The Durango High School track and field teams continued their impressive starts to the season in Farmington Saturday at the Farmington Invitational.
The DHS girls team took second place with 86 points, 15 behind meet winner Piedra Vista. The boys finished sixth as the host Farmington team took the top spot.
The Demons had some impressive individual efforts from seasoned veterans and newcomers.
Abby Scott (5 minutes, 29.24 seconds) and Madeleine Burns (5:33.99) finished first and second, respectively, in a strong 1600-meter race. Cassandra Blau finished second in the 100-meter dash with a time of 13.24 seconds, and Teagan Garand was seventh (13.67). Blau also finished fifth in the 200 in 28.34. Mary Fenberg had the best DHS finish in the 400 with a fourth-place effort of 1:09.74. Kathleen Duft was fourth in 100-meter hurdles with a time of 18.05 and the 4x400 relay team of Blau, Garand, Bekah Moenning and Scott finished second.
The Demons took first and third in the shot put with Alex Poulter coming out on top with a heave of 33 feet, 0.5 inches. Azalea Santillan placed third in the shot put and second in the discus, where Poulter placed third and Emily Romero took fifth. Azalea also placed second in the javelin throw. Garand placed third in the triple jump in her first ever competition in the event.
The DHS boys field athletes also performed well. Dave Lee won the high jump with a good early season clearance of 5-foot-8. Alex Hise recorded a personal best mark of 19 feet, 10 inches in the long jump to take second. Freshman Martin Cuntz was right behind in third. Camden Garland placed third in the pole vault clearing the bar at 11-foot-6, and Braden Evans placed third in the discus.
The sprinters also earned some points for the Demons as Hise took third in the 100 (11.56) and Camden Garland took third in the 200 in 23.65. Garland also placed fifth in the 400 with a personal best mark of 55.61.
Senior Harry Steinberg finished fourth in the 1600-meter run with a time of 4:43.
Bloomfield QuadThe Bayfield and Ignacio High School track and field teams took on the talent at the Bloomfield Quad, and it was an especially memorable day for one Wolverine.
Bayfield’s Amber Johnson had the race of the day as she set a new BHS school record in the 200-meter dash with a time of 26.73. Johnson won the 200 and added another top finish in the 300-meter hurdles event with a winning mark of 47.76 seconds.
Claire Belmear, Maddi Foutz, Bridget Goddard and Isis Gonzales won the 4x400 relay with a time of 4:28.36, while Jordan Lanning’s high jump of 5 feet and a Foutz pole vault 8-foot-6 were also winners.
Goddard took second in the 400 (1:04.87) and the 800 (2:34.2). Jordan Lanning’s triple jump of 33 feet, 1.25 inches got second and Tiarra Christensen took second in shot put and third in discus.
The impressive performances led the BHS girls to a third-place team finish.
The Wolverines’ boys squad finished second with 117.5 points, right behind Kirtland’s 119.5. Brian Mashak won the 100-meter dash in 11.31 and followed up with a winning 23.03 effort in the 200. Sam Westbrook won the discus and the shot put competitions while Ryan Phelps took second behind Westbrook in the same events.
Dax Snooks’ high jump of 5-foot-8 was also a winner, and Snooks also added third-place efforts in hurdles and the triple jump.
Carl Heide dominated the hurdles with a 110-meter win in 15.80 and a 300 hurdles winning time of 41.01. Heide, Gus Roberts, Cody Speece and Josh Westbrook also took the title in the 4x400 relay in 3:42.51. Chad Winkler took second in the pole vault clearing 11 feet and Roberts took third in the 400 dash in 54.74.
Ignacio High School’s Brian Gram led the Bobcats in Bloomfield. Gram finished second in the 400 with a time of 54.57. Gram was also part of the fourth-place IHS 4x200 team. Natoni Cundiff’s discus throw of 122 feet, 4 inches was a personal record and placed him third in the event.
On the girls team, Azala Perez led the way with a sixth-place finish in the 100-meter dash and eight in the 200. Jaylynn Herrera finished in 10th place in the long jump and Lea Monroe took seventh in the pole vault.
