The talented crop of runners at Durango High School continued to improve on its already successful legacy Thursday at the Colorado High School Activities Association’s Class 4A State Track and Field Championships, and they piled on another state title in the process.
After winning the CHSAA Class 4A Cross Country State Championship in the fall, the track and field squad followed suit in the first team event at the CHSAA Track and Field Championships at Jefferson County Stadium in Lakewood.
The Durango boys 4x800-meter relay team of William Chandler, Seamus Millett, David Moenning and Harry Steinberg became the latest state champions from the juggernaut Demons squad. Their winning time of 7 minutes, 53.60 seconds edged Palmer Ridge by less than a second. Moenning played a huge role in the comeback with a blazing 1-minute, 51-second final leg to come away with a win.
Adams State commit Breann Hawman also competed for Durango on Thursday, and her personal best shot put throw of 36 feet, 4.5 inches gave her a seventh-place finish and a visit to the podium for the second consecutive year.
“We knew that if we got to David with anything less than a three-second deficit no matter who was running against him, we had a really good chance,” Durango track and field head coach David McMillan said in a phone interview with The Durango Herald. “It was a masterful performance, and for Bree (Hawman) to get on the podium again, it was just a heck of a first day for us.”
After Steinberg’s first leg and Chandler’s second, there were roughly six or seven teams in between the Demons and the leading Palmer Ridge team.
“I wasn’t sure I’d make it to Seamus because my arms went completely numb,” said Chandler, son of Bill and Virginia Chandler. “They’ve never let me down, and I wasn’t about to do it to them.”
Millett, who had to sit out the state cross country meet because of illness, made the most of the opportunity he’d been waiting for ever since.
“David Moenning and I watched as Will (Chandler) picked up some ground at the end of his leg,” said Millett, son of James Millett and Jennifer Thurston. “David said to me, ‘We’re still in this,’ right before I got the baton, and I gave all I had. Literally, it was all I had.”
All Millett had was a lot more than the others. The senior passed runner after runner before executing a flawless transition to Moenning, setting him up for an 800-meter run none of them will ever forget.
“Seamus ran his best leg of the year, and, by the time I got the baton, the Palmer Ridge guy only had about 10 steps on me,” said Moenning, son of Amy and Joshua Moenning. “All I wanted was a chance.”
Moenning, the smart and savvy senior, allowed the leader to get comfortable ahead and put on the afterburners at the perfect time.
“I let him go for the first lap and saved my kick for the last couple hundred meters,” Moenning said. “I saw Harry on the sidelines screaming, and I knew it was time to get into that next gear.”
That next gear led to a final leg of 1:51 and a wave of emotion for the junior (Steinberg) and three seniors who came together at the finish line to mob Moenning, the hero of the day.
“After my first leg, I could only watch, and I was losing my mind as I saw the guys gaining ground,” said Steinberg, son of Elizabeth and Jason Steinberg. “It was so exciting watching David do what he did, I screamed and jumped 10 feet in the air. It’s hard to put into words, but I’ll never forget these guys.”
Track and field events will continue Friday and Saturday.
jfries@durangoherald.com
