Durango High School’s track and field athletes know who will head to Denver on Thursday for the state championships. The Colorado High School Activities Association released its official state qualifier lists on Tuesday.
Two of Durango’s relay teams, the boys and girls 4x400 meter relays, will make the trip to JeffCo Stadium after qualifying on Saturday at Teddy’s Last Chance Qualifier in Fort Collins. The top 18 performances in each event in each state class make it to state.
“The boys and girls 4x400 teams were both 19th coming into Teddy's,” said DHS head track and field coach Johnny Bertrand. “We knew the girls had to run under four minutes and eight seconds and the boys had to run under 3:27. The girls ran 4:06 and the boys ran 3:26. As soon as the girls finished, they were jumping up and down and hugging. They knew they were going to state.”
Durango’s girls 4x400 team is composed of freshmen Maeve Daley and Teagan Kroeger and seniors Sofia Voss and Ainsley Sampson. The boys 4x400 team is made up of sophomores Mason Miller and George Preston, junior Seb Tripp and senior Malakai Baier. The boys moved up to 10th in Class 4A and the girls moved up to 12th in Class 4A.
Junior thrower Oshi Reider also took the opportunity to move up in the rankings at Teddy’s, throwing 36 feet, six inches to move up from 14th to eighth. The top nine finishers in every event at the state meet earn a podium spot and score points for their team, so entering the shot put seeded eighth instead of 14th is a significant improvement.
Along with Reider, Bertrand feels that Durango will have numerous athletes in contention to score points for the Demons at the state meet.
Senior Xavier Sutherlin is ranked third in 4A in the 110 hurdles with a time of 14.43, meaning he’ll be looking for a medal at state. Sutherlin also moved up in the 300 hurdles at Teddy’s, with his new time of 40.26 having him in 13th. Bertrand is excited to see what Sutherlin can do as his hard work keeps paying off and he keeps improving every week.
Another runner Bertrand believes will stand out is sophomore Lacy Ruggiero. She will be competing in the 1,600 and the 800, as well as the 4x800. Ruggiero is currently ranked 14th in the 1,600 with a 5:07.24, but Bertrand believes she can move into the top nine with the competition that the state meet provides.
To make it into the top nine, Ruggiero needs to trim off about 2.9 seconds from her current best. Throughout this season, Ruggiero has improved her 1,600 time by over 18 seconds. In the 800, she’s ranked eighth with a 2:16.98.
The girls 4x800 team, along with Ruggiero, is composed of Voss, junior Evie Morris and Daley. They’re coming into the state meet ranked 17th.
“Our girls 4x800 team is going to surprise a lot of people,” Bertrand said. “They're coming in 17th, but we haven’t raced all four of our fastest girls together. If we add up their 800 times, they have a chance of being top three.”
Durango hasn’t had a chance to run its fastest girls 4x800 because Morris has been competing in hurdles. The other members of the squad have also been running in open events and haven’t been able to come together for a 4x800.
The DHS boys 4x200 is currently ranked sixth in 4A with a 1:28.97. Bertrand said that the team of Miller, junior Gus Halls, Baier and Tripp is very capable of going under 1:28 based on their individual 200 times and doing so would put them in the top three.
Another serious medal threat is junior Owen Cheatham, whose discus throw of 155-10 has him fifth in 4A, only an inch behind the fourth-ranked mark and less than six feet out of first.
“He's already gotten personal records this year by 20 feet once and 15 feet another time,” Bertrand said. “So if he puts it together, he could also be one of those top throwers. He seems to be performing under pressure. At our league meet, it was his last throw and he had to throw a big one to get first in league. He stepped up and he threw it. He seemed almost like he thrived under that pressure.”
Thriving in the high-pressure environment is something the Demons will need to do if they want to perform well in the state championships. The meet begins Thursday at 8 a.m. and ends at 5:30 p.m. Saturday.
“Our workouts have progressed throughout the year so that we're peaking at this time,” Bertrand said. “So hopefully everyone's running their best times this weekend. Everyone we're watching, we're seeing that they’re improving. We're getting better.”
