A portion of the Pagosa Springs High School Pirate track and field team opened the season on Saturday, March 30, at the Pine River Invitational in Bayfield, with the meet taking place over the Pirates’ spring break.
That was followed by another meet on April 1 that featured only part of the team due to many being out for the Future Business Leaders of America state competition.
“Even with just a fraction of our team entered, I felt like the meet went very well,” coach Connie O’Donnell wrote in an email to The SUN about the March 30 meet. “We didn’t run any sprint relays and so our sprinters were able to concentrate on individual events.”
That effort resulted in multiple first- and second-place finishes for Pirates in individual running events.
In the 100-meter dash, Sienna Rose took first with a time of 13.20 seconds, while Lexi Campbell took fifth with a time of 14.26 seconds and Nevaeh Evans finished 17th in 15.26 seconds.
Rose finished second in the 200-meter dash with a time of 28.71 seconds, with Campbell taking third with a time of 29.40 seconds. Evans followed in 14th with a time of 32.44 seconds.
Rose also finished first in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1 minute, 4.03 seconds.
“Sienna Rose is usually in several relays and it was really good for her to be able to run 3 open events and get times,” O’Donnell wrote. “She got a personal record in the 100 Meter and won the event. Her 400 time is several seconds faster than this time last year. I think it gave her some motivation to keep working hard. Her goal is really to do the best she can and qualify for state in the 400.”
On the boys’ side, Colton Lucero finished fourth in the 100 with a time of 11.59 seconds, Harley Armijo finished 11th in 12.12 seconds and Gavin Lindahl finished 16th in 12.37 seconds.
“Colton Lucero ran a full second faster than his first 100 last year,” O’Donnell wrote. “That is an insane amount of time to cut off in a 100 Meter. He just kept getting faster last year and I expect him to do the same this year. It’s fun when a sophomore boy can compete with seniors. You just don’t see that too often.”
The same trio competed in the 200, with Lucero finishing fifth with a time of 24.05 seconds, Armijo taking 12th in 25.26 seconds and Lindahl finishing 19th in 25.91 seconds.
“Harley Armijo is faster than his first meet last year,” O’Donnell points out. “He is running over a second faster in the 200 than he did a year ago.”
In the 400, Milo Dietemeyer took 15th with a time of 1:00.55, Aidan Vega finished 22nd with a time of 1:04.77 and Eli Nehring finished 25th in 1:07.83.
The Pirate teams also took part in several other events on the day.
Five Lady Pirates took part in the 800-meter run, with Madisen Stretton finishing 10th in 3:06.69, Honestye Sweet taking 14th in 3:20.13, Marie Smith finishing 16th in 3:23.91, Jayslynn Perea following in 17th with a time of 3:24.25 and Gwendolyn Tyler finishing 21st in 3:49.30.
Stretton took ninth in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 6:52.43, with Sweet following in 12th in 7:05.29, Smith finishing 13th in 7:13.40 and Perea taking 15th with a time of 7:58.09.
Jordan Lindstrom finished first in the high jump with a jump of 5 feet.
Lindstrom finished 10th in the long jump with a distance of 13 feet, 3.75 inches. Evan followed in 18th with a jump of 11-11.5.
Campbell took third in the triple jump with a distance of 30-8.
Abigail Nehring won the discus with a throw of 108-8. Makaela Denton finished 26th with a throw of 45-6.
Abigail Nehring took fourth in the shot put with a throw of 30-8.50, and Denton finished 27th with a throw of 17-6.
O’Donnell notes Abigail Nehring recorded personal records in both throwing events.
“She is currently ranked 10th in shot and 2nd in discus,” she wrote. “It is so fun to see her get off to such a successful start. She really has a great chance of being a contender at state in both throwing events.”
O’Donnell also highlights Lindstrom for her actions at the meet, both in competition and out.
“Jordan Lindstrom displayed leadership right away. She helped her teammates to get their marks when they got to the meet (where they start their run in). She is always a team player by cheering and encouraging her teammates. She jumped 5’ in high jump which is incredible for this early in the season. She didn’t hit 5’ until the end of April last year. The jump put her at 5th in the state right now.”
