Ignacio boys fourth at Archibeque Invite
Meaning winner, the ‘first’ was last.
And last, in terms of athletes competing Friday afternoon, April 12, at Montezuma-Cortez’s inaugural Bob Archibeque Invitational, was Hurst – as in M-CHS’ Houston Hurst. With only a small assembly of spectators, coaches and event volunteers remaining inside mostly empty Panther Stadium, the junior officially shut the whole show down by clearing 11’3” in the pole vault, then exhaustedly failing three times at 11’6”.
The first height, however, was a new personal-record – certainly pleasing enough to the meet’s namesake, observing nearby.
And the achievement was about the only thing which could have trumped the exciting boys’ 1,600-meter relay – the Invitational’s final scheduled event – which had run (pun intended) its course a short while earlier, with Ignacio out-sprinting Montezuma-Cortez 3:47.98 to 3:49.70.
Bringing the baton across the finish line as IHS’ anchor, freshman Cayson Burcham completed a perfect 3-for-3 day in terms of victory; he’d previously won the 800 meters (2:08.33) by 2.74 seconds and anchored the 3,200 relay – which clocked a scorching 8:57.02 and blew away second place Shiprock, New Mexico’s quality 9:14.21. And all told, the three wins earned 30 of IHS’ fourth-place 98 points.
M-CHS piled up 136 to edge runner-up Pagosa Springs’ 133, and Durango (100.5), despite much of its roster in Lakewood for the two-day Pomona Invitational at Jeffco Stadium, placed third out of the ten attending teams.
Additionally for Ignacio, senior Kyle Rima swept the shot put (37’11.5”) and discus (106’11”) throws – beating runners-up John Vickers of Durango (who threw 36’7” in the former) and Dove Creek’s Sheldon Gardner (105’6” in the latter), respectively. Senior Corey Gomez, sophomore Lincoln deKay and junior Kendrick Nossaman each ran a 4×4 leg; Nossaman, sophomore Trace Crane and Gomez did so in the 4×8.
Finishing second to Hurst in the pole vault, sophomore Zane Pontine needed fewer tries than Bayfield’s Zach Hufnagel to clear 9’6”, with BHS’ Kyle Russell (8’6”) placing fourth. Freshman Thunder Windy Boy also scored second-place points for IHS; his 12:35.81 in the 3,200 meters was only 1.22 ticks slower than M-CHS junior Corbin Myers’ time.
Gomez and Crane went 3-4 in the 800, clocking 2:15.87 and 2:15.90 respectively, and deKay placed third in the 110m hurdles (17.57). Lincoln Gillespie took fourth in the 100, recording a 12.15, and Crane was fifth in the discus (95’5”). He also finished eighth in the 400 (58.56), as did Gillespie in the high jump (5’0”). deKay earned IHS’ other top-ten result with his ninth-place 47.39 in the 300m hurdles.
Looking ahead, the ’Cats are set to compete Saturday, April 20, at DHS’ Ron Keller Invitational, and at Mancos’ Blue Jay Invite on the 26th. Results from the squad’s scheduled trip to Bayfield on the 17th were unavailable at press time.