Ignacio had some strong performances at the 2025 Pine River Invitational at Bayfield High School on Saturday, finishing sixth overall.
Cayson Burcham had one of the better performances for the Bobcats. Moving to the front early in the 800-meter final, the IHS sophomore opened a lead he never lost and captured first place overall in a time of two minutes and 2.45 seconds, 7.29 ticks faster than runner-up Cody Williams of Alamosa. IHS’ James Martin clocked an eighth-place 2:20.66.
In the PRI’s 1,600 feature, Martin was a team-best fourth (4:59.47), while Cameron Bell, seeded in the first of two heats, posted a 5:34.28 which ended up ranking 10th. Additionally, Bell earned Ignacio another top 10 result by finishing seventh (12:40.37) in the 3,200 meters – helping the Bobcats tally 56 points and place sixth overall.
Montezuma-Cortez racked up a winning 137 points, with AHS (118) placing second and Pagosa Springs (107) third.
IHS’ Lincoln deKay and Dillon Brann were top 10 in both the 110- and 300-meter hurdles, with deKay first (16.78 seconds) in the former and fourth (44.54) in the latter, and Brann ninth (19.73) in the shorter and seventh (45.54) in the longer.
Zane Pontine rose to third place in the pole vault via his best clearance of 11 feet, one inch (BHS’ Zach Hufnagel and M-CHS’ Houston Hurst shared first as each cleared 11-7”), and Trace Crane took sixth in the 400 m by clocking 55.09 seconds. Fastest in the sprint’s first heat (Crane went in the fourth) race, Kendrick Nossaman’s 55.44 ultimately held up for seventh place.
The 4x400 relay posted a fourth-place 3:42.01, Evan Perkins flung the discus a seventh-place 110-5 and Norman Hackett ended up ninth with a wind-aided 17-8 long jump (he also placed 13th in the triple jump with a 34-11 best). Crane took 10th in the discus with a 99-5 best.
Only two girls represented Ignacio at the Pine River Invite. Juliann Avila placed fifth in the high jump (4-7), sixth in the 300 m hurdles (56.23) and eighth in the 100 m hurdles (19.69).
In the girls team standings, IHS earned six points and placed tenth. Earning the title was Alamosa (176), with San Luis Valley rival Centauri (116) coming in second and M-CHS (100) third.
Looking ahead, Ignacio will next see action Friday at Cañon City’s 2025 Blossom Invitational, with action set to begin at 9 a.m. Results from the IHS-hosted San Juan Basin League Championships on Tuesday were unavailable at press time.
