Apparently, the Mancos High School boys and girls track teams prefer warm weather.
At the B&B Aztec Invitational, April 25-26, the Bluejays put together their finest performance of the season on the first day, only to be derailed by clouds and wind on the second.
"Friday was awesome," said Bluejays head coach Adam Priestley. "Our kids showed up and performed outstanding. Saturday, the wind didn't help anything, but the kids were troopers."
Boys enjoy top-10 finishes
Leading the boys to a 10th-place finish was Ro Paschal, who, continuing to whittle seconds off his solid times, finished second in the 800-meter run (2:07.14).
"Ro is finally getting back in shape," said Priestley. "We fought a little bit of a foot problem early in the season, but he's back on track, and we're hoping for big things."
Also cracking the top-five for the boys team, Justin Burton finished fifth in the 3200 (10:48.36).
"Justin did an outstanding job in the 2- mile," said Priestley. He knocked 20 seconds off from his recent times."
Placing well in three events, Andrew Plunkett finished fourth in the high jump (5 feet, 10 inches), 11th in the triple jump (36 feet, 6 inches) and 12th in the long jump (17 feet, 5 ½ inches).
Other top finishers for the boys included Everett Strazza-Whalen, who finished seventh in the discus (113 feet, 7 inches), Anthony Reiners, who finished ninth in the 300 hurdles (43.95) and Ty Koppenhafer, who finished tenth in the shot put (36 feet, 3 inches).
Girls continue to improve
Although the Mancos girls team failed to score in the 15-team meet, several Bluejays athletes enjoyed impressive performances.
Chief among those was up-and-coming thrower Taylor Goff, who finished seventh overall in the discus (85 feet, 5 inches).
"Taylor is a great worker," said Priestley. "Discus is her thing, and with good coaching from Coach (Heath) Showalter, she's starting to see some success."
Also cracking the top 10 in the discus event, Olivia Winter-Holm finished ninth overall (81 feet, 9 inches).
Other top finishers for the girls included Jessica Gutierrez, who finished 12th in the triple jump (25 feet, 5¾ inches) and Kirstin Adams, who finished 13th in the 400 (1:07.17) and 15th in the 200 (29.77).
Nearing the end of their regular season, the Bluejays will next compete at the Grand Junction Tiger Invitational on May 2 and the Terry Alley Invitational in Pagosa Springs on May 3.
