Fort Lewis College senior Hannah Hartwell has been at the front of races her entire Skyhawk career, and Sunday’s women’s 5000-meter race at the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Pueblo was another example of that.
Hartwell took the women’s 5000 win to lead the Skyhawks teams as the women finished 11th out of 14 schools and the men finished 11th out of 12 schools. Fellow senior Alliyah Molina was the other Skyhawk in the top five, finishing third in the women’s 5000.
“We had seven of the nine (women’s) seniors at the meet, which is what I had been telling the girls since I got here is if we’re making it to the conference meet, that says a lot about the trajectory of your careers, but also our program … I was super pleased with the number of distance women we had,” FLC track and field associate head coach Gracen Key said.
Hartwell finished with a season’s best time of 16 minutes and 57.21 seconds to win the women’s 5000 over Adams State’s Maggie McCleskey in 17:01.04. Molina finished third in 17:26.31.
Key said the goal was for Hartwell to finish first and Molina to finish second in the women’s 5000. Hartwell collaborated with a few Adams State athletes to see if they could pace each other to run a faster time for nationals qualifying. Hartwell was with McCleskey for most of the race until she pulled away during the final few laps, according to Key. Molina caught and passed one of the Adams State runners who was up with Hartwell early.
The athletes won’t find out if they have the times to make it to nationals until around May 10 or 11, but Key feels confident Hartwell will have the time to make it to nationals. She also thinks Molina could make it to nationals in the 10-kilometer race with a good time in a qualifier in the coming weeks.
FLC’s women’s 4x400 relay of freshman Eliana Angelino, senior Josie Coulter, freshman Caroline Laughlin and sophomore Janaya Mancell finished sixth in 3:55.23. The women’s 4x100 relay of Mancell, Coulter, sophomore Addisyn Leeds and freshman Lily Vertress finished seventh in 3:21.47.
Key was excited to see the young talent in the relay teams shine and score some points at the conference championships. The 4x400 team broke the school record despite being put in the slower heat.
On the men’s side, senior Elijah Smith finished sixth in the 5000 in 15:10.63 and senior Brady Burrough finished seventh in the 800 in 1:52.42.
Track and field head coach Dalton Graham said if the Skyhawks had prioritized the conference meets, Smith and Burrough would’ve performed better. But both athletes were racing with tired legs after traveling to California and back to race before racing in Pueblo.
The FLC men’s 4x100 team of sophomore David Caldino, freshman Jake Leanord, freshman Demetrio Pino and sophomore Ohani Porter finished eighth in 43.17. The 4x400 team of Leanord, Burrough, sophomore Armando Fuentes and freshman Chris Munoz finished 10th in 3:21.17.
A group of Skyhawks will compete at the Franson Last Chance Meet on May 8-9 in Azusa, California.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
