Competing at the Colorado State Track Championships in Lakewood, May 14-16, the Montezuma-Cortez High School track teams put an exclamation point on their outstanding seasons.
“We had some very good performances and some personal records in there,” said M-CHS boys’ coach Bob Archibeque. “(The state meet) was quite the experience.”
On the boys’ side, the Panthers were led by senior Justice Ramos, who continued a torrid late-season streak of best times and finished 4th in 800-meter run (1:55.74) and 7th in the 400-meter dash (49.93).
In the 800-meter run, Justice Ramos led for part of the race before being overtaken by Cheyanne Mountain High School’s William Mayhew, who won the event with a state record time of 1:50.74. Justice Ramos’ time broke the M-CHS school record of 1:56.95, which he set in Grand Junction earlier this year.
“Justice had one of the fastest 400s that we’ve had in the last fifteen years in Cortez and not too many high school kids can achieve a 1:55 in the 800,” Archibeque said. “Justice was right with (Mayhew) most of the way and (Mayhew) is ranked nationally. Justice definitely has the capably of running in college.”
Also turning in a stellar individual performance for the Panthers was senior Dante Dennison, who placed 16th in the shot put with a throw of 44 feet, 1 ¾ inches. Dennison was competing at the state meet for the first time in his high school career.
“I thought that Dante had a great year,” Archibeque said. “Here was a guy that started the season at 40 feet and he made a heck of an improvement. He just got better and better every week. Our throwing coach, Daria Sparks, did a great job of helping him to get to the point that he did.”
Rounding out M-CHS”s male athletes that competed in the state meet were Josh Ramos, Randy Haley and Elisha Vaquera, who combined with Justice Ramos to race to a ninth place finish in the 4x400-relay (3:29.28).
After just missing the M-CHS school record in the preliminary round with a time of 3:25.56, the group had difficulty with a relay exchange in the finals.
“We had a problem on one of the exchanges in finals and we lost a couple of seconds,” said Archibeque. “That kind of put us out of the top pack and the teams up there were extremely fast. Overall though, our group started the season at a 3:41 and they brought it down to a 3:25, which was outstanding.”
M-CHS finished 27th overall in the Class 4A standings and Palmer Ridge High School finished first overall.
“Overall, as I look at the year, it was a great year,” Archibeque said. “We had our ups and downs, but as a whole, we did very well.”
On the girls’ side, M-CHS was led by Tayla Topaha, who finished 10th in the discus with a throw of 111 feet, 1 inch. Rachel Demby finished 16th in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:01.82.
While both the M-CHS boys’ team and the M-CHS girls’ team will lose several seniors prior to next season, a talented group of underclassmen should allow both teams to be even better next season.
“Our boys’ team is losing some seniors, but as far as the future, it’s going to be really good,” said Archibeque. “Our sophomore crew is as good as any sophomore crew that I’ve been around. I’m excited for the future.”