On an average year, running 3,200 meters in 9 minutes, 10.44 seconds would score a high school boy a state track and field title. This year, that time was fast enough for fifth place, but it was fast enough for Land Lambert to break Durango High’s school record.
“On a normal year that would get him first, but the four guys in front of him all broke the previous state meet record,” said DHS head coach Johnny Bertrand.
Connor McCormick of Longmont won the 3,200 in a record 9:03.83.
Facing stiff competition at the Class 4A championships, held at Jefferson County Stadium Thursday through Sunday, the DHS boys finished seventh as a team with 38 points while the DHS girls placed eighth with 33.
“Anytime you finish in the top 10, you have to be happy with that,” Bertrand said.
In the Class 3A championships, Bayfield’s girls scored 6.5 points to place 28th while its boys finished 35th with two points. Montezuma-Cortez’s boys scored 16 points to finish 17th.
In Class 2A, three Ignacio girls reached the podium to finish 26th with 10 points. Ignacio didn’t have any boys compete at state; Mancos’ boys scored 35.5 to finish 11th.
Before breaking the school record in the 3,200 on Saturday, Lambert tweaked his hamstring Thursday in the 4x800 and thought he might have to scratch. Snow, however, pushed Friday’s events to Saturday and gave him some time to recover while the team bonded over some laser tag.
“That extra day of rest helped him a lot,” Bertrand said.
Lambert also had a strong 1,600 on Sunday, placing fifth in 4:18.34. Damian Frausto crossed about a half-second after Lambert in ninth place (4:18.92). Saturday, Frausto placed sixth in the 800 in 1:55.92.
Sydney Flores had two second-place finishes. After throwing the shot put 38 feet, 5.25 inches on Thursday, Flores came back Sunday with a personal best 121-1.00 in the discus.
“That feels like a win because the girl who won was way above everybody else,” Bertrand said. Giovanna Meeks of Northfield threw the discus 161-11 to win, while the rest of the top eight finished within 7 feet of Flores.
Will Knight, meanwhile, had a pair of third-place finishes for the Demons, including a personal record throw of 161-04 in the discus.
Josh Bates just missed the podium, placing 10th with a throw of 137-11.
In the shot put, Knight placed third with a throw of 51-02.75 and Bates finished 16th at 43-07.00.
In the girls’ 3,200, Willow Lott was in about 14th place after the first mile. “Then she started picking them off and had a great kick at the end,” Bertrand said. Lott reached the podium in ninth place at 11:13.18.
Angela McManus, meanwhile, was surrounded by Niwot girls in the 800, but broke up the green jerseys to place fifth in 2:15.57. Niwot grabbed the top four spots and the sixth spot in the race.
In Sunday’s pole vault, Durango’s athletes just missed the podium. Halle Moore cleared 9-09 to place 11th, Seneca Wilson cleared 9-03 to finish 15th and Jacob Fenberg cleared 12-03 to place 14th in the boys’ competition.
“Our pole vaulters were right at their PRs,” Bertrand said.
Durango also got points in both the boys and girls 4x400 relays.
Landon Roberts, Maddox Bryant, Frausto and Jaxon Fancher crossed sixth in 3:25.50.
In the girls’ 4x400, Mason Turner, Sofia Voss, Avery Cerwin and McManus crossed seventh in 4:04.21. Bertrand noted that Turner ran her fastest 400 of the year by about two seconds on Sunday.
DHS also scored in both 4x800 relays, with its girls crossing second in 9:33.13 and its boys placing fifth in 8:01.41.
Roberts and Fancher competed in the 400, but didn’t reach the finals. Roberts finished 11th in 50.47; Fancher placed 14th in 50.87.
Coach Bertrand, meanwhile, was named this year’s Southwestern League coach of the year for both the boys and girls after guiding the teams to league titles. He was the boys’ SWL coach of the year last year too, but gave his staff a lot of credit for the teams’ success.
In the Class 2A championships, three Ignacio Bobcats competed at state, and all three scored team points. Maci Barnes got IHS on the scoreboard Saturday, finishing eighth in the 800 in 2:30.42.
On Sunday, Alexis Pontine threw the discus 111-10 to finish fifth.
Lexy Young, meanwhile, placed seventh in the 200 in 28.03. Young also competed in the 100 and finished 15th in 13.59.
In the 3A championships, Bayfield had two athletes reach the podium. Nykole Meshaw cleared 5-03 to finish third in the high jump, and Tristan French cleared 11-06 in the pole vault to place eighth.
Abby Tate finished 17th in the 400 (1:05.66), Deegan Barnes placed 15th in the discus (116-07), Alaysia Kremer placed 10th in the shot put (31-09.75). Elissa Mars cleared 8-02 to place 14th in the pole vault.
Niwot won the 4A girls team title with 170 points, 109 more than second-place Mullen. Longmont won the 4A boys title with 76.
The 3A champs were Lutheran’s boys (83) and Liberty Common’s girls (98).
Cedaredge, meanwhile, won the 2A girls title with 118 points, and Yuma claimed the boys title with 59.
