State track notes: Area sprinters make Saturday's finals, Woodson scratched from 200

LAKEWOOD - Defending 5A 100- and 200-meter state champion Markesh Woodson of Fountain-Fort Carson finished second in his 100-meter preliminary heat Thursday with a 10.79-second run to qualify for Saturday’s finals. Woodson, who missed much of the season with a hamstring injury, finished second to Fort Collins speedster Raymond Bozmans, who owns the state’s fastest times in both the 100 and 200 this year.

Woodson won’t be defending his 200 crown against Bozmans, as he was scratched from the prelims with a tight hamstring. Trojans coach Ben Montoya said Woodson was also scratched from the 800 relay and that he hasn’t decided if he will run in any other sprint relays.

“It is a bummer, but I can’t do anything about it,” said Woodson, who will run for Missouri beginning this fall. “Sometimes you can’t do everything you want, and you have to listen to your body. I think I’ll be good for the (100) finals though.”

Woodson’s teammate, Solyde Bankston, also qualified for the finals with a prelim time of 10.85.

Vista Ridge will have three runners in the 4A 100 final, with junior Brandon Cartagena (10.82), senior Josh Lewis (10.92) and junior Demetrius Warren (10.94) all qualifying. Falcon sophomore Kalen Ballage (11.02) also qualified for Saturday’s finals.

On the girls’ side, Pine Creek freshman Alleandra Watt had the third-fastest 100 time from the prelims at 11.96 and will be joined in the 5A finals Saturday by Liberty’s Kiera Brown (12.37). Watt also qualified for the finals in the 200, posting the fastest time of 24.48.

In 4A, Mesa Ridge’s Rachael Jackson (12.54), Widefield’s Jordan Edmonds (12.60) and Cheyenne Mountain’s Courtney Tibbetts (12.61) all qualified for Saturday’s finals. Jackson and Edmonds also qualified for the 200 finals.

Canon City’s Tuck wins 4A state title in triple jump

Canon City senior Andrea Tuck made her final triple jump attempt count, winning the 4A state title at 37 feet, 5.25 inches. Tuck, who is also competing in the 100 and 300 hurdles this weekend, edged Green Mountain’s Mackenzie Comstock, who was second at 37-4.

“Being up there (on the medal stand) in first place in my senior year is the most amazing feeling ever,” Tuck said. “Every year I’ve been here, I’ve progressed, but I haven’t been too proud because I hold high expectations for myself. I was determined.”

Sand Creek senior Jessi Macedo finished ninth at 33-11.25.

Back for more

Less than two hours after helping The Classical Academy set a 3A state meet record in the 3,200 relay, Shelby Stableford and Regan Mullen came back to take first and second in the girls' 3,200-meter run.

“It was really difficult,” Stableford said. “To come off that win in the 4 X 8 and, yeah, you're a little tired and it's tough to go out and race two more miles.”

Stableford clocked in with a time of 11 minutes, 19.01 seconds while Mullen came in right on her hip at 11:19.89.

“I'm just so thankful to have been able to do that with Regan,” Stableford said. “She really helped push me. I could not have done it without her and I'm just so thankful.”

Mullen's performance is all the more impressive since she's really a middle-distance specialist.

“This really isn't my race; it's almost foreign going into it,” Mullen said. “This is Shelby's race and she put her heart into it.”

The duo pulled far ahead of the rest of the field, setting the pace and pulling away at the 1,600 mark. They finished almost 16 seconds ahead of the third-place finisher, Natalie Anderson of Hotchkiss.

Lancers make podium in 3,200

Liberty distance runners made an impact on both the boys’ and girls’ sides. Senior Hannah Everson, seeded 12^th in the 3,200 final, finished fifth in a tight battle in 11 minutes, 2.42 seconds. McKenna Spillar of Dakota Ridge won the state title in 11:00.85.

Fellow senior Garrett Kenyon, the ninth seed, also made the medal stand by finishing sixth with a 9:38.39. Griffin Hay of Fort Collins won at 9:30.61.

TCA keeps on scoring

On a day that featured finals in only four track events for 3A, TCA came out the clear winner. Besides winning both 3,200 relays and taking the top two spots in the girls' 3,200, the Titans finished the day by taking second and third in the boys' 3,200.

