With a skill set rooted in technique, rather than all-out speed, pole-vaulters fared the best consistently for Ignacio at the May 15-17, 2014, CHSAA State Track & Field Championships.
But overall inside Jeffco Stadium, the Bobcats’ brightest moments in the entire Class 2A fray came courtesy of long jumpers sophomore Wyatt Hayes and senior Adam Herrera.
Finishing 8-9 respectively, and earning three of the boys’ team points, Hayes leapt 20 feet, 1.75 inches, and Herrera’s feet hit the pit 19’10.75” from the takeoff spot.
Fairplay, South Park senior Chris Carpenter won the Day 1 event with a 22’6.75” max, Rye sophomore, Trey Zupancic was second at 22’0.75” and Telluride junior John Broadhead ended up third at 21’2.75”.
IHS junior Keith Joosten took 11th in the pole vault with a best of 10’11”, well short of the 13’2” winner Brandon Hinkle (sophomore, Yuma) achieved and the 12’5” of runner-up Jared Clarkson (junior, Akron), while junior Tyler Riepel failed to top the starting height.
In the girls’ event, Ignacio senior Jayce Stricherz and sophomore Chrystianne Valdez each cleared 7’2” for part of a six-way share of 11th. Yuma sophomore Monica Drury went over the bar at 8’8” to take first, with regional rival Karli Christensen (junior, Akron) clearing 8’2” to lead a three-way tie for second.
With neither Lady Cat earning a team point, IHS finished 44th (Peyton was 43rd with two) in the girls’ standings – headed by Paonia (102), neighboring nemesis Hotchkiss (86), Lyons (65), Ault Highland (49) and Fort Collins Liberty Common (48).
With a fourth point coming via the 4×200-meter relay’s ninth-place showing, Ignacio’s boys ended up tied with Limon and Burlington for 35th. Parker Lutheran secured the team trophy with 80 points, followed by top-fivers Lyons (68.5), Rye (56), Loveland Resurrection Christian (54) and Telluride (51).
A backdoor qualifier after booking a ninth-best 1:34.66 in the preliminaries, IHS’ 4×2 [Hayes, junior Blaine Mickey, Christian Knoll, Mike Perez] remained ninth after a slower – due to a faulty baton exchange – 1:36.38 in the finals. Colorado Springs Vanguard [Robert Huthoefer, Jonathan Jerry, Tyler Williams, Caleb Simon] went on to take first in 1:31.09, taking 0.08 seconds off its heat-best.
Additionally for the Cats, senior Kelton Richmond finished 12th in the boys’ shot put with a best effort of 42’1.75” – four feet, 4.25 inches behind winner Jerod Berg (senior, Swink).
Hayes finished 13th in the 400’s prelims with a 52.58 sprint. Knoll, a senior, landed 15th in the 200’s with a 23.49, and Perez, a junior, placed likewise in the 110-meter hurdles’ heats with a 17.34.
Lutheran sophomore Chris Youngs ultimately captured the 200 in a finals time of 22.42 seconds. LC junior Nico Forcatto, who’d false-started out of the mix in the 200, went on to win the 400 in 49.49, and Haxtun senior Colin Munster neared the Championships’ record (set 2008) with a 14.95 in the hurdles.
IHS’ 4×1 relay [Hayes, Knoll, Perez, Mickey] ended up 11th in that specialty’s preliminaries, clocking 46.02 seconds, while LC went on to victory with finals 43.42.
And Ignacio’s 4×4 finished 13th (3:40.62) in the discipline’s heats, and was on the track during the second of such – in which Lutheran [Ryan Lee, Darian Perez, Hunter Arnell, Kent Harris] ran a new meet-record 3:23.40.
The Lions foursome then went on to re-set the standard with a first-place 3:23.30 in the final; with second-place Vanguard’s 3:23.34 also bettering LHS’ previous benchmark. Illustrating how fast the field really was, even third-place RCS’ 3:23.71 in the final broke the Championships’ not-so-old [meaning 2011] record of 3:24.75.
CLASS 2A BOYS’ STANDINGS
1.Parker Lutheran 80, 2.Lyons 68.5, 3.Rye 56, 4.Loveland Resurrection Christian 54, 5.Telluride 51, 6.Colorado Springs Vanguard 46, 7.Rangely 34, 8.Fort Collins Liberty Common 33, 9.Greeley Dayspring Christian 32, 10.Paonia 28, 11.Walsenburg John Mall 26, 12.Hotchkiss 24, 13.Peyton 22, T-14.Westcliffe Custer County/Meeker/Kremmling West Grand/Yuma 20.
18.Haxtun 18, 19.Highlands Ranch Skyview Academy 16, T-20.Merino/Fairplay South Park 13, 22.Kiowa 12, 23.CS Pikes Peak Christian 11.5, 24.Swink 11, T-25.Crested Butte/Springfield 10, T-27.Akron/Sedgwick County [Julesburg-Revere]/Wray 8, T-30.Ault Highland/Mancos 7, 32.Ordway Crowley County/Sanford/Wiggins 6, T-35.Burlington/IGNACIO/Limon 4, 38.Oak Creek Soroco 3, T-39.Denver Academy/Ouray/Mosca Sangre de Cristo 2, 42.Simla 1.
CLASS 2A GIRLS’ STANDINGS: 1.Paonia 102, 2.Hotchkiss 86, 3.Lyons 65, 4.Ault Highland 49, 5.Fort Collins Liberty Common 48, 6.Akron 39, 7.Yuma 38, 8.Wray 34, 9.Hoehne 29, 10.Mosca Sangre de Cristo 26, 11.Meeker 25, T-12.Colorado Springs Vanguard/Kremmling West Grand 24, 14.Fairplay South Park 21, T-15.Crested Butte/Wiggins 20.
T-17.Eads/Fowler 18, T-19.Burlington/Swink 15, T-21.Limon/Oak Creek Soroco 14, 23.Nederland 13, 24.Las Animas 11, 25.Sargent 10, T-26.Del Norte/Calhan 9, 28.Holyoke 8, 29.Denver Christian 7, T-30.Ordway Crowley County/Rye/Springfield/Center 6, T-34.Parker Lutheran/Telluride/Byers/Ouray 5, 38.Merino 4, T-39.Loveland Resurrection Christian/Westcliffe Custer County/Dolores/CS Pikes Peak Christian 3, 43.Peyton 2, 44.IGNACIO