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Ignacio Lady Bobcat Maci Barnes' 'run' to the 2022 CHSAA Class 2A Track & Field State Championships began, as seen in this file photo, pretty much right after last season concluded. The sophomore will join seniors Lexy Young and Alexis Pontine as IHS' representatives in Lakewood, Colo.
Ignacio senior Alexis Pontine is one of three IHS Track & Field athletes bound for the 2022 CHSAA Class 2A State Championships, having qualified in the discus throw.
Ignacio seniors Alexis Pontine and Lexy Young are two of three IHS Track & Field athletes bound for the 2022 CHSAA Class 2A State Championships. Pontine qualified in the discus throw, while Young will compete in the 100- and 200-meter dashes.
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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IHS Track wraps up season in Junction 

Friday - May 20, 2022 by Joel Priest | Special to the Drum

Three ’Cats bound for State Championships 

With one goal in mind, Ignacio Track & Field traveled May 13-14 to Grand Junction, seeking to either secure or solidify any sort of State-qualifying status at GJHS’ Dennis Teeters Tiger Invitational. 

And after two tough days inside Stocker Stadium at Lincoln Park, IHS will end up sending three individuals to the 2022 CHSAA Class 2A State Championships, May 19-21 inside Jeffco Stadium in Lakewood, Colo. 

As expected, senior Lexy Young will be going in both the 100- and 200-meter dashes, while classmate Alexis Pontine will be making a repeat trip in the discus throw, and sophomore Maci Barnes will be making her State debut in the 800m run. 

“I am so proud of these young women for working hard and going after their goals,” head coach Aimee Larsen said in an e-mailed statement. “Give these kids a high five when you see them!” 

Stuck in 17th – and last – place after Day 1 up in Mesa County, logging just 0.33 points thanks to sophomore Maci Barnes’ share of eighth place in the pole vault, the Lady ’Cats rose to 15th (10.33) when all was said and done on Day 2. New Castle-based 3A Coal Ridge won the team title with 101.33 points, while 2A Cedaredge (92.5) took second and 4A Glenwood Springs (74.33) third out of 21 scoring squads. 

Barnes’ best clearance of 7’2” in the pole vault matched that of both GSHS’ Danaka Rodriguez and CRHS’ Lydia Dye; 4A Durango’s Halle Moore, by comparison, cleared a winning 9’2”. 

Barnes took 11th in the 800, clocking 2:32.44, and also joined Young, Pontine and sophomore Lauren deKay in posting a tenth place 2:02.71 in the 800m medley relay. 

Young ended up placing eighth in the 100 prelims, with her third-heat 13.50 surviving four more heats’ worth of entrants – paced by 4A Palisade’s Gabrielle Horton (12.69), the only sprinter breaking 13 seconds. Young, however, did not place in the eight-runner 100 finals, while Horton won with a 12.76. 

Faring better in the 200 prelims, Young put down a fourth-place 27.45 while Horton again led all with a 25.44. In the final, Horton slowed to a winning 25.74 while Young earned fifth with a 27.48. Barnes finished 11th in the 400 prelims with her 1:06.99 but ended up being bumped into the final where she placed third in 1:05.16. 

In the 1,600 meters, deKay finished 30th in 6:44.47 and Kacey Brown (6:53.28) came in 35th. 

Pontine took 12th in the shot put with a best throw of 29 feet, 6 inches, but ninth in the discus with a 98’9”. 

On the boys’ side at the Tiger Invite, Ignacio managed just 3.5 team points in finishing 19th, half a point ahead of both 3A Carbondale Roaring Fork and 1A Dove Creek. Durango captured the title with 104 points, defeating closest challengers 4A Montrose (83) and 4A G.J. Central (69). 

Responsible for the Bobcats’ scoring, senior Tyler Barnes tied for fifth in the pole vault with a best clearance of 10’4”, while DHS’ Jacob Fenberg and CRHS’ Justin Richel shared first in the event with each clearing 11’4”. 

Part of a 4×400 relay unit with freshman Kendrick Nossaman, junior John Riepel and sophomore Camron Cooper, Barnes helped IHS clock 3:47.72 and finish 12th. The same quartet finished 14th in the 4×200 with a 1:39.04, but Riepel was unable to make it out of the 200m prelims, ranking 33rd with a 25.47. 

In the 100 prelims, senior Deekon Gillespie ended up 66th with his 13.74, and classmate Jeremy Roderick even got in on the act with a 69th-place 15.22. Gillespie ended up 31st in the 400 prelims with a 59.87, while Cooper placed 25th (2:14.72) in the 800. In the 1,600 sophomore Corey Gomez clocked 43rd in 5:35.21, and sophomore Trajan Garcia (5:49.37) took 49th. 

Roderick ended up 31st in the discus with a 101’3” best (Durango’s William Knight won with a 153’6”, beating G.J. Central’s Daniel Baroumbaye by only two inches), but took 19th in the shot put with a 38’3” maximum (Knight won with a 51’7”). 

STATE SCHEDULE: Tentative as of press time Monday, May 16, Young’s 100-meter preliminary sprint is slated for 2:40 p.m. on the 19th, and her 200 prelim at 6:15 that same evening. The 100 final is set for 10:37 a.m. Saturday, May 21, with the 200 at 1:18 p.m. 

Maci Barnes’ finals-only 800 is set for 1 p.m. on the 20th, and Pontine will wing the discus early on the 21st at 8:30 a.m. 

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