HS Track Competes at High Altitude Challenge
By Coach Peters:
On Friday, May 14, the Lake County High School track & field team participated in the High Altitude Challenge, hosted by Alamosa High School. The meet began in the late afternoon and ended around 10 pm, offering athletes cooler temperatures and the opportunity to run under the lights. It was high-quality competition; 8 new state-leading marks were set at the meet.
One of those state-leading marks was set by Anthony Martinez in the 110 meter hurdles. He ran away from the field and set a new personal best time of 15.27 seconds. Martinez also took 2nd in the 200 m dash with a personal record (PR) of 23.28 seconds. He was followed closely by teammate Fabian Jimenez, who took 3rd in 23.48. Jimenez earned a 2nd place medal in the 400 m dash by cutting almost 2 seconds off his PR and finishing in 51.26 seconds.
Jace Peters added 5 inches to his pole vault PR, clearing 9 feet and placing 2nd. Aurora Marruffo was 2nd in the women’s pole vault. She improved her school record to 8 feet. With a new best of 6 feet 6 inches, Rose Horning ended up 7th.
Proving that she can also jump horizontally, Marruffo lept 14’2” in the long jump and earned a 3rd place medal. Martinez was 4th in the men’s long jump with his leap of 19’8.” Ivan Liewer took 6th place in his first attempt at the triple jump with a jump of 36’6.”
Marruffo ran 55.76 in the 300 m hurdles to finish 5th. Hurdling for the first time, Eli Durand placed 7th in the 110 m hurdles (21.53) and 8th in the 300 m hurdles (50.34).
The Panther ladies looked strong in the distance events. Horning ran the 3200 m run in 12:42 and took 3rd. She also completed the 400 m in 1:08 and placed 6th in that event. Adele Horning finished 5th in the 800 m run in a personal best time of 2:44. Keira King was 6th in the 1600 m (6:09) and 8th in the 800 m (2:48).
Jaycee Windorski cleared 4’6” in the high jump to tie for 4th place.
In the throwing events, Joci Holbrook launched the discus to a new PR of 77’1” and claimed 7th place. Ivan Hinojos broke through the 100’ barrier in the discus, reaching 103’8” and placing 8th.
The team of Jimenez, Peters, Javier Lazaro and Martinez ran an exciting time of 45.86 in the 4 x 100 m relay, good enough for 2nd place. In the women’s sprint medley relay (100 m, 100 m, 200 m, and 400 m), Marruffo, Krysta Roeder, Kaytlin Sprague and King ran 2:11 and finished in 4th place. Roeder, Makayla Arellano, Maya Mendoza and Molly Coleman took 4th in the women’s 4 x 100 m relay with a time of 1:00. Roeder, Mendoza, Windorski and Avery Milne ran the 4 x 200 m relay in 2:08 and finished 5th. The men’s 4 x 200 m team (Obed Tarango, Liewer, Abel Gonzales and Cody Hall) also took 5th by finishing in 1:45. James Garrison, Gonzales, Josiah Horning and Desmond Sandoval combined forces in the 4 x 800 m relay to run 11:37 and place 6th.
If the season ended now, the Panthers would qualify for the State Meet in an unprecedented 30 events. In track & field, the top 18 athletes or relay teams in each event at the end of the regular season qualify to compete at State. At this time, the Lady Panthers would qualify 3 in the 1600 m, 2 in the 800 m, 2 in the 3200 m, 2 in the pole vault, and 1 in the 400 m, 300 m hurdles, high jump, long jump. They would also qualify in the 4 x 100, 4 x 200, 4 x 400 and 4 x 800 m relays. The men would qualify 2 in the 200 m, 2 in the 300 m hurdles, and 1 in the pole vault, 100 m, 400 m, 800 m, 1600 m, 110 m hurdles and long jump. The 4 x 100 and 4 x 400 m relays would also get in.
The Panthers will continue their season this week with meets in Lakewood (5/18) and Coal Ridge (5/21).
