LAKEWOOD – After two days of the Colorado High School Activities Association state track and field championships, the Bayfield High School boys are in prime position to capture its first team title.
The Wolverines have a 10-point cushion in the Class 3A team standings with 45 points after a strong Friday at Jefferson County Stadium in Lakewood.
“We’re feeling really good about this,” BHS senior Dawson Heide said. “Everybody is doing their best, and we should be able to pull this out if everything goes as expected. I’m just really proud we have a team that can do it.”
The Classical Academy, a private school from Monument, sits second with 35 points, followed by Holy Family with 23 points, Roaring Fork with 21 and Faith Christian rounding out the top five with 20 points.
The Wolverines started the day well, with David Hawkins and Ryan Phelps placing second and fourth, respectively, in the shot put to get Bayfield’s momentum rolling. Hawkins threw 51 feet, 3.75 inches, and Phelps hit 48-10.25. Reece Davidson of Faith Christian won the event with a throw of 53-04.50. Davidson edged Phelps in Thursday’s discus throw.
“We kind of copied yesterday,” BHS head coach Gary Heide said. “The pole vault and discus were big points for us (Thursday). We needed them to be big points for us and they were. And we knew we needed to get some solid points out of the shot put to be in the running for the title, and the boys came through – both David and Ryan, and Wyatt (Killinen) just missed out. That was a big start for us to know we were still in the running.”
Killinen finished 10th at 44-09.50. The top nine places earn team points.
The Wolverines got key points from its 4x200-meter relay team of Dawson Heide, Dylan Hilliker, Killinen and Shea Marx, who placed fifth with a time of 1:31.30, which is a new BHS record.
“We’ve worked as hard as we could to get into shape for this,” Dawson Heide said of the record-setting run. “I guess it paid off and we got the place we deserved after how hard we worked.”
Lutheran won the 4x200 in 1:28.01, a new 3A meet record. The previous record had stood since 2002 when Yuma ran in 1:28.31.
BHS also set itself up for a big closing day Saturday with great showings in preliminary events.
The 4x100 relay team of Carl and Dawson Heide, Hilliker and Killinen posted the second-fasted time of 43.23, and Carl Heide qualified first in the 300 hurdles and set a 3A meet record along the way, as he finished in 38.36. The previous record of 38.39 was set by Ben Myers of Colorado Springs Christian in 1995. Elizabeth’s Mason Anthony was close behind Carl Heide and finished in 38.71.
“Carl got the state meet record, but it’s only prelims. That doesn’t really mean anything unless he comes through (in the finals),” coach Heide said. “But I’ll tell you what, the kid from Elizabeth (Anthony) is a great hurdler. He got injured a few weeks ago, but I can see he’s back to 100 percent. One mistake, and it’ll be lights out for us.”
The BHS girls sit in 16th place with 10 points.
Coach Heide said he’s expecting a big day out of Jordan Lanning on Saturday after the junior moved into the finals of the 300 hurdles.
Lanning, who won the high jump Thursday, has also qualified for the 100 hurdles finals and will compete in the long jump Saturday.
In Class 4A, the Durango girls team is in ninth place with 15 points.
The girls team title looks to be a two-team race between Valor Christian and Niwot. Valor Christian leads after two days with 53 points, Niwot has 45 points. Battle Mountain is third with 27 points.
The Demons picked up four points Friday after senior Abby Scott placed sixth in the 800 with a time of 2:17.59. Niwot’s Taylor James won in 2:13.55.
“I think it’s definitely one of the hardest races I’ve run in high school,” Scott said after the 800. “I’m proud of it. It wasn’t necessarily the time I was hoping for. I’ve run a little faster, both this year and last year, but I think when I’ve had a hard race and haven’t run well, I’ve kind of given up and thrown my hands up and said that’s it. I got the advice to run with your head, and then run with your heart. Today, my legs weren’t really lining up with my head, so I needed to have a little extra heart.”
The DHS boys are 16th in the team standings with nine points.
The Demons grabbed five points Friday when Alex Hise, a junior, finished fifth in the long jump with a leap of 21-02.75. Raymon Harper of Vista Ridge won after jumping 23-03.
Sophomore Aliyana White secured seven points for Ignacio’s girls team when she placed third in the shot put. She threw 37-01.50. Alex Bauer of Burlington won with a throw of 39-02.25.
The Bobcats are 23rd in Class 2A with seven points. Lyons leads the way with 44 points. Crested Butte is second with 24 points, and Paonia and Peyton are tied for third with 20 points.
Ignacio’s boys didn’t acquire any points Friday and sit tied for 30th with Byers with two points. Lyons leads the 2A boys standings with 36 points, followed by Resurrection Christian with 27 points and Hotchkiss with 26 points.
The teams and individuals who come away with titles Saturday certainly will have earned them, as the forecast is calling for cool weather and plenty of rain. The predicted high is 50 degrees with winds of 10 to 15 mph and a 90 percent chance of rain.
“It’s only going to be one day, and we’re in the hunt for the title, so I think we’ll be fine,” coach Heide said. “We’ll win the title in any weather.”
kschneider@durangoherald.com
