Denied by Mother Nature their own Abel Velasquez Invitational on Saturday, April 5, Ignacio High’s tracksters resumed competition on the 11th under vastly improved conditions in Cortez.
And ultimately left Montezuma-Cortez’s concluded 2025 Bob Archibeque Invite with one individual event win, two runner-up results and a few more close calls.
Leading the way, junior Lincoln deKay won the boys’ 110-meter hurdles in a time of 16.40 seconds—or roughly half a tick ahead of M-CHS teammates Wyatt Oliver and Atticus Keel. Fastest around Panther Stadium’s track in the first of two heats, IHS junior Dillon Brann’s 19.82 held up for eighth place as the Bobcats grabbed 12 team points from the event.
In the 800 meters, Ignacio fared even better—scoring 15 points—as sophomore Cayson Burcham ran a 2:06.21 and placed second, with junior Trace Crane (2:17.21) earning third, while sophomore Thunder Windy Boy (2:26.19) finished tenth. In the 1,600m run, however, Windy Boy rose to third place by clocking 5:18 flat, and sophomore Cameron Bell also earned IHS a couple team points via his eighth-place 5:38.35. And at double the distance he fared even better, posting a sixth-place 11:57.76.
Junior Zane Pontine took second in the pole vault, clearing 10’6”, and junior Evan Perkins was runner-up in the discus with a best throw of 101 feet, one inch. deKay finished fifth with his 91’10” maximum. Crane did well in both the 400m dash (fourth, 55.04) and the triple jump (fifth, 35’8.5”), Burcham ranked sixth in the 200m (24.64) and Brann took eighth in the 300m hurdles (50.41). deKay placed tenth in both the 200 (25.21) and 400 (58.97), and Josh Kerrigan was tenth in the pole vault (7’6”).
Leading the Lady ’Cats, junior Juliann Avila finished fourth in the high jump with a best clearance of 4’6”. Only Monticello, Utah’s Maron Freestone (4’8”), Bayfield’s Vivien Clance (4’10”) and M-CHS’ Tessa Jackson (5’4”) went higher. Avila also earned the Ignacio girls’ other top ten finish by clocking a seventh-place 19.00 in the 100-meter hurdles.
Sophomore Maliyah Martinez—a dual-sport athlete (soccer) this spring—was top-20 in the long jump (19th, 12’0”), while Avila just missed in the 100m dash (23rd, 14.97) and junior Krysten Neil ditto in the shot put (22’1.75”) and discus (27th, 45’5”).
Looking ahead, IHS will next see action Saturday, April 19, at Durango’s Ron Keller Invitational, with the meet scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Ignacio will then attend Bayfield’s Pine River Invite on the 26th.