was the first time we’ve had a Colorado state qualifier (meet) in New Mexico, and it went really well,” Kimball said. “We always perform really well at that Aztec venue, and they seemed to do well again.”
IHS
Automatic timing has all but eliminated ties in track, or so the Bobcats thought.
Michelle Simmons defied conventional wisdom and tied Sierra Martinez of Aztec in the 200, both finishing in exactly 27.26.
Then, Simmons took fifth in the high jump, clearing 4-10. Teammate Sky Cotton was right behind in sixth with a 4-8 jump.
Cotton also had a personal record in the long jump Friday with a ninth-place 15-7½.
Cloe Seibel took sixth in the 800 in 2:43.11, and freshman pole vaulter Chrystianne Valdez cleared 7 for a PR.
The Bobcats stacked their relay teams, and that worked out Friday and Saturday for tiny Ignacio, said Tony Kimball, son of Vernon and Sherri Kimball.
The girls 4x100 team took seventh in 56.47; the boys 4x100 also took seventh in 47.54. The boys 4x200 took sixth in 1:39.92, and the 4x400 took seventh with a season-record 3:51.55.
Klayson Smith competed in both the 4x100 and 4x200 for the first time Saturday but also took first with a 6-4 high jump and just missed the school record at 6-5.25. Nicholas Herrera was right behind him with a 5-10 jump, and Kyle Bailey took eighth by jumping 5-6.
Wyatt Hayes took sixth in the 400 – “pretty amazing,” Tony Kimball said – running the lap in 53.99. He also took ninth in the long jump, leaping 18-7½.
Both boys pole vaulters set PRs by clearing the crossbar at 9 feet.
Kelton Richmond took eighth in the shot put with a 39-6 toss and seventh in the discus with a personal-record 112-8.
The IHS boys took eighth with 14 points; the IHS girls were ninth, right behind BHS, with 10 points.
Both BHS and IHS will compete at Ignacio’s home meet, the Abel Velasquez Invitational, next weekend at Wolverine Country Stadium in Bayfield.
heraldsports@durangoherald.com
