BAYFIELD – The Bayfield boys and Alamosa girls established themselves as the top teams early on at the Pine River Invitational track and field meet Saturday at Wolverine Country Stadium in Bayfield.
The Bayfield boys pulled away from the field midway through the day, while the Alamosa girls were untouchable on their way to team titles at the meet, which also served as the Class 3A Intermountain League championships.
The Wolverines finished with 159.5 points to win the boys event and the 3A Intermountain League title. Alamosa was second with 123.25, and Class 4A Durango placed third with 114 points.
“From my point of view, all the events we knew we could come in and score well, we did that and a little bit better,” BHS coach Gary Heide said. “We knew we’d score well in the events we’ve been doing well in, but the other places that we got, like Zeb Shields getting eighth (in the 1,600 meters), getting a point here and there, it was a whole team effort. It was all of the team coming through.”
Montezuma-Cortez placed fourth with 66 points, just ahead of Mancos with 64.75 points. Ignacio placed ninth with 17 points, Dolores was 11th with eight points and Dove Creek was 12th 5.5 points.
The Alamosa girls piled up 188 points to finish 100 points ahead of Durango’s second-place score of 88 points and Bayfield’s 82 points for third place.
Cortez was fifth with 75 points, Dolores placed seventh with 29.5 points, followed by Dove Creek in eighth with 28 points. Igancio placed 11th with 13 points and Mancos was 12th with six points.
The BHS boys 4x200-meter relay team of Carl and Dawson Heide, Dylan Hilliker and Wyatt Killinen won and set a new school record of 1:32.04. The BHS boys team of Carl and Dawson Heide, Killinen and Dax Snooks placed second in the 4x400 relay with a time of 3:30.79, which is the third-fastest time in the state this year. Alamosa won the 4x400 in 3:29.35, which is the quickest time in the state.
Carl Heide dominated the hurdles with wins in the 110- and 300-meter hurdles. He won the 300 event by better than four seconds with a time of 40.40 seconds, and he beat Snooks in the 110 hurdles by 0.48 seconds.
“I’m feeling really good,” Carl Heide said after his dominant 300 hurdles. “This is the time of year when I’m starting to get into shape and getting my times to where I want them. I’m feeling really good right now.”
Snooks won the high jump for Bayfield with a mark of 6-feet, 1-inch.
The BHS boys swept the pole vault, with Colton Fine taking the title after clearing 12-06. Dawson French was second at 11-06 and Chad Winkler was third at 11 feet.
Ryan Phelps and Killinen took first and second in the shot put. Phelps won with a throw of 49-09.75. Killinen threw 47-02.
Phelps also won the discus with a throw of 155-09.
Bayfield’s Jordan Lanning won four events on the day and accounted for 40 of the BHS girls 82 points. She won the 100 hurdles in 16.29 seconds and the 300 hurdles in 49.28 seconds, which was nearly 2.5 seconds ahead of second place. She also won the high jump with a mark of 5-03 and the triple jump after hitting 33-08.5.
“It was pretty tough; I’m always nervous for it,” Lanning said after winning the 300 hurdles, which were held in the middle of the girls triple jump. “It’s always during another event, too, so that makes it more difficult, but you just gotta push through it.”
Bayfield’s Hannah Whitmer claimed the top spot in the pole vault, as she cleared 8 feet. Mikayla Barnes set a new BHS record in the shot put with a throw of 35-10.5.
Both Carl Heide and Lanning said they received a boost from the comfort level of competing on their home track and having the Bayfield crowd there to support the Wolverines.
“It’s awesome,” Carl Heide said. “I got to sleep in my own bed last night, didn’t have to wake up super early to get on a bus in the morning. It’s a huge advantage.”
For Durango, the Demons elected to bring a mix of their varsity and junior varsity rosters to the meet, and head coach David McMillan said he was pleased with the Demons’ performance and the eagerness of the younger Demons
“I think they did very well. We put a lot of our younger kids into some events they don’t normally get to race in and got some of our varsity kids out of their regular races,” McMillan said. “It was good to get them the experience, and we have a lot of passion from our younger kids, our freshmen and sophomores, and it was a lot of fun.”
The DHS girls 4x800 relay team of Madeleine Burns, Emma Fitzgerald, Bekah Moenning and Abby Scott blew out the competition and finished 1:03.24 ahead of second place with a time of 9:51.96. The DHS boys 4x800 team of Noah Bodewes, Aidan Fitzgerald, Logan Moore and Luke Tichi also picked up a win in the 4x800 with a time of 8:28.45.
Durango’s Alex Hise won the long jump with a leap of 22-09, as he timed his jump perfectly to avoid any aid from the wind. His jump was half an inch from tying the stadium record.
“Alex Hise had a massive jump,” McMillan said. “22-09, wind legal. We were standing there, he was waiting, the wind was blowing. He waited and waited and timed it perfectly. That’s a massive jump and the top jump in the state right now in 4A. It was a big day.”
Hise also won the boys 100-meter dash in 11.2 seconds.
The DHS boys also had a win in the 800, with Marcus Flint finishing in 2:07.06 for first place.
Ignacio took home one first-place finish, with Aliyana White winning the girls shot put with a throw of 35-11.5. Elco Garcia was third in the 1,600-meter run, and Natoni Cundiff placed fifth in both the boys discus and shot put.
Bayfield, Durango and Ignacio will all be at the Ron Keller Invitational on Tuesday at Durango High School.
“It’s huge,” McMillan said of being at home. “We’ve had a couple of kids we’ve been resting because they’ve seemed a little flat, but now they’re saying, ‘Coach, I need to race at home.’ The kids are excited and we’re excited to host. The wind might be a bit of a challenge, but we’re excited.”
kschneider@durangoherald.com
