Sitting seventh after the 400-meter dash's preliminary heats wrapped up inside Fred Cook Memorial Stadium, Ignacio's Bryan Gram lowered his 53.89 to a 53.72 in the final and improved to a strong fourth at the 2016 Aztec (N.M.) Invitational.
Gram came in behind only 4A Durango's David Moenning (51.06), 4A Montezuma-Cortez's Elisha Vaquera (53.00) and 5A Gallup Miyamura's Kyran Morgan (53.43), beating 5A Farmington's Joaquin Gonzalez (54.20) and 4A Kirtland Central's Aidan Cockrell (54.68)
His three points from the race were the Bobcat boys' total at the April 22-23 gathering, tying 3A Crownpointfor 13th place out of 16 scoring squads.
5A Farmington topped the table with 116.5, with the hosting 5A Tigers (76) coming in second.
With a throw landing 115 feet, four inches downrange, Natoni Cundiff was a near-miss seventh in the discus. He was 11 feet four inches behind AHS' Brady Moffet in the hunt for the specialty's last team point.
Joining Colten Smithson, Ryan Stollsteimer and John Valdez, Gram also helped IHS' 4x200 take eleventh in 1:52.49, but it was the only relay in which the 'Cats ran. He was also 12th in the long jump with a best of 18'9.5".
Valdez placed 54th in the 100 (13.13) out of 104 competitors, and took 47th out of 86 with a 26.49 in the 200. He also fared similarly in the 400, coming in 50th with a 1:02.17.
Up next for Ignacio will be the 58th annual Bloomfield Invitational on April 30 (start time 9 a.m.), then the Terry Alley Invitational in Pagosa Springs on May 7.
2016 B&B/AZTEC INVITATIONAL BOYS' STANDINGS: 1.Farmington 116.5, 2.Aztec 76, 3.Kirtland Central 59, 4.Bayfield 46, 5.Bloomfield 42.5, 6.Durango 37, 7.Montezuma-Cortez 30.5, 8.Gallup Miyamura 24.5, 9.Mancos 19, 10.Pagosa Springs 10, 11.Antonito 6, 12.Shiprock Northwest 5, T-13.Ignacio and Crownpoint 3, T-15.Dolores and Farmington Navajo Prep 2.
