The Durango track and field team continued its winning ways with the boys team taking first place out of 21 schools at the Steel City Track Invitational in Pueblo. The girls finished fifth out of 23 schools.
“It's nice to travel around in different parts of the state and see different competition as opposed to competing against the same kids and the same schools every weekend,” Durango track and field coach Johnny Bertrand said.
The Demons’ numbers this past weekend were depleted with numerous athletes at prom, injured or sick, according to Bertrand.
In the girls’ triple jump, Durango sophomore Aileen McManus won the event with a PR jump of 32-04.
“When you see a lot of amateur triple jumpers, their second phase is really short,” Bertrand said. “She's been working on lengthening hers and I think that's where that extra distance is coming from.”
In girls shot put, Durango sophomore Oshi Reider finished fourth with a throw of 30 feet. Demons junior Violet Mazenko finished in fifth with a throw of 29-08.
Durango senior Charlie Dillman finished second in the men’s 3200-meter race with a time of 9 minutes and 54.9 seconds. Junior AJ Bonanno finished fifth with a time of 10:29.36.
Demons junior Xavier Sutherlin impressed in Pueblo by winning the boys 110 and 300 hurdles. In the 110, Sutherlin won with a time of 15.82 seconds which was almost a second faster than second place. In the 300 hurdles, he won with a time of 43.21.
“Xavier is one of the most self-driven athletes that we've coached in a long time,” Bertrand said. “He studies, he watches video and he studies form. He takes everything that his coaches say and really works hard on trying to do the right thing. As far as having the correct running form and going over their hurdles the right way, he's very meticulous on trying to get really good at hurdles and it's paying off.”
In the girls 4x800, the Demons finished second with freshman Lacy Ruggiero, sophomore Mira Quayle, sophomore Evie Morris and junior Sofia Voss combining for a time of 10:18.97. Bertrand is excited about the potential of the group and thinks they can get under 10 minutes at some point this season.
Durango sophomore Seb Tripp finished third in the boys 100 with a time of 11.69 and freshman Mason Miller finished fourth with a time of 11.80. There was a huge headwind blowing in the face of the 100 runners which made things difficult according to Bertrand.
In the boys 1600, the Demons had a 1-2 finish with junior Luke Swenk finishing first with a time of 4:42.27 and Dillman finishing second with a time of 4:45.41.
Ruggiero finished second in the girls 1600 with a PR time of 5:22.04. This is the top time in class 4A for a freshman girl in the girls 1600 and is the third best time in the state regardless of class for a freshman in the girls 1600.
“She loves running,” Bertrand said about Ruggiero. “You just see it on her face when she's running. She loves doing it and she's good at it.”
Morris finished fifth in the girls 300 hurdles with a time of 52.25. Swenk finished fifth in the boys 800 with a time of 2:09.15.
The Demons won the boys 4x400 with sophomore William Zahradnik, freshman George Preston, Miller and Tripp with a time of 3:38.30.
Durango is back in action on Friday and Saturday at the Pomona Invitational in Arvada. Bertrand said it will have some of the best competition Durango track and field has seen this year.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
