Valley athletes succeed at State Track competition

By Stephen Jiron
LAKEWOOD, Colo. —Over the course of three days a season’s worth of hard work culminated in impressive performances in every event at Jeffco Stadium for the 2018 State Track competition. The San Luis Valley had their time to shine topping the podium in a number of those events.
In 3A the headlines went to Alamosa, taking state in three different events. The girls relay squad made up of Allyssa Romero, Tara Sowards, Emily Lavier and Lilly Lavier placed first in the state in the 4x400 meter relay with a time of 3:58.69. Junior Amaya Atencio placed first in shot put with a distance of 39’ 1”, and junior Chad Jackson finished first in the 400-meter dash in a time of 49.91. Jackson displayed adaptability only adding a slight .76 seconds to his preliminary time despite the muggy conditions.
Behind Chad in the 400 meter was brother and teammate Ian Jackson in sixth place with a time of 51.12. The Jacksons and the boys’ relay team also earned a silver medal in the 4x400 meter. Elsewhere for Alamosa, Lilly Lavier picked up a bronze in the 200-meter dash and a fourth place finish in the 400-hundred meter. Also in the 3A girls’ 400 meter was Romero finishing in seventh place. Mary Streeter competed in the women’s 100 meter hurdles and came away with a fifth place finish for the Alamosa girls.
For Centauri Caroline Van Berkum took home an eighth-place finish in discus. Van Berkum threw 109’ 8”.
2A was headlined by Sanford. Brady Lenz collected a first place on Friday in the boys’ triple jump with a winning distance of 43’ 2.5”. Teammate Zach Sittler also placed in the triple jump with a distance of 40’ 9”.
The Del Norte girls’ relay team took home a fourth place finish in the 4x400 meter relay. The team of Lacie Jones, Molly Cavett, Kiela Madrid and Emilee Haefeli shaved two seconds off their preliminary time.
Monte Vista boys completed the 4x100 meter relay with an eighth place finish, and Cedric Perea placed ninth in the discus throw with a distance of 127’ 5”.
Center’s Malyka Medina wrapped up with two ninth place finishes in the 100 and 200 meter dashes, and Camille Ruggles took home a seventh-place finish in the girls 3200 meter with a time of 12:42.62.
In the 1A boys’ discus throw Robert Gutierrez of Sangre de Cristo and Casper Freedle of Creede finished seventh and eight respectively.
Also in 1A, Sangre de Cristo’s Avery Palmgren took bronze in the 100-meter dash with a time of 13.28 in addition to her fifth place finish in the long jump. Dillon Palmgren placed eighth in the boys’ 100 meter dash with a time of 11.74.
Casper Freedle of Creede tied for fourth place in the high jump. Freedle’s height of 5’ 11” was just 3 inches short of the winning height posted by DeBeque’s Wesley Ryan.
Following is a list of SLV medal earning finishers throughout the State Finals in Lakewood. For complete results visit CHSAAnow’s website.

State Track top finishes
3A
Amaya Atencio, Alamosa — Shot Put- 1st
Evan-Emian Bell, Alamosa — 4x400M Relay- 2nd
Chase Howard, Alamosa — 4x400M Relay- 2nd
Chad Jackson, Alamosa — 400M Dash- 1st, 4x400M Relay- 2nd
Ian Jackson, Alamosa — 4x400M Relay- 2nd
Emily Lavier, Alamosa — 4x400M Relay- 1st
Lilly Lavier, Alamosa —200M Dash- 3rd, 800M Run- 2nd, 4x400M Relay- 1st
Allyssa Romero, Alamosa — 4x400M Relay- 1st
Tara Sowards, Alamosa — 4x400M Relay- 1st

2A
Brady Lenz, Sanford— Triple Jump- 1st

1A
Avery Palmgren, Sangre de Cristo — 100M Dash- 1st

Monte Vista boys’ relay team competes in the the 4x100 meter relay finals on Saturday in Jefferson County Stadium. The Pirates took eighth place with a time of 47.24.

Photo by Stephen Jiron