BMS track has record meet

MEEKER I It was a record-breaking weekend for the Barone Middle School track team. The eighth-grade girls’ 400-meter relay and 800-meter relay teams set school records.
The team of Loran Casias, Madison Russell, Peyton Burke and Halle Ahrens won the meet in both events and broke records that had stood for several years.
Many other runners on the Meeker team came close to school records while competing in the large middle school meet in Rifle.
The eighth-grade girls’ 800-meter medley relay team also finished first as did Halle Ahrens in the open 100-meter and 200-meter events. Eighth grader Julia Eskelson earned an impressive second place finish in the 400-meter dash with Maggie Phelan placing fifth. Phelan proved she is not just a runner but a jumper as well, finishing third in the long jump.
Kinzy Burke placed in three events, finishing second in the long jump, fourth in the high jump and third in the hurdles. Loran Casias completed her day placing fourth in the discus.
The eighth-grade boys had some outstanding individual efforts as well as relay performances. Their 400 relay team of Sheridan Harvey, Hunter Garcia, Chase Rule and Casey Turner was fourth. The 800 relay team of Sheridan Harvey, Austin Russell, Hunter Garcia and Brett McGruder was third and the 800 medley team of Casey Turner, Chase Rule, Austin Russell and Josh Cochran finished sixth. Casey Turner ended the day fourth in discus and fifth in shot put.
Latin Bair and Brett McGruder were also top 10 finishers in the shot put and discus events. Sheridan Harvey was fifth in the 200-meter dash. Josh Cochran was fourth in the 200-meter hurdles and fifth in the 1,600-meter run while Clay Anderson outran two competitors down the stretch to finish in the top 10.
Sierra Williams had a great day for the seventh-grade girls, finishing sixth in the 100-meter dash, second in the 200 dash and sixth in the 400 dash. The relay team of Josie Drussell, Avery Watt, Sierra Williams and Lavender Gastaldo placed fourth in the 800 medley relay.
Heather Burke, the new BMS track coach, along with returning coach Marty Casey, were very pleased with the teams’ performances, particularly for the first meet of the season.
“It was so neat seeing everyone work so hard in their events,” Burke said. She complimented the relay teams saying, “The relay teams had great handoffs and it was a fun way to start our season.”
No doubt the team began its season with the toughest meet, competing against larger schools, with the number of teams and participants in every event significantly higher then the regular league meets.
The entire team went back to work Monday despite the snow and will be ready for yet another successful meet in Eagle on Saturday. The hard work and talent of the almost 50 kids participating this year will make for an exciting season as they are already breaking records and look to continue improving.