On the boys’ side, Jesse Beck finished eighth in the 800 with a time of 2:23.23, Connor Thomas finished 14th in 2:29.87 and Stetson Osborn finished 22nd in 3:06.22.
“Jesse Beck didn’t place, but his 800 is already 11 seconds faster than his first 800 last year,” O’Donnell wrote.
Beck took 21st in the 1,600 with a time of 5:52.68, Thomas finished 22nd in 5:54.51, Trevor Faber finished 25th with a time of 6:24.26 and Jackson Chaney finished 27th in 6:59.25.
A Pirate relay team finished the 4x800-meter relay fifth with a time of 11:49.9.
In the 110-meter hurdles, Jaxten Schiel finished 12th in 20.50 seconds.
Schiel also finished eighth in the high jump with a height of 5-6, while Dietemeyer finished 15th with a height of 5-2.
Schiel took fifth in the long jump with a distance of 19-2. Lucero finished sixth with a jump of 18-9.5 and Vega finished 30th with a jump of 10-2.75.
“Jaxten Schiel had a great first meet after missing most of last season,” O’Donnell wrote. “He jumped a foot farther in long jump and already increased 2 inches in high jump. He really loves track and I think that he is looking at competing this season with no regrets.”
Vega finished 18th in the discus with a throw of 83-2.
On Tuesday, the Pirates were back in Bayfield for the Bayfield Invitational, which was previously postponed due to weather.
“The meet was a bit windy, but that didn’t seem to interfere with jumps and sprints,” the coach notes. “It did get really cold when the sun set, but we only had a few races left by then.”
Rylie Carr won the 100 at the meet with a time of 12.68 seconds. Annabelle Parker followed in third in 13.83 seconds, Campbell finished fourth with a time of 14.13 seconds and Aspen Pitcher took fifth with a time of 14.14 seconds.
Carr also took first in the 200, running a time of 27.27 seconds. Rose followed in second with a time of 28.35 seconds.
Rose won the 400 with a time of 63.79 seconds. Hadley Phillips finished fourth in 7.80 seconds and Evans finished seventh with a time of 76.57 seconds.
Perea took ninth in the 800 with a time of 3:21.35.
Stretton won the 1,600 with a time of 6:49.13, while Perea finished sixth with a time of 7:42.68.
Marie Smith took first in the 3,200 with a time of 15:43.99 and Sweet took second with 15:45.41.
In the 100-meter hurdles, Kylie Ketchum finished eighth with a time of 20.13 seconds. She was followed by Eden Conner in ninth with a time of 21.87 seconds.
Conner finished 14th in the 300-meter hurdles.
The Lady Pirate team of Carr, Parker, Rose and Pitcher took first in the 4x100-meter relay with a time of 52.32 seconds.
The team of Campbell, Carr, Parker and Rose took first in the 4x200-meter relay with a time of 1:51.15.
The team of Parker, Ketchum, Pitcher and Phillips finished second in the 800-meter sprint medley with a time of 2:08.27.
Lindstrom finished third in the high jump with a height of 4-10, Ketchum finished tied for fifth at 4-04 and Malorie Morton finished tied for 11th with a height of 4-02.
Lindstrom finished 10th in the long jump with a distance of 13-09.50 and Evans finished 16th with a jump of 12-04.50.
Campbell took fourth in the triple jump with a distance of 30-01.00 and Lindstrom finished seventh with a distance of 28-08.50.
Morton took ninth in shot put with a throw of 25-07.00, Laykn Baxstrom finished 14th with a distance of 22-04.50 and Reagan Vanatta finished 25th with a distance of 15-07.00.
Baxstrom finished 16th in the discus with a throw of 61-01, Morton finished 19th with a throw of 60-00 and Vanatta finished 31st with a distance of 44-00.
O’Donnell highlights Carr’s work on the day, which included setting a new record.
