MHS tracksters continue to improve

MEEKER I The Meeker High School Track and Field team traveled down the river to Rangely to compete against five other teams.
The meet was a success as the boys’ and girls’ teams performed well in terms of team points. The boys’ team finished second to Rangely, losing by four points. The girls won in dominant fashion, scoring 212 points.
Starting things off in the sprints was speedster Linda Olivas. She ran to victory in the 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash and 400-meter dash. The Cowboy hurdlers also had a productive day, filling all the hurdle events.
Sophomore Sydney Hughes won the 100-meter high hurdles and the 300-meter hurdles to lead the group. Hughes also took top honors in the long jump, adding almost two feet to her previous best.
Winning the triple jump and finishing almost neck and neck with Hughes in the hurdles was junior Aly Ridings. The trio of Taylor Ahrens, Piper Haney and Lexi Meszaros also contributed to the team score in the hurdle events.
Cowboy senior Jordan Brown brought home top honors in the high jump as well as scoring in the triple and the long jump.
In the distance events, lone runner Jordan Smith completed a grueling day by running in the 800-meter run, the 1,600-meter run and the 3,200-meter run. She scored points in all the distance events, and was only one second off a personal best in the 1,600 run.
The throwers also contributed by putting competitors in scoring position. Bailey Atwood was able to score points in the shot before sustaining an injury in the 4×100-meter relay. Scoring in both the shot and the disc were Ohana Mataia and Samantha Patterson.
Leading the scoring on the mens’ side was freshman TJ Shelton. He was victorious in the 100 dash and the 200 dash. He was also a part of the 4×100 relay along with Jeff Wagner, Anthony Watt and Tala Atoafa.
Along with contributing on the relay, Atoafa earned second place in the triple jump and the 110-meter high hurdles. In the 300 hurdles, he was able to bring home gold.
Wagner also earned points in the 100 dash and 200 dash. Watt scored points in the 200 dash, 400 dash and was part of the first-place 3,200-meter relay with Aaron Cochran, Caleb Lange and Marshal Pool. This young group of mid-distance runners did not stop scoring points with the 3,200 relay. They finished the day strong in the 3,200 run with Lange earning first place, Pool earning second and Cochran in third.
In the jumping events, freshman Tom Chitwood had a productive day, placing in the high jump, long jump and triple jump. He also ran on a 4×200-meter relay team with Joe Newman, Justin Giao and Kash Atwood. These three also scored points in the throwing events, with Kash Atwood throwing a personal best in the discus.
Overall, the meet was a success. It was a good opportunity for the younger athletes to see where they stand against other small area schools. Many athletes who placed were not mentioned, but without everyone, the team would not have had the overall success they did.
The next competition for the Cowboys is at Moffat County on Friday. If the weather cooperates, a number of athletes should move up in the state rankings. Rankings and complete results are posted at www.maxpreps.com, or co.milesplit.com/.