Durango High School has a pair of new record holders.
Two girls set school records for the Demons’ track and field team Friday at the Coronado Cougar Classic in Colorado Springs:
Shannon Maloney broke Laura Thweatt’s five-year-old mark by almost two seconds with a 2-minute, 17.7-second run.
Gaby Razma “uncorked” a 35-foot, 4½-inch triple jump, breaking Amber Malarsie’s 18-year-old, 36-1.25 record, according to an email to The Durango Herald from DHS track and field head coach David McMillan.
But the goal of the trip to the Front Range was to qualify relay teams for state, McMillan said, and on that count, the girls performed well, too.
The 4x400-meter relay team shaved about two seconds off their previous season best in 4:10.77. Then in the 4x800, they ran a 9:45.78 to take the state’s Class 4A No. 4 ranking, despite being “soundly beaten by a very strong Thompson Valley quartet.”
“Madeigh Winsor showed a return to form, and when the other three legs (Maloney, Katerina Seibert and Dominique Ward) run what they are running in the open, we will be in the hunt at the state meet,” McMillan said.
Finally, the girls 4x400 squad also set a new season best, finishing in 4:10.77.
The boys, on the other hand, didn’t hit all their high notes.
After running a personal record 22.32 (eighth best in Colorado) in the 200 preliminaries, Devin Lewis pulled up with a mild hamstring strain in the finals, also scratching him from the 4x400 lineup.
Alastair McMillan filled in and ran a 54.23-second leg, but the team still fell short of its 3:28 target, despite Joe Maloney’s 52.5, David Moening’s 53.4 and Shane Bisogno’s 51.6 splits.
The 4x800 made up for it, when McMillan, Moening, Maloney and Trent Andrews snipped 10 seconds off of their season best for an 8:08.7 – just 2.5 seconds behind Thompson Valley’s state-leading team.
McMillan also called out a handful of lone distance runners for great meets Friday, including Benji Lachelt and Nicholas Turco in the boys 3,200 and Hannah Peterson in the girls event.
“In one of the most exiting races of the night, Benji Lachelt ran a beautiful and tactical 3,200 to win the slow heat in a great time of 10:41.21, a personal best by about 28 seconds,” coach McMillan said.
“Hannah Peterson improved her all-time best by almost 40 seconds with a very strong race, finishing in 12:11.92.”
McMillan called Peterson’s race a “truly great performance” since she’s still getting into running shape after competing in the U.S. Nordic national competition in early April.
The Demons have a couple of chances left to qualify for the state meet. They will compete at the Tiger Invitational on Saturday in Grand Junction, then will return to Stocker Stadium on May 10-11 for the Southwestern League Championships.
heraldsports@durangoherald.com
