RANGELY — The Panthers took six athletes to compete at the state track and field meet in Pueblo last weekend, and all six brought home a medal.
Audrey Hogan led the team by placing in fourth place in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:25.01. Hogan also ran in the 1600-meter run but finished in ninth, one place away from the awards stand. In that race, however, she did run her best time and beat her own school record by a second running a 5:26.82.
Lewis Murray ran in the 100- and 200-meter dash races but failed to qualify for the finals.
Mark Hinaman ran his best career 400-meter dash race of 52.31 and qualified for the finals. Hinaman finished in eighth and made the stand.
The final event on the track was the 1600-meter relay team of Hinaman, Blake Mecham, Michael Morton and Lewis Murray. The team narrowly qualified for finals and finished in eighth place and got themselves on the stand as well.
The Panther jumpers were also represented at the state meet through Kanden Brady and Michael Morton. Both athletes were entered in the triple jump and jumped well, however, neither qualified for the finals. Morton’s jump of 40-5 1/4 was 3/4 off the last spot in the finals. Brady also jumped in the long jump. He had his best jump of the year with a 19-7 1/2 effort and finished in seventh place.
These efforts were not quite what the athletes were looking for, but they did represent the town Rangely very well.
These are some classy athletes and the community can surely be proud of them. I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank the community of Rangely for its help with the program, coach David Walck for being a true friend and mentor through each season, coaches Dr. Luke Geer and Jared Ballard for their volunteer help in the distance and throwing events, and the parents and athletes of the program. I feel that it’s an honor to coach in Rangely.