In a virtual game of can-you-top-this which should be most enjoyable to watch at track-and-field meets this spring, Bayfield throwers Sam Westbrook and Ryan Phelps put their arms on display at last Saturday's Piedra Vista Invitational in Farmington.
They decisively put down all challengers in both the shot put and discus.
Westbrook, a senior, heaved the former a winning 47 feet, two inches inside Hutchison Stadium to capture first place, with the junior Phelps earning second via his 44'5.5" max. Those throws beat teammates Colton Barker (43'11.5") and Tim Moore (41'4.5").
Westbrook winged the lighter apparatus 139 feet, six inches to earn first, with Phelps' second-place 132'11" still more than four feet farther than third-place Braden Evans (128'9") of 4A Durango.
Also storming onto the 2017 scene was BHS junior Carl Heide. Ruling the 110-meter hurdles, clocking 15.97 and winning by 0.57 over 5A Farmington's Justin Williams, he repeated the feat in the 300-meter hurdles with a first-place 40.75, beating FHS' Juan Medrano by an impressive 1.73 ticks.
With no barriers in their way, the Wolverine sprinters also did quite well for their first competition.
Senior Brian Mashak was second in the 100 meters, his 11.58-second pass trailing only the 11.43 of Farmington's Axel Fowler. In the 200, Briant Cuellar's third-heat 25.57 was later bumped down to 15th, but Gus Roberts took second in the 400. Only 3A Montezuma-Cortez's Josh Ramos (52.33) bettered his 55.41 effort.
At double the distance, Sloan Mazur took third in the 800 (2:10.31), with Cody Speece (2:19.35) and Jackson Sibley (2:19.62) finishing ninth and tenth, respectively.
Tops amongst Bayfield's relays was the 4x800, as Speece, Sibley, Alex Knight and Mazur combined to bring the baton across the finish line in a second-place 9:03.51 (DHS won in 8:47.19).
The 1,600 sprint medley placed fourth in 4:15.35, the 4x200 (Roberts, Josh Westbrook, Jesse Westbrook, Cuellar) took fifth in 1:39.70, and the 4x400 (Ethan Tate, Roberts, Speece, Heide) was sixth in 3:54.15.
Able to clear the same height (5'8") as 6A PVHS' Cole Clafton, but with more misses, BHS junior Dax Snooks settled for second in the high jump and took fifth in the triple (38'0"). Jaden Vitagliano was eighth in the long jump (18'10.75").
The Wolverines will next compete at Friday afternoon's Bloomfield Quad, beginning at 3 p.m.