Conner Wilburn took second in 10:02.54, while Joshua George was third at 10:07.39. Faith Christian's Evan Fourtney won the race, pulling away from the field to clock a 9:48.43.

TCA's strong performance came about in large part because of strategy. None of TCA's four entrants in the 3,200 had previously run Thursday, while several others in the field had.

With that in mind, Wilburn and George paced themselves, staying more that halfway back in the pack for most the the first mile. George started making his move at that point and Milburn followed. Milburn's sprint over the final 200 meters gave him second.

“We were hopeful that most of the field would die down and we would stay consistent,” Wilburn said.

Tate grabs third in 1A 3,200

Micah Tate of Pikes Peak Christian grabbed third place in the 1A boys' 3,200 with a 10:41.33. Alex Duarte of Bethune and Jake Erickson of Simla took first and second, respectively. Duarte's time of 10:22.77 set a 1A state meet record.

The pace was very fast, as witnessed by Tate's time being just 5.28 seconds off the previous state-record mark.

Other area scorers

Vanguard took seventh in the 2A boys 3,200 with an 8:40.16, earning three team points … TCA's Nathan Carr was seventh in the discus … Calhan's Riley Cookson was seventh in the 2A girls' shot put … Pikes Peak Christian's Mark Waters and Jermaine Suggs took sixth and eighth, respectively, in the 1A boys' long jump.

Record by TCA in the sprint medley

The Classical Academy set a 3A state meet record in the 800 sprint medley by clocking a time of 1:48.25 during its heat in the preliminaries. The previous record was 1:48.29, set in 2004 by University.

Not only will the record have TCA heading into Friday's final as the top seed, it was also a full 1.39 seconds faster than TCA's previous best this season. That previous time already had the Titans seeded No. 1 coming into the state meet.

“We're a really close team and we run for each other,” team member Taylor Harris said. “We're into finals and we're really pleased.”

Vanguard sprint medley advances

Vanguard came into the 800 sprint medley as 2A's third seed, but will go into Friday's final as the No. 2 seed after winning its heat with a 1:52.33. Making that time more impressive was that the Coursers very nearly didn't finish at all.

During the first handoff, there was a bump between Vanguard and the team in the lane next to them. The handoff was completed, but just barely.

“We had a little bit of an accident over on the first handoff but we recovered quickly,” said Corinne Huthoefer.

They recovered well enough to win their heat. Only Akron posted a better time (1:51.60). Vanguard's preparations for Friday will be rest, recovery and one more thing.

“We might go over handoffs a little bit more,” Huthoefer said.

Area hurdlers take top three in girls' 3A

Three area runners took the top three spots in the preliminaries of the 3A girls' 100 hurdles and will all advance to the finals. Alexa Chacon of TCA was dominant with a time of 14:88, taking first. The Cox sisters of CSCS were next, with Tori taking second at 15.69 and Aubrey taking third 15.83.

Two Irwin runners advance

James Irwin's Alicia Lawerence qualified for the finals in the 3A girls' 100 by posting a time of 12.58 seconds in the preliminaries, the sixth-best mark. Running in the same heat was Sierra Williams of Cedaredge, who set a state meet 3A record with a time of 11.86.

Her James Irwin teammate, Miguel Molas, was also sixth in the boys' 100 prelims and will head to the finals.

TCA, CSCS advance in girls' 800 relay

The Classical Academy knocked nearly 2 seconds off its previous best in the girls' 800 relay, clocking a 1:45.07. Despite the improvement, TCA will head into the finals as the No. 2 seed because Cedaredge set a 3A state meet record with a time of 1:42.91, a full 1.54 seconds better than the previous mark set by La Junta in 2002.

Also moving on to the finals in the event was Colorado Springs Christian, which finished seventh.

TCA, Manitou move on in boys' 800 relay

The TCA and Manitou Springs boys both qualified for the finals in the 800 relay. TCA took fifth in the prelims with a time of 1:31.14, while Manitou Springs was seventh at 1:31.76.

Other qualifiers

Calhan's Jerrod Crook will compete in the finals after taking eighth in the 2A 200. … Sam Marsh of CSCS snuck into the finals of the 3A 200, taking the ninth and final spot … Jamie Taves of CSCS took seventh in the boys 110 hurdles prelims, earning him a spot in the finals. … Corrinne Huthoefer qualified in the 2A girls' 100 hurdles.