 BHS track just fine at the Pine
Written by: Joel Priest
4/20/2007
About the only thing that could steal the Wolverines’ collective thunder last Saturday at their own Pine River Invitational Track Meet was scheduled for later that evening: Prom.
For when the hardware was handed out, there were almost no Bayfield athletes left to accept the honors due them.
Only one girls’ team member, freshman Makaila Miller, was still present when BHS assistant coach Sherry Kimball awarded her the third-place team trophy, and only the boys’ 4x400-meter relay unit (Will Treanor, Jeremiah Haynes, Jesse Krueger, Jake Krueger) was still in attendance to hoist the championship award.
The quartet ran in the final event of the long day at Wolverine Country, and the fans left in attendance rapidly filed out afterwards, little knowing that Gunnison (116.50 points) and Durango (112) placed just ahead of BHS’ 100.50 in the girls’ ranks, or that GHS (91) and DHS (89) both trailed the Wolverines’ prom-inent total of 104.50 on the boys’ side.
Eight hours prior though, eighteen schools fielded teams in each division, from the great (5A DHS) to the small (1A Creede), and over 550 athletes competed in the first official chance to qualify for next month’s state championships in Pueblo.
For Bayfield, senior Ryan Wirth was truly at the top [or near it] of his game in the pole vault, clearing 14’3”, over two feet higher than the runner-up. Wirth nearly eclipsed the event record but knocked the bar off at about 15’1”.
“I’ve never been that high up before!” he said. “And when I got up there, I knew I could get it but I just brushed the bar with my shirt on the way down. Still, it was pretty cool.”
The boys’ 4x800 relay also took first with a time of 8:34.27, about 1.5 ticks ahead of Del Norte. The 4x1 relay brought back a second (46.51), as did senior Jake Krueger in the 800-meter run (2:05.25), with sophomore Jesse Krueger fourth (2:09.25). Senior Jared Wagner took third in the high jump (5’8”), and the 4x2 and 4x4 relays ran third in 1:38.36 and 3:45.77 respectively.
Freshman Derek Laue took fourth in the 3,200-meter run (11:02), as did sophomore Dakota Decker in the 100 meters (12.04) and senior Kyle Borrego in the triple jump (38’1-1/4”).
‘Pole Vault High’ also ruled the day on the girls’ side, with senior Janice McClain clearing 8’6” for first and soph Marleigh Coffelt taking third with a successful 7’6” attempt. The 4x1 relay also captured first in 53.8 seconds, nipping Mancos at the line by 0.16 seconds.
In another thrilling open 800 meters, BHS ran second (junior Kelsey Dean, 2:34.56) and fourth (junior Jennifer Visser, 2:36.46), and junior Jenny Young also took second by clearing 5’1” in the high jump. Sophomore Lindsey Shaw earned third in the 1,600 meters (6:03.32), as did junior Alexis Pommier in the 300 hurdles (50.12), Young in the 100 hurdles (17.29), and the 4x8 relay crew (10:58.66).
Senior Heidi Bird took fourth in the triple jump (31’9-3/4”) on her 18th birthday, freshman Myra Dean took fourth in the high jump (4’10”), and Miller was fifth in the 3,200 meters (14:14.78).
Up next is tomorrow’s Durango Invitational, beginning at 9 a.m. on the track behind DHS.
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