MHS track qualifies nine for state meet

MEEKER I Nineteen Western Slope 2A schools converged at Stocker Stadium in Grand Junction last Thursday and Friday to compete in the Regional Track Meet. The Meeker girls placed third overall behind Paonia and Dolores. Sopho-more Kathryn Doll qualified for the state meet in all four of her events. She pulled out a win in the long jump going 16-5.5 on her last effort and triple jumped 35-0 (her best this year) to take gold. Doll also ran her best 100-meter dash to take third place and her best 200 time to place second in a close finish.
Our region has by far the strongest girls’ 800 and 1,600 group in the state. Usually a 2:35 will gain you a place at the state meet. There were nine girls in our region that ran faster than that with state champ Johanna Reed of Paonia running a blistering 2:16. Cowboy freshmen Cody Pfau and Tristan Nielsen both ran personal bests, 2:30 and 2:32, to place sixth and seventh. Pfau also placed eighth in the 1,600. The Meeker girls’ relay teams all ran their best times and placed just out of qualifying spots. The 4×800 quad of Tristan Nielsen, Kaysyn Chintala, Kaylyn Edwards and Cody Pfau cut more than 20 seconds off their time to place fourth. In the 4×200 relay of Adrienne Wix, Perye Walter, Cassie Fronatt, and Kaylyn Edwards cut seconds off to place fifth and the 4×100 relay of Wix, Kacey Collins, Fronatt and Edwards placed seventh in a tight finish. Wix, Walter, Fronatt and Edwards ran a terrific sprint medley cutting four seconds to place fourth. The final relay of the day the 4×400 consisted of Wix, Chintala, Nielsen and Edwards and cut almost eight seconds off also for fourth place. Bailey Atwood had a great day in the discus to place eighth and also placed eighth in the shot put.
The guys fared a bit better in qualifying their relays, taking three of them to the state meet. The 4×800 relay of J.J. Wyatt, Tala Atoafa, Lathrop Hughs and Joe McPhail placed seventh. The 4×800 relay of Toby Casias, Colton Brown, Jared Frantz and Jake Nieslanik placed second and the quad of Casias, Ryan Wix, Brown and Nieslanik also took second place. The 4×400 relay of Nieslanik, Pat Love, Brock Campbell and Frantz won another second place. Sopho-more Toby Casias ran his fastest time in the finals of the 100 dash to place third and was just 3/100ths out of third place in the 200. Frantz placed seventh in the 400 dash. Campbell placed second in the 800 behind a state-leading 1:59.4 by Eric Lewis of Mancos. McPhail ran to a personal record in the 800. Wyatt had another personal record in the long jump and Alema Atoafa competed in the triple jump for only the second time and jumped 39-2.25 for fourth place. Wix placed sixth in the shot put and Jarrett Waldreff came in 12th in a field of 40. Wix had an outstanding day in the discus, throwing 7-0 farther than he ever has to place third in the discus. The state qualifiers listed below will compete in the state meet at Jeffco Stadium in Denver today, Friday and Saturday.
Kathryn Doll — 100, 200, long jump and triple jump.
Toby Casias — 100, 4×100 and 4×200.
Colton Brown — High jump, 4×100 and 4×200.
Brock Campbell — 800 and 4×400.
Jared Frantz — 4×200 and 4×400.
Ryan Wix — Discus and 4×100.
Jake Nieslanik — 4×100, 4×200 and 4×400.
Pat Love — 4×400.
Alema Atoafa — Alternate 4×100, 4×200 and 4×400.