Competing against many of the state’s finest athletes at the Colorado High School State Track and Field Championships in Lakewood, May 17-19, several members of Montezuma-Cortez High School’s boys’ and girls’ track teams performed well.
Among them was Morgan Short, who overcame difficult weather conditions to place seventh in the long jump (15 feet, 10 inches). Short also crossed the line 17th in the 200-meter dash (27.29) and 18th in the 100-meter dash (13.24).
“Morgan is a wonderful, strong competitor,” said M-CHS head coach Jeremy Yarbrough. “It was raining and really cold when she was jumping. It was a rough day for long jump, but she came through and had one good jump. She realized that everybody was struggling in the rain.”
Also turning in a solid performance for the girls’ team was senior hurdler Ashley Wood, who placed 16th in the 300-meter hurdles (50.20) and 17th in the 100-meter hurdles (17.33) to cap off a successful prep career.
“Ashley was a wonderful leader this season,” Yarbrough said. “She trained hard and worked hard. She definitely went out and gave it all that she had, and we’ll definitely miss her next year.”
The girls’ team also fielded a 4x100-meter relay made up of Aryelle Wright, Elaina Short, Morgan Short and Wood, which placed 17th overall (56.35).
The girls’ 4x200-meter relay team of Hannah Molzahn, Abigayle Gray, Elaina Short and Ashley Wood placed 18th overall (1:32.70), and the sprint medley team of Morgan Short, Aryelle Wright, Elaina Short and Ashley Wood placed 10th (1:52.87).
The M-CHS girls’ team placed 19th overall in Colorado’s 3A Classification with 19 total points. Classical Academy took home the team title with 110 points overall.
On the boys’ side, M-CHS senior Jasen Engel ran a season-best time in the 200-meter dash (22.82) and placed 12th.
“Jasen ran his fastest time of the year, and he did great,” Yarbrough said. “There are a lot of fast boys up there.”
Engel also competed in the 4x100-meter relay along with Trey Yarbrough, Valentino Rodriguez and Sonny Boren, which placed 12th (44.81).
Engel, Yarbrough, Rodriguez and Tyler Cutrone competed in the 4x200-meter relay, which finished 11th (1:32.70). Engel, Yarbrough, Cutrone and Sonny Boren competed in the 4x400-meter relay, which placed sixth (3:28.22).
“Our boys got faster than (their regular season time) in all of the relays,” Yarbrough said. “Unfortunately, we were not quite fast enough to make it to finals.”