DENVER – On Saturday, the Colorado state high school track and field championships wrapped up at JeffCo Stadium, with 22 Durango High School athletes competing. DHS earned six total top-nine finishes (top-nine finishers earn podiums), including two from senior hurdler Xavier Sutherlin and two from sophomore Lacy Ruggiero in the 1,600 meters and the 4x800.
“The kids have been working hard,” said Durango track and field head coach Johnny Bertrand. “We've been preparing them through the season to have their best performances toward the end of the season. Of course, our assistant coaches have been getting the athletes prepared and the athletes have been doing the work to get themselves here to state. Last year, we had a smaller group. This year, we had almost twice as many.”
Out of all the DHS athletes, the highest placer was Sutherlin. He was the only Demon to earn a top-three finish, taking third in the class 4A 110 hurdles with a time of 14.58 seconds. He also placed ninth in the 4A 300 hurdles with a time of 40.71 after coming into the event seeded 13th.
“That was really, really hard for him, but he did his best and he made it in,” said DHS hurdles coach Maddie Obernesser about Sutherlin qualifying for state in the 300 hurdles. “The 300 isn’t necessarily his race. He focuses a lot more on the 110. But he’s a versatile athlete and he focused on doing a lot of longer stuff so that he would be good for the 300. He also focused on a lot of curve running and things like that are more difficult for the 300.”
Ruggiero was the other Durango athlete to earn two podium finishes. She ran a 5:01.43 to take seventh in the 4A 1,600 after entering as the 14th seed.
“She went out and ran her race,” Bertrand said. “Starting off, she was in the middle of the pack. She just started picking girls off one at a time … moved herself up into seventh. There was a time when two girls kind of passed her. You could just see her dig deep, give it everything she had to pass those girls again and then hold them off at the end to finish seventh and run that 5:01.”
Ruggiero’s time is the fastest 1,600 by a DHS girl since Laura Thweatt ran a school-record 4:59.87 in 2007. Bertrand is excited to see where Ruggiero can go, since Thweatt ran her time as a senior and Ruggiero is still a sophomore.
The 4x800 team of Ruggiero, freshman Maeve Daley, junior Evie Morris and senior Sofia Voss ran 10:02.22 to finish ninth in 4A after Daley, the second runner, was tripped and fell with about 430 meters to go in her leg.
Daley was running at the front of a pack when a runner behind her hit her foot, causing her to fall. The baton was knocked out of her hand, with several runners jumping over or around her. She was spiked in the leg and had track burns on her knees. Daley recovered and finished her leg in an effort that earned passionate cheers from the JeffCo Stadium crowd.
“That’s hard,” Bertrand said. “You lose all your momentum. You have to get up and reaccelerate. Her legs were probably hurt. She got up and toughed it out that next lap. She got the baton to Evie, who ran a great race. Same with Lacy, having to overcome seeing their teammate fall and still having to compete. They went from 17th and finished ninth. They got on the podium. We’re just really proud of how they overcame that.”
The other two Durango podium finishes came courtesy of junior throwers Owen Cheatham and Oshi Reider. Cheatham’s discus throw of 154 feet, one inch was good for fourth place in 4A, while Reider’s shot put throw of 35-1 1/4 earned her ninth place in 4A girls shot put.
“Owen's got his eyes set on the school record (161-4, set by William Knight in 2022),” said Bertrand. “At the beginning of the year, he was barely throwing over a hundred feet in the discus. Then he threw 120, then he threw 140, and then he threw 155. He just kept progressing throughout the year.”
Bertrand said that Reider also progressed throughout the year to earn a spot at state, having strong performances in the most important moments.
“When she needed a big throw toward the end of the year to get her into state, she did it. Then at state she made finals and she needed a good throw. She scratched her first two in finals and needed a good throw to solidify herself onto the podium. She threw her best throw, 35- 1 1/4. And that got her on the podium.”
Durango had two other athletes move up in the rankings. Junior Seb Tripp came into the 100 ranked 18th and finished 10th with an 11.17. Junior Grant Gordon came into pole vault seeded 11th and finished 10th with a vault of 13-1.
The Demons will have numerous state competitors returning next year. Daley and fellow freshman Teagan Kroeger competed in the girls 4x400, which finished 17th with a 4:18.25. Three members of the boys 4x400 (which was disqualified at state) will also be returning: Tripp and sophomores Mason Miller and George Preston.
Miller, Gordon, Tripp and junior Gus Halls were all members of the 4x100 or 4x200 and will be back next season. The 4x100 finished 10th with a 43.12 and the 4x200 finished 13th with a 1:30.37. Two members of the boys 4x800, which finished 12th in 8:16.62, will come back: junior Slader Schweitz and sophomore Ben Lively. Reider, Cheatham, Morris, and Ruggiero will also be returning with state experience.
The Demons will miss Sutherlin’s production in the hurdles as one of the top Durango track and field athletes for the past two years, consistently earning medals at every meet he attends. His dedication to improving and status as a cultural leader have made him a staple on the team, as evidenced by his pre-meet speeches this season. Fellow senior Malakai Baier was also an important part of the team, anchoring the 4x400 and cementing himself as one of the top DHS sprinters.
Voss will be leaving behind a legacy, battling through surgeries and injuries to compete in the 4x400 and 4x800 at state this year. She has been a top DHS distance runner since her freshman year and has had a decorated track career. Fellow senior distance runner Luke Swenk has also had a strong career, anchoring the 4x800 this season and competing at state since his sophomore year.
“We're going to miss all of our seniors, but we're excited,” Bertrand said about the future of DHS track. “We had a lot of freshmen, sophomores, juniors at the state track meet this year. Hopefully, we'll have them back plus a few more next year.”
