For the Montezuma-Cortez High School girls and boys track teams, the Mickey Dunn Invitational in Grand Junction on April 1 provided an opportunity to compete against some of the Western Slope’s finest athletes.
Leading the way for the M-CHS boys was senior Austin Wagner, who finished second in the triple jump (43 feet, ¾ inches) and eighth in the long jump (19 feet, 10 inches).
“That’s a great jump,” said Panthers coach Bob Archibeque. “That’s the best jump in Class 3A right now.”
Skylar Yarbrough and Micah Hightower also performed well, finishing sixth in the 300-meter hurdles (43.20) and seventh in the 110-meter hurdles (16.97).
Senior Josh Ramos paced the Panthers in the running events, finishing fourth in the 400-meter dash (52.10) and seventh in the 800-meter run (2:03.30). Ramos also competed in the 4x400 relay, which finished second (3:31.08) along with Sonny Boren, Elisha Vaquera and Yarborough.
“Overall, I think we had some bright spots,” Archibeque said. “We had a hard week of practice, and our legs were a little tired, but our (4x400) improved a little bit. We were in the hunt to win it, and Thunderridge got us at the end.”
The Panther girls were paced by Morgan Short, who finished sixth in the 400-meter dash (1:04.71) and fifth in the long jump (15 feet, 5¼ inches). Taylor Willbanks finished 12th in the shot put (27 feet, 8¼ inches).
Next up for the girls and boys teams is the Abel Velasquez Invitational April 8 in Ignacio.