IHS wins four events at home meet
Heaving the heavy sphere 37 feet, 3 inches, Ignacio junior Kyle Rima placed first in the shot put, and the Bobcats’ 1,600- and 3,200-meter relays also finished first as IHS’ boys came in fourth on their side of the April 8, 2023, Abel Velasquez Invitational.
All told, the ’Cats earned 76 team points at their home meet, landing them behind only Durango (89), Pagosa Springs (90) and 2A/1A San Juan Basin League rival Dove Creek (96) as 12 teams factored into the final standings.
Running the 4×400 race, Ignacio sophomore Kendrick Nossaman, freshman Lincoln deKay, senior John Riepel and junior Corey Gomez brought the baton across the finish line in a winning time of 4:00.18, beating second-place Bayfield’s entered quartet by 6.36 ticks. The only two schools represented in the 4×800 event, IHS’ foursome – freshmen James Martin, Dillon Brann and Trace Crane, plus Gomez – again bested the Wolverines, 10:00.25 to 10:30.57.
Rima also threw well in the discus and placed second with a best throw of 103 feet, 7 inches. deKay placed second in both the 110- and 300-meter hurdles – clocking 18.67 and 47.77 seconds, respectively – and Nossaman was runner-up in the 400m dash (56.20). Martin placed third in the 1,600m run (5:31.90), Riepel flew a fourth-place 17’7.5” in the long jump and added fifth-place points in the Rima-paced shot (32’4”).
DCHS senior Kendall Gardner finished second with a 36’4” best, and Durango junior Leith Davis was third with a 34’7”.
Crane placed sixth in the discus (89’11”) and deKay did likewise in the pole vault (8’8”) with freshman Zane Pontine following in seventh (8’2”). Freshman Norman Hackett placed seventh in the triple jump with his 28’9.5” best.
Junior Maci Barnes led the Lady ’Cats with her first-place result in the 800m run. Clocking 2:34.23, she finished 5.46 seconds ahead of PSHS junior Annie O’Donnell, and earned ten of Ignacio’s sixth-place 37 team points. O’Donnell and the Lady Pirates, however, piled up 160 and earned the team title over second-place Durango (96) and SJBLers Nucla (64).
Junior Kacey Brown posted a time of 6:43.16 and scored second-place points in the 1,600 meters, and IHS was also runner-up in the 4×400 with freshman Juliann Avila, Brown, junior Lauren deKay and Barnes combining for a 4:55.05 trailing only Durango’s 4:51.88 (a blazing 11.66 seconds faster than that quartet’s No. 1 seed time).
Barnes fared well in the long jump, recording a fourth-place 14’2.5”, and Brown took fourth in the discus with a 71’11” maximum. deKay cleared 7’2” in the pole vault and finished fifth, and Avila placed seventh in the high jump with her 4’6” best.
She added an eighth in the 100m hurdles (20.66), while deKay took eighth in the 800 (3:07.26) and freshman Samantha Riddell eighth in the 200 (31.44).
After competing next at the Bayfield Invitational No. 2 on Tuesday, April 18, Ignacio will take part in Durango’s Ron Keller Invitational on Saturday, April 22, then travel to Cortez for the M-CHS Panther Invitational on the 28th.