Several Grand County runners and jumpers turned in strong performances at home in the season-opening Red Rocks Invitational on Saturday, March 14 at Grand County High School, particularly on the girls side, as the boys look to younger athletes to step up after losing several seniors from a state championship team in 2014.
Among the top finishes for the Lady Red Devils were senior Kasey Betts’ first-place jump of 4 feet, 11 inches in the high jump, junior Kwincey Wells’ first-place run of 52.31 seconds in the 300-meter hurdles, and junior Lauren Drake’s first-place 2:48.43 in the 800-meter run. The girls also had winning relay teams in the sprint medley and the 4×400-meter relay, and a second-place team in the 4×100-meter relay, only .08 seconds behind Carbon.
In the 300-meter hurdles, Wells was followed by freshman McKenna Johnson (55.61) in fifth place and Betts (56.30) in seventh place. In the 800-meters, Drake was followed by sophomore Heather Sweeney (2:52.65) in third place and junior Tracy Dalton (2:54.28) in fourth place. In the high jump, Betts was followed by sophomore Ellie Kelly in third place at 4 feet, 7 inches.
Sophomore Alexa Pierce turned in a second-place 1:05.52 in the 400-meters, while sophomore Jayelen Knowles finished second at 6:22.26 in the 1600-meters. Pierce was followed in the 400-meters by Kelly (1:07.26) in fourth place, Dalton (1:10.03) in fifth place and sophomore Megan Pfnister (1:10.76) in seventh place. Pfnister also placed fifth in the 100-meters at 14.27.
Knowles also turned in a fourth-place finish in the 3200 meters at 13:33.01. Wells added a third-place finish in the 200-meters at 28.81, a third-place finish in the long jump at 15 feet, 3 inches, and a fourth-place finish in the 100-meter hurdles at 18.42. Johnson finished seventh in the 200-meters at 30.56.
In throwing events, junior Britnee Lewis finished third in the shot put at 31 feet, 3 inches and freshman Halli Stocks finished fifth in the discus at 82 feet, 9 inches.
The boys were unable to secure a first-place finish in any events, but had several second-place finishers. Senior Andrew Hugentobler placed second in the 3200-meters at 11:19.82, followed by freshman Ryan Lewis in third at 11:21.98 and sophomore Cameron Wakefield in seventh at 12:04.16. In the 110-meter Hurdles, freshman Gage Souza placed second at 19.47; in the 800-meters, senior Mason Tranter placed second at 2:18.03; in the shot put, senior Jasen Christensen placed second at 107 feet; and in the javelin, senior Richie Cordero placed second at 146 feet, 7 inches. The boys also had second-place teams in the sprint medley and the 4×400-meter relay. Tranter was followed by Lewis in sixth place at 2:25.76, and in the javelin, Cordero was followed by senior Qordale Tsosie in sixth place at 119 feet, 1 inch; and junior Josh Stalpes at 109 feet, 2 inches.
Other finishes for the boys team include Tranter’s fourth-place effort in the 400-meters at 54.83, followed by senior Duncan Reidhead in seventh at 57.12. In the 300-meter hurdles, Souza placed fourth at 50.04 and freshman Dakota Johnson placed fifth at 51.56. In the 1600-meters, Hugentobler placed seventh at 5:19.43 and Lewis placed eighth at 5:19.89. In the 100-meters, senior Koby Sobremesana placed seventh at 11.81. In the long jump, Sobremesana placed sixth at 18 feet, 2 inches. In the shot put, Christensen placed ninth at 34 feet.
The Grand track and field teams will get the opportunity to improve upon their season-opening performances on Wednesday, March 25 at the Cortez Invitational in Cortez, Colorado.
Several runners, jumpers, turn in strong performances
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