Most Viewed Stories
Doherty's hurdlers lead team to boys' title at Terror Invitational
The best of the Terror Invitational on the boys' side:
- Widefield's Tony Carodine continues his scorching season with wins in the long jump (22-foot-8) and triple jump (46-0.75). Carodine is the state leader in both events.
- The field in the 300 hurdles was a preview of state, with four times among the top seven recorded in Colorado this year. Doherty's Ryne Chavez won in 39.07 seconds, followed by Fountain-Fort Carson's Dakota Leazer (39.42), Durango's Jared Blake (39.42) and Doherty's Tyler Zito (39.89).
- Vista Ridge's 800-meter relay team won in 1:28.28, just six hundreds off the state's best time and the best this year by a 4A squad.
- Palmer's Ben Goodman ran a personal record 1:58 in the 800, winning and moving into the state's top eight.
- Vista Ridge's Andrew Dubiel won his second discus title in as many days, throwing a season best 160-1. He currently leads all 4A throwers in the event.
- Doherty's Matt Becar became the third high jumper to clear 6-7 this season, beating Cheyenne Mountain's Colt Sessions by an inch.
- Vista Ridge sprinters won the 100 (Brandon Cartagena in 11.08) and 200 (Demetrius Warren in 22.25). Noah Gabel came 4 hundredths from making it a sweep, taking second in the 400 behind Falcon's Brodie Hicks (50.8).
Ryne Chavez and Tyler Zito were exhausted on Saturday afternoon – and with good reason.
The pair of sprinters from Doherty had just completed a day of competition that began early in the morning and didn’t end until just before 3 p.m.
Each had to run in the 110-meter hurdle preliminaries in the morning, then turn around and run the finals in the afternoon – in addition to the 800 relay and the 300 hurdles.
Doherty took first in the Terror Invite with 83 points, so the extra effort from the hurdlers definitely didn’t go unnoticed.
“They get disappointed when they don’t PR (personal record) every week, but we are working for state right now,” Doherty coach Robert Duensing said of his hurdlers and sprinters. “The goal is for the hurdlers and relays to both finish in the finals at state and for the hurdlers specifically to each be top five in the state.”
If the way the pair of Chavez and Zito has been running thus far continues, they should achieve that lofty goal.
Chavez, who won both the 300 and 110 hurdles on Saturday, is currently ranked No. 1 in the state in the 300 hurdles with a time of 38.67 seconds.
His time in the 110 hurdles (15.14 seconds) on Saturday would put him in a tie with Zito for the seventh-fastest time in the state in that event.
“I’m a little bit tired and my legs are kind of tight right now; it’s been a long day,” Chavez said moments after winning the 300. “This is more than we’re used to doing so this is tougher than usual.”
Fellow senior Zito was also feeling the effects of a long day’s work on the track. He finished third in the 110 and fourth in the 300, but knows days like this one will come in handy later on in the season.
“This will help to condition us even better,” Zito said. “We want to be in top shape when we get toward the end of the season and get to state.”
With the two athletes being the same age and running in the same events, it would seem natural for there to be some friction once in a while. But not with this duo.
“We are always supportive of each other and we want each other to do well,” Zito said. “Our whole team is like a brotherhood and we are part of that, so we always have each other’s back.”
If they keep running the way they have been so far this season, they will be supporting each other in the starting blocks of the finals at state in May.
