DURANGO — There were many outstanding early-season performances turned in by several area all day Tuesday, March 14, at the Durango Invitational Track and Field Meet at Durango High School. The weather was nearly perfect conditions.

Teams from Dolores, Dolores County, and Montezuma-Cortez participated. Mancos was scheduled to the meet but withdrew at the last minute. While the final team score outcome was not in doubt, both Demon teams (boys and girls) won easily, the area teams still fared fairly well. In the boys’ division, Durango won with 278 points, Bayfield finished second with 67, followed by MCHS 48, Ignacio 38, Dolores 36, Telluride 24, Monticello, Utah, 14, and Dolores County 4. In the girls’ division, Durango won with 268, Bayfield came in second with 91, MCHS finished third with 61, followed by Dolores 47, Ignacio 50, and Dolores County 9. Telluride and Monticello did not score.

Many of the area boys placed in their various events.

Jeff Anderson of Cortez finished third in the high jump with a leap of 5 feet, 8 inches, although that was well behind Durango’s Mike Wakefield’s jump of 6-4. In the 110-hurdles, Cody Beaver of Dolores captured third with a clocking of 16.40 seconds while Levi Hill and A.J. Herrmann, both of Cortez finished fifth (18.45) and sixth (19.48), respectively. Beaver also picked up a fourth in the long jump with a leap of 18-5.

Brian Rantz of Dolores gave a final strong kick and finished fourth in the 1600-meter run in 5:00.44. Rantz took fourth in the 800 in 2 minutes, 14.20 seconds and Herrmann sixth in that event in 2:18.02. Foreign exchange student (from Spain) Alex Bustillo of Cortez grabbed fourth in the 400 dash in 55.93. Beaver again placed (third) in the 300 hurdles in 43.74 while Clayton Fuchs also placed in 47.08.

Justin Fecteau added some more points with a heave of the shot put 39-4 3/4 feet. Colin Tansey of Cortez tossed the discus 129-1/2 feet to win first. Brian Balfour, also of Cortez, tossed the disc 107-4 1/2.

Kevin Everett of Dolores ran the 3200 in 12:11.31 which was good enough for fourth.

The Panthers’ 4X800 relay team finished third in 10:43.73. The MCHS 4X200 relay took third in 1:41.83 and Dolores County followed in 1:42.00. The Cortez 4X400 relay came in third in 3:59.45 and Dolores followed in 4:11.70.

The veteran Panther sprinting staff of Adam Williams, Andrew Pearson, Josh Lee, and Jake Collett did not compete. MCHS coach Bob Archibeque held the runners out so they would be fresh for this coming weekend. Archibeque also wanted to take a look a some of the younger sprinters he has on the team.

Some excellent performances were also turned in by the girls as well.

Ragland came in third in the 100 dash in 13.78 while Marie DeBolt grabbed fifth in 14.04 and teammate Gina West followed in 14.29. Crystal Gray of Dolores came in sixth in the 400 in 1:14.83. In the 300 hurdles, Dawn Keck of Cortez took fifth and Kendra Taylor, also of Cortez, placed sixth, respectively, in 59.86 and 1:01.70.

Three area girls placed in the 800. Julie Christenson of Cortez crossed the wire in third in 2:41.35, Joni Everett of Dolores came in fourth in 2:42.68 and Krystal Neely of Dolores County grabbed sixth in 2:43.43.

Daisy Ragland of Dolores captured fourth in the 200 in 30.19. Ashleigh Wilson of Cortez took fifth in the 100 in 18.84 and Taylor grabbed sixth in 19.33.

Tracy Everett of Dolores came in second in 6:12.77 and Amanda Johnson of Dolores County placed fifth in 6:28.05 in the 1600.

Several girls did well in the field events. Stefanie Allison of Cortez finished fifth in the high jump as she cleared 4-8. Christina Tilton of Cortez came in third after throwing the discus 91-1 1/2.Tilton also finished third in the shot with a heave of 28-11. Marina Lippus of Cortez placed fifth in 28-1 1/2. Ragland placed fifth in the long jump with a leap of 14-7.

The Panther 4X200 relay unit of DeBolt, Krystal Begay, Tessa Haukeness and Allison came in second in 1:56.25. The Cortez 4X100 relay came in third in 56.56. The Dolores 4X800 realy team came in fourth in 11:31.49. The 4X400 relay team came in third in 4:40.67 and Dolores fourth in 5:01.38.

The annual San Juan Relays will take place all day Friday, March 17, at Panther Stadium in Cortez. This will be the first meet of the year for Mancos. Joining the Blue Jays will be Dolores, Dolores County, Telluride, Norwood, and Nucla.