The first day of the Colorado High School Activities Association State Track and Field Championships included standout performances and a few near state titles for area high school competitors. The teams will return to Lakewood's Jefferson County Stadium Sunday morning to complete the two-day, weather-shortened meet.
The Bayfield boys are right in contention in fourth place after Saturday's long day. The Wolverines have 24 points and head into Sunday chasing class 3A's first-place Lutheran which has 51.
Carl Heide finished second in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 40.49. The winner, Elizabeth's James Finken, finished in 40.42.
Sam Westbrook also had a near win, but settled for a second-place finish with a throw of 51-5.75 feet in the shot put. He was less than a foot behind winner Jacob Dack's 51-6.50. Ryan Phelps finished seventh in the shot put with 47-0 and Wyatt Killinen was 14th (43-0.5). Westbrook also took second in the discus with a throw of 157-7 and Phelps was ninth with 141-8. Lutheran's Adam Dawson was the clear discus champion with a lengthy throw of 203-1.
Bayfield's 4x200 team of Dylan Hilliker, Killinen, Gus Roberts and Ethan Tate ran in 1:32.77 and finished ninth.
The Bayfield girls are in sixth place with 19 points after Saturday's action. Elizabeth is in the lead with 57.50.
Senior Amber Johnson finished third with a time of 46.81 in the 300 hurdles. She also took 10th in the 200-meter dash. Jordan Lanning also took third with a clear of 5-3.5 in the high jump and placed seventh in the long jump (16-5.5). The BHS girls sprint medley relay (Claire Belmear, Tymbree Florian, Maddi Foutz, Bridget Goddard) placed eighth with a time of 1:54.55. Mikayla Barnes took 16th in the shot put with 32-4.
Elco Garcia started the day with a seventh-place finish in the 2A class 3,200-meter run. Natoni Cundiff came in 17th with the discus throw that reached 119-7. Bryan Gram will compete in the 400-meter dash Sunday for the Bobcats.
The meet will resume at 9 a.m. Sunday.
The Durango girls are in 14th place overall in the 4A class with 11 points after the first day of competition. Niwot leads with 40.
The DHS 4x800 relay team (Madeleine Burns, Emma Fitzgerald, Bekah Moenning, Abby Scott) ran a personal best time of 9:29.64 and finished in second place. The Battle Mountain girls were slightly better and won the event in 9:24.64.
Jessica Lee's final high school pole vault event was a special one. Lee went out with a bang as she broke her own DHS record with a 10-foot, 3-inch clear and en route to a seventh-place overall finish. Her previous record was 10-0.
The DHS 800 sprint medley relay team (Cassandra Blau, Teagan Garand, Moenning, Lana Razma) finished 15th. Garand also finished 16th in the 200 (26.62) and Razma was 16th in the long jump with a leap of 15-4.
The DHS boys are in 26th place heading into the final day. Vista Ridge has a big lead with 52.50 points and Montrose is second with 27.
Harry Steinberg took seventh in the 3,200-meter run with a time of 9:49.18. Montrose's Ian Meek defended his 3,200 state title and broke his school record with a new mark of 9:23.05.
The boys 4x800 team (Aidan Fitzgerald, Coltin Gallegos, Steinberg, Aiden Urban) finished eighth with a time of 8:12.49. Camden Garland finished 10th in the pole vault clearing 12-6.
jfries@durangoherald.com
