Standing behind the starting line at the Colorado Class 2A State track meet before the start of the 110-meter hurdles on May 21, Dolores High School senior Tristan Medina took a deep breath.
Then, just as he has done so many times during the past four years, the Bears senior exploded off the blocks and cleared the hurdles ahead of him with relative ease on his way to an eighth-place finish (16.93).
For Medina, the podium finish in the 110-meter hurdles, along with a seventh-place finish in the 300-meter hurdles (42.49) served as a capstone to an impressive four-year athletic career that saw him qualify for the state wrestling tournament twice, letter four times on the football field and lead the Bears basketball as a do-it-all point guard.
Also representing the Dolores boys team individually at the state track meet was Phillip Huffman, who crossed the line 15th in the 3200-meter run (10:48.87).
On the girls side, Josie Bernholtz finished 15th in the 400-meter dash (1:02.84), and freshman Jordan Elder enjoyed a successful debut at the state, placing 18th in the long jump (14 feet, 6 inches).
As a team, the Dolores boys finished tied for 36th overall and the Cedaredge boys finished 1st overall. The Dolores girls team did not score.