Delta coaches Luis Meza, center, and Clayton Curtis congratulate 152-pound senior Hunter Brasfield after an upset win sent him into the 4A Region 4 semifinals.
Hotchkiss senior Joe Boyle controls Ruben Chagoya of Basalt to win a 3A Region 1 title. He is one of 7 Hotchkiss state qualifiers.
Hotchkiss and Paonia boys will square off this week on the basketball courts. Both are 6-4 in league play.
Delta senior Brooke Taylor scores two of her 12 points against Summit after grabbing an offensive rebound.
Paonia 195-pounder Tyler “TK” Kendall sets Rangely’s Drew Collins up for a pin.
Paonia freshman Bo Pipher sets TJ Richard of North Park up for a pin in Saturday’s regional semifinal round. He is one of 13 Paonia wrestlers headed to state!
Surrounded by coaches and his dad, Conner Beard signs Letter of Intent to play football for the University of Nebraska Kearney.
Hotchkiss' Jacobe Galley signed a Letter of Intent to play football and study engineering at Colorado Mesa University.
Hotchkiss senior Cody Bartlett signed his National Letter of Intent to run cross-country for Hawaii Pacific University.
Photo by Tamie Meck Delta’s 3200m relay team placed fourth at last weekend’s 4A state track meet in Lakewood. Its time, 9:32.92, set a new DHS record. Team members are; left to right, Clarissa Whiting (Sr), Mykayla Music (Fr), Skylyn Webb (Sr) and Cleo Whiting…
Photo by Rich Meck Hotchkiss distance runners, and sisters, Natalie Anderson (left-center) and Mae Anderson start the 3200m run together on the opening day of the state track meet. They were fourth and fifth in the 3200 and fourth and sixth, respectively, in…
Photo by Tamie Meck Andy Pipher and son Bo meet Bo’s opponent during the Parade of Champions at the 2013 state wrestling tournament. Pipher was recently named 2013 Colorado Coach of the Year by the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA).Paonia…
The Hotchkiss girls team placed first in four events and earned 52.5 points to place fifth overall at the Frank Woodburn Invitational track and field meet.
The 1600-meter relay team of Savannah Rocha, Natalie Anderson, Jenni Celis and Aleksus Wilson not only won, their time of 4:11.24 topped all other times in state 3A competition, according to Max Preps (maxpreps.com).
All four runners also placed in individual events. Anderson, a sophomore and the defending state champion in the 3200, won the 1600 with a time of 5 minutes, 21.38 seconds. The time is currently the third-fastest in state 3A competition, behind two runners from The Classical Academy.
Celis topped 24 other times to win the 400. Her time at the Hotchkiss meet of 58.85 is the second fastest time recorded in the state this season.
Rocha cleared five feet, one inch to win her fourth consecutive high jump. Rocha remains ranked in the top 10 in the state.
Wilson ran a personal best time of 28.33 in the 200 to place sixth, with Kelli Buhrdorf placing eighth.
The 800 relay team of Rocha, Celis, Buhrdorf and Wilson placed second; they now hold the sixth-fastest 3A time in the state.
In boys competition, Tell Hawk won the 400-meter dash with a time of 51.09 seconds. Hawk surpassed his personal best time of 57.70, set at the 2011 state meet; he holds one of the five fastest 3A times posted this season.
In sprints, the racer with the fastest time in his heat runs in lane four; the second-fastest runner is in lane five. When more than one heat is required, the last heat is reserved for racers with the fastest times.
Depending on the track, there are typically about eight runners per heat. Hawk said he ran in the last of six heats, and was in lane five. In lane four was Payton Glasoe, a top-ranked 5A runner from Grand Junction High School.
"I came out harder than usual," said Hawk, who wanted to try a slightly different strategy. He thought he would gain some time that way and would just try to hold on throughout the race, rather than reserve energy for the final kick. Hawk gained the lead in the first 20 meters. At about the 200-meter mark, just going into the curve, Payton caught up. "He had the inside lane and I knew that I had to make up for that," said Hawk. Payton passed, but didn't get too far ahead. Hawk was able to overtake Payton with about 50 meters to go, and held on to finish two or three steps ahead of him.
"I'm excited," said Hawk. "It's great." Being in the top 10 in state leaders was a big deal his junior year, and now he's in the top five.
Hawk, a senior, has shaved more than nine seconds off of his 400 time since his sophomore year. With six meets remaining before state, he's hoping to improve a little more.
According to MaxPreps leaders, five of the top 10 400 runners in 3A are from the Western Slope, including seniors Cody Walls of Coal Ridge, and state leader Andrew Proebstle of Rifle. Both raced Saturday at the Eagle Valley Invitational. Hawk has yet to race against Proebstle this season. "I'd like to run against him," said Hawk, "and see what I can do."
Hawk also runs the sprint relays, and four relay teams he's raced on are currently in the top 18. Hawk, whose time on Saturday should be enough to qualify him for state, is hoping the Bulldogs can also get some relays to state.
Along with Hawk, sprinters Vikash Hypio, Nolan Tracy and Braeden Horton, along with mid-distance runners Cody Bartlett and Kurt Katzdorn have combined to place in relays throughout the season.
Despite a few absences due to spring break, the boys team earned 46 points Saturday to place eighth. The 400-meter team of Hawk, Nolan Tracy, Earl Gaub and River Panish and the 800 team of Hawk, Keegan Palmer, Tracy and Gaub both placed fourth.
Bartlett topped all other 3A times to place sixth Saturday in the 1600. Katzdorn set a new personal best time of 10:43.38 to place eighth in the 3200.
Palmer, a junior, topped his personal best in the triple jump by a foot, clearing 38-09.5 to place fourth.
Hotchkiss competes this Friday at the Coal Ridge Invitational in New Castle.
