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May 22, 2001
BY JIM THOMAS DENVER AND PUEBLO — Mancos High School boys and girls held the banner high for the Southwest Colorado area schools participating in Saturday and Sunday’s State Track and Field Championships. The Blue Jays boys and girls scored many points throughout the weekend. Cody Beaver of Dolores (see related story on Page 1) was the star as he successfully defended his titles in both the 110-meter high hurdles and the 300 intermediate hurdles. Mancos had the only other placers in the Class 2A meet which was held at Dutch Clark Stadium in Pueblo. Montezuma-Cortez High School girls had the only placer at the Class 4A meet in Denver. Otherwise it was a washout for Dolores girls and Dolores County girls at the 2A meet and the MCHS boys at the 4A meet. Connie Berger tied for seventh place in the high jump event held on Friday, May 18, at Jefferson County Stadium in Lakewood. It was nearly a perfect day with warm temperatures and clear skies. She had no problems clearing the bar at 4-feet, 8-inches. She cleared 4-10 on her first try. She clipped the bar with her heel at 5-0. But on her second try she made a nice kick over. Berger missed on her first attempt at 5-1 by knocking the bar off with the small of her back. She cleared with a good form on her next attempt. But the 5-1 mark also took its toll on several other competitors. She tried 5-2 but failed on three attempts. She hit it with her back twice and with her buttocks on the final try. One of the biggest stories to come out of the 4A meet on the girls’ side was Pueblo Centennial’s Jenna Bimbi beating Palisade’s Natalie Hughes in the 1600 and 800 runs. Bimbi used a big kick over the final 100 yards to edge Hughes for the title in the 1600. It was the second time in two days the Centennial sophomore has been able to pull out a victory over the senior Hughes, who had come in unbeaten in the state meet. Hughes, including her cross-country wins, won 13 individual state titles. Hughes will be attending Florida State on track scholarship this fall. The Panthers girls ran against her for the past four seasons. Mullen girls won the 4A title for a fifth straight year. But it was not a day of defeat for the Mullen girls, who won their fifth straight 4A team title with only two event victories. Mullen boys, once again, won the team crown with 100 points. Leading the Mustangs to their fourth title in the last five years (Harrison won last year), was senior Kerry Crunkleton, who took first in the 200 and 400. Harrison, for the fourth time in five years, took second, with 67 points. Only a handful of Mancos girls competed all season and it was that handful who scored the points at the 2A State Meet. Rachel Russell got Friday off on the right foot as she finished fifth in the shotput. She had a heave of 32-0. Alyssa Harty of Lone Star set a new state record of 43-3 to win that event. On Saturday, it was cool and cloudy in Pueblo for most of the day and then it rained the final four events. But that didn’t seem to bother the Blue Jay girls and boys. The MHS girls’ 4X800 relay captured fifth place and set a new school record which had stood for four years. Their time of 10 minutes, 39.43 seconds smashed the old school standard of 10:55 set back in 1998. The team, composed of Megan Doty, Kerri Morgan, Lacey Morris, and Jori Yeomans, were in second place after the first lap, dropped to fourth after the second, fell to fifth after the third and hanged on for fifth. It was only the fourth time this season that Doty, Morgan, Morris and Yeomans had run that event. Yeomans came in eighth in the 800. She was clocked in 2:30.23. Western Slope foe Jessica Brown of West Grand set a new state record of 2:15.48 to win. Yeomans just missed placing in the 1600. She was in sixth going into the final lap and even down the stretch but she faded. Amanda Kennedy certainly had a good day for the Jays. She came in third in the 100 in 12.7 seconds and third in the 200 in 20.20. The MHS 4X100 girls relay had a nice race with good baton exchanges. They led after the first lap and were third after the second and third exchanges. Kennedy, running the anchor leg ran an excellent split and edged several opponents at the wire. They were timed in 52.99. The team members were Morgan, Morris, Brittany Aspromonte, and Kennedy. The MHS 4X400 girls relay also did an excellent job in placing fourth. They were first after the first exchange, and fell to third in the second and third exchanges before finishing strong. The team of Yeomans, Morgan, Morris, and Kennedy was clocked in 4:17.16. They weren’t the only ones to do well at State for Mancos. Several of the boys also had a good day. Travis Clark did well throwing the discus. He tossed it 137-3 for fourth place. The 4X200 boys relay squad of Alan Cummings, Jakob Tallent, Kent Russell, and Jesse Rousett made a good run. They all ran hard and it was Rousset’s final kick that propelled them into fifth in 1:34.97. The 4X400 relay team of Philip Wilson, Doyle Edgerton, Tallent, and Rousett came in third place as Rousett edged a runner at the wire. They clocked 3:31.80. As far at the team scores went for the girls. West Grand sisters Shonda and Jessica Brown closed out their incredible high school track careers with a four-year total of 25 gold medals. With Shonda's individual victories in the 200 and 300 hurdles, and with Jessica's wins in the high jump, 400 and 800, West Grand tallied 85.5 points to walk away with the team title. Akron came in second with 64 points, Julesburg placed third with 40, Limon fourth 30, and Mancos fifth with 29. For the boys, it was Holyoke which struck gold. Holyoke won the 400-meter relay, 800 relay and 1,600 relay on its way to scoring 78 team points. Limon came in a distant second with a 51. Dolores finished in eighth with 21 (Beaver finishing first in the 110 and 300 hurdles and placing eighth in the 100 dash). Mancos finished with 15. |
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