If there were doubts about the quality of Mancos High School track teams at the beginning of last week, they're gone now.
Bluejays place well at SJBL meet
Opening competition at the San Juan Basin League Championship in Ignacio on April 21, the Mancos boys team finished first, and the girls finished fourth in the seven-team field.The boys hadn't finished first at the SJBL Championships since 2011.
"We had a number of outstanding performances," head coach Brady Archer wrote in an email to the Mancos Times. "We had talked about being in as many events as possible to get points to win a league championship and everyone bought in."
Pacing the boys team as he has all season was junior Ro Paschal, who finished first in the 800-meter run (2:10.74), 1600-meter run (4:43.26) and 3200-meter run (10:23.86).
Also finishing first was a 4x400-meter relay made up of Nic Archuleta, Andrew Christensen, Adrian Hernandez and Jake McKie, which finished with a time of 3:50.01.
Adrian Hernandez took second in the 300-meter hurdles (44.47); Andrew Plunkett placed second in the triple jump (39 feet, 10¾ inches); and Christensen finished second in the 400-meter dash (55.76).
On the girls side, the Bluejays were led by Kaylee Rose, who finished second in the 800-meter run (2:43.36).
Olivia Winter-Holm placed third in the shot put (25 feet, 5¼ inches); Jessica Gutierrez finished third in the triple jump (28 feet, 4 inches); and Emma Most crossed the line third in the 3200-meter run (13:53.23).
"Every girl on our team scored points, which was important because we only had 11 girls," Archer wrote. "The schedule at this meet was pretty compressed, but even on the tight schedule, our athletes really stepped up."
Paschal breaks record in Aztec
Competing for the second time last week at the B&B Invitational in Aztec, April 25-26, several Mancos athletes enjoyed solid results, and Paschal enjoyed a record-breaking day.
Paced by Miyamura High School junior Niles Thomas in the 1600-meter run, Paschal got off to a quick start on his way to a second-place finish (4:26.39). The junior's time marked the best in Mancos school history and was followed up by a first-place finish in the 800-meter run (2:01.88).
"Ro ran right on (Thomas') shoulder, and (Thomas) was excellent at setting a quick pace for the race," Archer said.
Also cracking the top 5e for the boys team was Simon Kearns, who finished second in the 1600-meter run.
Emma Most paced the girls team with an eighth-place finish in the 1500-meter run, and the girls 4x800-meter relay made up of Brittney Peacock, Hannah Skinner, Most and Rose placed second (11:18.20).
Next up for the Mancos teams will be the Terry Alley Invitational in Pagosa Springs on May 2.
Archer wrote that while many Mancos athletes have put themselves in position to qualify for state, he is hopeful that all of his athletes will continue to push for personal best times.