After one of its finest regular seasons in recent memory, the Mancos High School track team travelled to the Colorado State Track Championships in Lakewood, May 14-16, and proved that it belonged among the state's best.
The Bluejays' top finish at the meet came in the 4x800-meter relay, when, bolstered by strong legs from Nic Archuleta, Simon Kearns, Ro Paschal and Adrian Hernandez, the team finished second overall behind Lyons High School with a time of 8:26.43.
"We started the meet off the right way in the 4x800 meter relay," wrote Mancos coach Brady Archer in an email to the Mancos Times. "The race got out really fast, but our boys did a great job of working their way through the crowd. They should be very proud of their finish."
Leading the Bluejays individually was junior Ro Paschal, who finished third in the 800-meter run (1:59.26) and third in the 1600-meter run (4:31.45). Paschal's time in the 800 broke the Mancos school record and served notice to Class 2A runners across the state that he will be in contention for an individual state title next season.
Other individual finishers for Mancos included Kearns, who placed 12th in the 1600-meter run (4:47.26) and 16th in the 3200-meter run (10:55.65) and Hernandez, who finished 13th in the 1600-meter run (4:48.90).
"Adrian and Simon both ran personal bests in the 1600-meter run, and along with Ro, gave us three of the top 13 runners in the 1600," wrote Archer.
Hampered by a leg injury, Andrew Plunkett didn't compete in the high jump and didn't place in the triple jump.
"Andrew attempted the triple jump, but he has been battling an injury for a while now," Archer wrote. "He is a pretty tough kid, and he will be back healthier next season."
As a team, the Mancos finished 12th overall in the Class 2A standings, while Lyons High School finished first overall in the Class 2A meet.
"Overall, I was impressed with every event that our athletes were in," Archer wrote. "They worked hard all season to get to this point, and they all represented Mancos very well over these three days. Not only was it great to see our athletes compete, but to see all of the best athletes in the state compete in one arena was incredible."
On the girls side, Emma Most served as the Lady Jays lone representative at the state meet and finished 18th in the 3200-meter run (13:51.01).
"Emma was sick most of the day before her race and battled some pretty strong wind, but I was impressed with her performance," wrote Archer. "She got her first taste of the state track meet and I expect her to come back even better next season."