Controversy couldn’t stop the Durango High School track and field athletes from breaking records and posting personal-record times at the Colorado High School Activities Association 4A State Track and Field Championships.
The Demons girls finished 13th of 40 teams with 23 points and the boys took 30th of 42 with six points. Air Academy won the girls overall title with 92 points and the Vista Ridge boys smashed the field with 93.5 to claim the overall victory.
The meet got off to a rough start for Durango as the Demons were forced to sit around through a two-day weather delay after making the trip to Lakewood. On top of that, head coach David McMillan was suspended by the Colorado High School Activities Association after his criticism of the delay and what the organization deemed to be detrimental conduct.
However, Abby Scott wasn’t fazed. Scott got the Demons off to a great start Sunday as the junior set a new Durango High School record with a fifth-place time of 2:17.28 on the 800-meter run.
“I’m honestly over the moon with this time,” Scott said in a phone interview with The Durango Herald. “It’s something I had my eye on all season. I think I had a bit of extra energy from Coach Mac.
“We found out about his suspension as he was paying for our whole team’s dinner. That’s the kind of guy Coach Mac is. He cares about the coaches and cares about us. He was voicing the same frustrations many of the people here had.”
Scott and fellow teammates Madeleine Burns, Emma Fitzgerald and Bekah Moenning took second place in Saturday’s 4x800. The team ran a personal-best time of 9:29.64 and finished second behind a strong 9:24.64 effort by Battle Mountain.
All four of the Demons will be back next year and they’re a tight-knit bunch.
“That’s the race that kept me up at night,” Scott said. “I know we didn’t win but this group worked so hard. We just formed a special bond this season. We’ll be back.”
The 4x400 relay team of Fitzgerald, Teagan Garand, Moenning and Scott finished fourth with a personal-record time of 4:01.05.
Fitzgerald, who is just a freshman, finished 13th in the 800 with a time of 2:22.17. Another freshman, Burns, finished ninth in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 5:12.09. She posted the second best freshman 1,600 time in the 4A class. The two gained valuable experience for what is likely to be their first of many trips to the CHSAA state meet.
Scott wasn’t DHS’ only school record breaker at the state meet. Senior Jessica 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.
“It was a great performance to end my high school career,” Lee said. “I wanted 10-6, but I didn’t get a shot at that height with the increments the way they were.”
The girls 4x400 relay team of Teagan Garand, Fitzgerald, Moenning,
Azalea Santillan finished 12th (33-1.5) in Sunday’s shot put competition and Alex Poulter was 16th (32-3.25).
On Saturday, 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). Razma was 16th in the long jump with a leap of 15-4 and 17th in the triple jump with 33-2.
DHS sophomore Alex Hise had the top boys finish on Sunday. Hise finished ninth in the 100-meter dash with a career-best time of 11.02. Sunday also brought a top-10 finish to senior Aiden Urban in the boys 800. The first-year track runner improved all season long and saved his best performance for last with a personal record 1:57.90.
Saturday was highlighted by senior Harry Steinberg’s seventh-place 9:49.18 effort in the 3,200-meter run. 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, Urban) finished eighth with a time of 8:12.49. Steinberg also finished 13th with a personal record 4:27.23 in the 1,600-meter run and Aidan Fitzgerald was right behind in 14th with a PR of 4:27.62.
Camden Garland finished 10th in the pole vault clearing 12-6.
“All year long we have been talking to the athletes about responding to adversity,” Durango assistant coach Johnny Bertrand said, “This week proved to be the perfect opportunity for them to rise to the many challenges we faced. They are a very special group of kids and we couldn’t be more proud of them. Although we’re losing a great group of seniors, we are excited for what the future holds.”
jfries@durangoherald.com
