journal sports editor

PUEBLO AND DENVER — Many outstanding performances by area thinclads were turned in Friday and Saturday, May 19-20, at the annual State Track and Field Championships.

Montezuma-Cortez High School athletes competed at the Class 4A meet at Jefferson County Stadium in Lakewood. Tracksters from Dolores, Dolores County, and Mancos participated at the Class 2A meet at Dutch Clark Stadium in Pueblo.

On Friday at Lakewood, Stefanie Allison and Josh Lee both placed. Allison tied for fifth in the high jump and Lee took fourth in the long jump.

In the high jump, Allison cleared 4 feet, 8 inches, 4-10 and 5-0 without a miss. Her first try at 5-1, she cleared but the bar bounced off. She cleared on her second attempt. She missed at 5-2 (hit the bar with her back) and then she jumped over it. That height tied her personal best. She finished in a tie with Dawn Higgenbotham of Cheyenne Mountain. Amy Bladou of Lewis-Palmer with a jump of 5-3.

Lee had a nice leap of 21-5 3/4 in the prelims. But he never could do that well during the finals. He jumped 19-4, 19-9 3/4, and 20-1/2. That prelim jump was good enough for fourth. Jacob Benson of Glenwood Springs won with a leap of 22-5 1/2.

Harrison won the Class 4A boys title with 123 points, two-time defending champ Mullen came in second with 77. Cortez finished with 6. Mullen won the girls crown for a second year in a row with 99.5 while Sierra took second with 62. Cortez finished with 5 points.

In Class 2A Boys, Holyoke won with 47 points while Swink took second with 44. Mancos placed eighth with 26 and Dolores ninth with 25.

Cody Beaver won both the 110-meter high hurdles and 300 hurdles and Daisy Ragland won the girls high jump with a leap of 16-8. (See front page story). Beaver won the 110 in 15.44 and won the 300 intermediate in 40.45.

Two Mancos boys placed in the triple jump. Raymond Thomas hopped, skipped and jumped to 40-5 for seventh and Gary Baker 40-5 for eighth. Thomas also placed seventh in the long jump with a leap of 19-10. Baker took eighth in the high jump as he clared 6-0.

The Mancos boys best performance came in the 400 relay where they placed second in 45.26. The Blue Jays came in sixth in the 1600 relay in 3:32.64. Dolores County placed seventh in the 3200 relay with a time of 10:48.03.

Brian Rantz of Dolores came in seventh in the 3200 run with a time of 10:31.40. Jordan Davis of Mancos came in eighth in 10:33.94.

Julesburg won the girls’ team title for the second year in a row with 77 points. West Grand placed second with 70. Dolores placed fifth with 32 and Mancos followed with 27.

Rene Davis of Mancos placed fourth in the 100 low hurdles with a time of 16.97.

Dolores girls 800 relay came in fifth in 1:53.23. Mancos’ 400 relay came in eighth in 53.52 and the MHS 1600 relay came in fourth in 4:21.26.

Erica Russell of Mancos heaved the shot put 34-9 for sixth. The day before she placed third in the discus with a toss of 120-4. Jori Yeomans turned in an outstanding performance by placing fifth in the 1600 with a time of 5:34, setting a new school record.

Tracy Everett and Tegan Brown, both of Dolores, finished fourth (12:40.5) and sixth (12:40.5), respectively. In the 800, Joni Everett of Dolores came in fifth in 2:25.82.

Several outstanding performances by other thinclads from other schools were also turned at the Class 2A meet. Andy Malott, a senior at Swink High School, had a weekend that would thrill most of the hundreds of athletes at the meet. He completed a sweep of the 2A jumps Saturday, adding a triple jump victory to his Friday victories in the long jump and high jump.

West Grand twins Shonda and Jessica Brown matched Malott's efforts in the 2A girls division as they each won three medals and combined for a victory in the 1,600 meter relay. But the Mustangs endured the same fate as in 1999, finishing runnersup to Julesburg.

Cari Jensen of Fowler High School won her third consecutive 100 hurdles state crown.

Natalie Hughes did not double over with exhaustion Saturday after crossing the finish line like the rest of the field following the girls 3,200-meter run at the Class 4A state track and field championships at Jefferson County Stadium.

And there were some outstanding performances at the Class 4A meet as well.

Natalie Hughes, a junior from Palisade, completed an improbable sweep of all three distance events ... the 800 meters, 1,600 and 3,200 ... for the third straight year to become a nine-time individual state champion. Saturday, she won the 800 and 3,200 in 11:18.02. Her winning time in the 800 (2:12.78) was her second 4A meet record during the two-day championships. She set a 4A record in the mile Friday.

While Hughes took care of the distance events on the 4A girls side, the 4A boys field included at least four runners capable of winning the 800 or 3,200 with Lewis-Palmer's Jared Scott, Sterling's Bryan Dillon, Harrison's Danny Nahava and Troy Hernandez of Brighton. Scott, the defending champion, won with in a meet-record 1:53.37.