Competing under overcast skies Saturday at the Pine River Invitational track meet in Bayfield, the Montezuma-Cortez High School boys and girls track teams rode several solid individual finishes by their athletes to third-place finishes in the team standings.
On the girls side, M-CHS was led by freshman Avery Wright, who shone bright with first-place finishes in the 100-meter dash (12.72), 200-meter dash (26.20) and 800-meter run (2:32.72). Also in the top three in an individual event was sophomore Cassandra McCully, who placed third in the 100-meter hurdles (18.23).
Other top finishers in at least one individual event included sophomore Devon McHenry, who placed fourth in the 100-meter hurdles (19.19) and 300-meter hurdles (55.69), sophomore Elaina Short, who finished fourth in the 100-meter dash (14.10), and senior Morgan Short, who soared to a fourth-place finish in the long jump (15 feet, 9¾ inches).
M-CHS also finished atop the standings in the 4x100-meter relay (56.66) thanks to impressive runs by junior Abigayle Gray, freshman Kenzie Huston, Elaina Short and McHenry.
The Lady Panthers’ 800-meter sprint medley relay comprised of Morgan Short, Elaina Short, Avery Wright and Aryelle Wright also took top honors and broke the stadium record, which was set by Alamosa in 2003.
On the boys’ side, M-CHS was paced by junior Titus Jackson, who placed first in the 110-meter hurdles (15.92) and second in the 300-meter hurdles (41.20) and the high jump (5 feet, 10 inches).
Junior Valentino Rodriguez placed second in the 100-meter dash (11.92) and fourth in the 200-meter dash (24.00). Senior Jens Jorgensen finished third in the high jump (5 feet, 8 inches). Senior Stevie Fuentes crossed the line fifth in the 400-meter dash (55.02), and junior Will Brown placed fifth in the 110-meter hurdles (20.50).
M-CHS’ 4x100-meter relay made up of Tyler Cutrone, Andrew Wood, Jacob Schuster and Rodriguez placed first overall (45.75). The Panthers’ 4-x-200-meter relay team of Jayden Karo, Cutrone, Jackson and Rodriguez (1:34.13) also placed first.
M-CHS’ 4-x-800-meter relay team of Wes Atcitty, Ben Castillo-Calvillo, Davian Robinson and John Whyte placed second overall (9:36.46).
Durango High School finished first overall, and Alamosa High School placed second overall in both the boys’ and the girls’ meet standings.
Next up for both M-CHS teams will be the Ron Keller Invitational in Durango on April 20.