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Ignacio sophomore Kyle Rima throws the discus Saturday, April 9, at IHS' Abel Velasquez Invitational. He'd place ninth in the event, plus 11th in the shot put at the meet.
Ignacio senior Lexy Young speeds towards the finish line during the girls' 100-meter dash Saturday, April 9, at IHS' Abel Velasquez Invitational. She'd end up placing fourth in the event but win the 200-meter version.
Ignacio junior John Riepel leans towards the finish line during the boys' 100-meter dash Saturday, April 9, at IHS' Abel Velasquez Invitational. He'd place 12th overall in the event, following five heats' completion.
Ignacio sophomores Trajan Garcia (right) and Corey Gomez complete a lap during the 1,600-meter run Saturday, April 9, at IHS' Abel Velasquez Invitational. Gomez would place 14th in the event and Garcia 16th.
Ignacio sophomore Corey Gomez (left) expresses both relief and congratulations to classmate Trajan Garcia following the 1,600-meter run Saturday, April 9, at IHS' Abel Velasquez Invitational. Gomez placed 14th in the event and Garcia 16th.
Photo Credit: Joel Priest | Special to the Drum
Photo Credit: Joel Priest | Special to the Drum
Photo Credit: Joel Priest | Special to the Drum
Photo Credit: Joel Priest | Special to the Drum
Photo Credit: Joel Priest | Special to the Drum
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Lady ’Cats bag fifth place in Del Norte 


IHS boy’s 18th at sizable Tiger Invite  

Despite going up against one of the largest fields of competition she’d seen so far this spring, Ignacio senior Alexis Pontine never-the-less remained one of the throwers to beat Saturday, April 16, at 2A Del Norte’s 2022 Tiger Invitational. 

Quite successful at IHS’ own Abel Velasquez Invite the week before, finishing second in the discus (97’4”) and fourth in the shot put (27’0.5”), the Lady Bobcat senior ended up only about 4.5 feet out of first in the latter at the Tiger, heaving a fifth place – out of 42 recording a distance – but still-improved 28’1.5” best. 

Victory would be hers, however, in the former specialty; she winged a winning 103’4”, bettering runner-up Emily Melgoza of 3A Alamosa by nearly ten feet, plus 44 other placers including teammate Danylle Herrera (39th, 46’7”). 

Also attacking the 300-meter hurdles on the track, Pontine logged another top-10 by placing ninth in 1:01.98, helping the Lady Bobcats pile up 58.5 points and finish fifth overall.  Tops amongst 21 scoring squads, 3A Pagosa Springs prevailed with 132 and AHS was a distant second with 80.  2A Buena Vista (60.5), however, barely clipped La Jara-based 2A Centauri’s 59 as well as Ignacio’s total to earn third place.  Trailing IHS – fourth at the AVI – in the standings, 2A Monte Vista (36) came in sixth. 

Continuing to score well in the sprints, Lady ’Cat senior Lexy Young won the Tiger’s 200-meter dash in 29.07 seconds – she’d won at the AVI with a 28.08 – or 0.23 faster than 2A Center senior Alexis Varela and 0.25 ahead of PSHS freshman Rylie Carr, both of whom ran against Young in the same seventh and last heat and were the only other entrants breaking 30 seconds.  Close to her fourth-place 13.56 100-meter dash at the Abel Velasquez, Young took third at DNHS in 13.6 seconds. 

Sophomore Maci Barnes was sixth in the 400 meters, recording a time of 1:08.85, but shot up to second place at double the distance with a 2:44.58 – less than two seconds behind Pagosa’s Annie O’Donnell, but more than eight ahead of PSHS’ Nell Taylor – in the 800.  Eighth-place Kacey Brown (3:21.15) also earned IHS a point in the event. 

Sophomore Lauren deKay shared sixth place – with DNHS’ Aden Howell – in the pole vault, clearing 6’2”, and she also earned sixth-place points in the 1,600-meter run (7:07.55).  Recent squad addition Brown finished tenth in 7:29.53. 

In the 800m medley – a 100-100-200-400 relay – Pontine, deKay, Young and Barnes teamed to snag second in 2:05.26. 

On the boys’ side at the Tiger, Ignacio placed 18th with 13 points scored; Centauri copped the title with 117.5 and BVHS followed with 103.  Rounding out the top five (of 24 scoring teams) were Pagosa Springs (79), Alamosa (53) and 3A Bayfield (41). 

Bobcat senior Jeremy Roderick took second – out of 50 placers – in the shot put, his 38’2.25” best only three-quarters of an inch behind that of Buena Vista sophomore Eli Flowers and earning IHS eight team points. Roderick had placed sixth at the AVI with a 39’8” best, plus seventh in the discus with a 104-foot maximum; in Del Norte he ended up 19th with a 79’10”, while Flowers (107’9”) took third behind BHS junior Deegan Barnes’ winning 124-footer. 

Freshman Kendrick Nossaman finished 32nd (66’4”), and also placed 26th in the 200 (29.09) plus 14th in the 400 (1:02.53).  Sophomore Corey Gomez took eighth in the 800 (2:47.91), with sophomore Trajan Garcia 14th (2:56.40) and senior Deekon Gillespie 16th (3:00.89). 

Junior John Riepel finished 24th out of 52 in the 100 meters, clocking 12.57 seconds (Centauri’s Deven Brady laid down a winning 11.58), and the 4×200 relay – senior Tyler Barnes, freshman Lincoln Gillespie, Riepel and sophomore Camron Cooper – placed ninth in 1:44.93. 

Barnes earned three points in the pole vault, placing sixth with a best clearance of 9’2”, and Gomez earned a point in the 1,600 with his ninth place 6:08.11.  Not far behind, Garcia finished 11th in 6:12.01. 

Next on Ignacio’s schedule will be Durango’s Ron Keller Invitational on Saturday, April 23, with a long trip out to Centauri following on the 30th. 

2022 ABEL VELASQUEZ INVITATIONAL (4/9) GIRLS’ STANDINGS 

1.Durango 192, 2.Pagosa Springs 138, 3.Sargent 44, 4.IGNACIO 41, 5.Nucla 32, 6.Dove Creek 30, 7.Del Norte 26, 8.Bayfield 16, 9.Mancos 11, 10.Montezuma-Cortez 10. 

NOTABLE IHS GIRLS’ RESULTS 

400m – Barnes 1:09.38 (2nd); 800m – Barnes 2:43.72 (4th); 1,600m – deKay 6:59.23 (10th); 300m hurdles – Pontine 1:02.03 (6th); pole vault – Barnes 6’9” (5th); discus – Herrera 46’11” (16th). 

2022 ABEL VELASQUEZ INVITATIONAL (4/9) BOYS’ STANDINGS 

1.Durango 209, 2.Pagosa Springs 70, 3.Montezuma-Cortez 65, 4.Dove Creek 55, 5.Mancos 46, 6.Antonito 24, 7.Bayfield 20, 8.Del Norte 18, 9.Sargent 10, 10.IGNACIO 9, 11.Lake City Community School 5. 

NOTABLE IHS BOYS’ RESULTS: 100m – Riepel 12.61 (12th); 400m – Nossaman 1:00.64 (9th); 800m – Cooper 2:19.59 (6th); 1,600m – Gomez 6:02.18 (14th), Garcia 6:09.81 (16th); 4x200m relay – 1:41.30 (4th); pole vault – Barnes 9’9” (5th); long jump – Riepel 16’10” (11th); triple jump – Nossaman 26’6.75” (12th); shot put – Kyle Rima 33’5.5” (11th); discus – Rima 100’8” (9th). 

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