“Rylie Carr broke the stadium record in the 100. It had been there since 2011,” the coach wrote. “She really looked smooth in that race as well as the 200. She also anchored both of our sprint relays that won. She is currently ranked 3rd in class 3A and is in the top ten of the 200. Both relays are in the top ten in state rankings.”
Lucero won the 100 with a time of 11.41 seconds. Armijo took ninth with a time of 12.22 seconds, Gavin Carter finished 10th in 12.28 seconds and Nathaniel Kinsley finished 12th in 12.37 seconds.
With a time of 24.92 seconds, Blake Laner took sixth in the 200, with Armijo finishing 12th in 25.66 seconds.
In the 400, Jeremiah Dean finished 18th with a time of 59.40 seconds. Jeremiah Jones followed in 19th with a time of 59.45 seconds. Wyatt Carr finished 22nd in 64.73 seconds.
Thomas finished fourth in the 800 with a time of 2:25.21 and Eli Nehring finished 14th in 2:57.22.
Eli Nehring finished sixth in the 1,600 with a time of 6:22.78.
Thomas took second in the 3,200 with a time of 12:32.40, Chaney finished 11th in 13:57.86, Faber finished 12th in 13:57.87 and Osborn finished 14th in 16:51.08.
Cole Harper finished 10th in the 110 hurdles with a time of 20.39 seconds, Schiel finished 11th with a time of 21.06 seconds and Tristan Frame finished 14th in 23.73 seconds.
In the 300-meter hurdles, Harper finished ninth with a time of 48.03 seconds.
The Pirate team of Armijo, Lucero, Creede Dozier and Laner finished second in the 4x100 with a time of 44.71 seconds.
The team of Armijo, Kinsley, Lucero and Carter took second in the 4x200 with a time of 1:36.45.
The team of Vega, Dean, Carter and Jones finished sixth in the 4x400-meter relay with a time of 4:14.47.
Dozier won the high jump with a height of 5-10, with Laner and Schiel tying for fourth with heights of 5-06.
Dozier also won the long jump with a distance of 20-04.00. Lucero finished fourth with a jump of 19-06.75, Schiel finished seventh with a distance of 18-01.00 and Laner finished 12th with a distance of 16-07.00.
Dozier won the triple jump, as well, logging a distance of 41-00.50. Schiel followed in third with a distance of 37-03.75 and Frame took 11th with a distance of 27-11.50.
Emile Schneider took 11th in the shot put with a throw of 29-05.50 and Mark Ray took 26th with a distance of 18-07.75.
Vega finished 13th in the discus with a throw of 84-07, Schneider finished 19th with a throw of 75-00 and Ray finished 33rd with a throw of 47-00.
O’Donnell again highlighted Lucero after Tuesday’s meet, writing, “Colton Lucero ran a terrific 100 and won in a photo finish. He is currently ranked 8th in class 3A. As a sophomore boy, that is exceptional. This kid is just so athletic and coachable. We are lucky that he chooses to be a track athlete. Colton barely scratched what would have been a 20’ long jump. He really has potential to qualify there as well. He started both of the sprint relays. The 4x1 was second and currently ranked in the top ten in class 3A. One of the handoffs wasn’t great, so there is much room for improvement. Our 4 x 2 ... would have had a much better time, but Colton couldn’t hear the start. The officials should have noticed and had a restart. We will just have to run a better race next time.”
O’Donnell also pointed out Dozier’s wins.
“Creede Dozier had himself a day! He won high jump, long jump, and triple jump,” she wrote. “All three were personal bests for him and put him in the top 10 in class 3A for all three jumps. He ran a fast leg of the 4x1 as well and is going to be a huge contributor to the success of our boys team this year.”
This week, the Pirate teams will be in action at the Abel Velasquez Invite in Ignacio on Saturday, April 6.
O’Donnell notes a goal of the team is to log some good times in relays and see where the Pirates stand compared to the rest of the state.
Another goal, she adds, is to “Continue to try to build a sense of community in a mostly individual sport.”
Action is set to begin at 9 a.m.
randi@pagosasun.com
