’Cats prep in G.J. for home track meet
With their own Abel Velasquez Invitational just a week away, Ignacio Track & Field journeyed to Grand Junction on Saturday, March 29, to assess their readiness at GJHS’ 2025 Mickey Dunn Invite.
And goings inside Stocker Stadium at Lincoln Park, particularly for the boys, were plenty tough as IHS competed against the hosting Tigers and 26 other teams, some traveling from as far away as the Denver and Colorado Springs areas, and one (Little Snake River) coming from Baggs, Wyo. In the end, the Bobcats managed to score just seven points at the meet and finished in 19th place, ahead of Edwards Battle Mountain (five points), Basalt (three) and Olathe (three).
Durango won the boys’ title by scoring 88 points and clipping Gypsum Eagle Valley by only three. Grand Junction was only another two points behind in third place, with Highlands Ranch ThunderRidge (71) and Steamboat Springs (48) rounding out the top five.
Seeded into the 800-meter run’s fourth and final heat, sophomore Cayson Burcham ended up with IHS’ best individual result as he clocked a fourth-place 2:08.51 – good for five team points – and ranked behind only GJHS senior Bryce Flanagan (2:03.21), Rangely senior James Talbot (2:06.96) and Montrose senior Jose Chavez (2:08.24).
Also, fourth-heat inclusions, IHS juniors James Martin (2:15.09) and Trace Crane (2:15.14) nearly crossed the finish line simultaneously and ended up placing 22nd and 23rd, respectively, while Thunder Windy Boy (2:26.04) took 35th. The 4×800 relay (Crane, Burcham, Martin, junior Lincoln deKay) clocked 9:17.20 and earned a point for eighth place as the quartet closest to, but unable to break nine minutes.
deKay earned Ignacio another point by taking eighth in the 110-meter hurdles, posting a time of 16.84 seconds. He also tied for 42nd in the 100 meters (12.25), and junior Dillon Brann (12.83) was 71st in an event with 99 entrants also including IHS junior Norman Hackett (87th, 13.45). In the 300-meter hurdles, deKay tied for 14th (46.08) and Brann – 17th (19.89) in the 110m feature – took 21st (47.27).
In the 400, Burcham dashed around the track in 53.98 seconds and placed tenth. Crane took 20th in 56.24, and junior Evan Perkins 58th in 1:07.85. Crane also placed 16th in the triple jump (35’7.5”), and Hackett 23rd (32’9.75”).
In the 1,600-meter run, Martin clocked 5:00.66 and earned 26th place, while sophomore Judah Ashley finished 40th (out of 69 entrants) in 5:31.37. At twice the distance, Cameron Bell logged an 11:58.34 and placed 25th, with Windy Boy (12:15.64) not terribly far behind in 29th.
Brann placed 53rd in the 200 meters with a time of 26.80 seconds, and Hackett was 59th in 27.59. Evan Perkins placed 51st in the shot put, his best throw floating 28 feet, 11.5 inches, and Matrim Jones finished 61st (12’11.5”).
On the girls’ side of the meet, ThunderRidge amassed 94.5 points and placed first. Durango scored 75.5 and settled for second, with Fruita Monument (62.5), Grand Junction Central (57) and GJHS (52.5) filling out the top five.
IHS, unfortunately, did not register a team point, though junior Juliann Avila nearly did so in the high jump. Finishing tied with four others clearing four feet, six inches, she ultimately shared ninth place while a sixth entrant clearing 4’6” did so in fewer attempts and was thus awarded eighth place and a point.
Posting a time of 20.98 seconds, Avila placed 20th in the 100-meter hurdles but she managed to rank just 60th (15.12) in the 100-meter dash. Sophomore Kelly Sirios tied for 46th (14.82) in that 85-runner event, senior DaLaney Wesner took 50th (14.88) and sophomore Maliyah Martinez 77th (16.28).
Wesner placed 44th in the 200 (31.38), Neil was 53rd (31.67) and Martinez was 70th (35.20). The Lady Bobcats’ 4×100 relay (Avila, Martinez, Sirios, junior Krysten Neil) clocked 58.31 seconds and placed 19th out of 24 represented schools.
In the 400 meters, Sirios sprinted to a 22nd-place time of 1:09.85. Neil tied for 27th place (1:11.18), and Martinez finished 40th (1:20.05). Caitlin Perkins finished 36th in the shot with a best throw of 21 feet, 3.5 inches, and Mirra Bourriague ended up 59th (12’1”), but neither managed a distance in the discus.
Action Saturday, April 5, at the aforementioned 2025 AVI is set to begin at 9 a.m. with field event