Relay teams move into top 5

MEEKER I The Cowboys track team entered two meets last week, competing at Coal Ridge High School on Friday and in Glenwood Springs on Saturday. Meeker will run, jump and throw in Rangely on Saturday.
“We had a busy weekend, and having two meets gave us the opportunity to take a look at how athletes do in some events different than we have seen them in so far,” head coach John Strate said. “We put a number of different relays together for both boys and girls, and the girls’ 800 medley and 400 squads ran times that should be good enough to qualify them for the state meet.”
Linda Olivas, Aly Ridings, Halle Ahrens and Peyton Burke ran the 800-meter medley relay in 1:57.12, which is currently the third best time in 2A. Olivas, Madi Russel and sisters Taylor and Halle Ahrens ran the 400-meter relay in 42.58, which moved them into the top five times in 2A.
Julia Eskelson, Maggie Phelan, Reese Pertile and Piper Haney finished fourth in the 3,200 relay, running it in a time of 11:51.45. Eskelson also finished fourth, running 3,200 meters by herself.
Halle Ahrens and Madi Russel both made the finals in the 100-meter dash.
“This proved to be a great experience for both girls,” Strate said. “Our younger athletes continue to see results from their hard work; we had a number of career bests on both days.”
Meeker senior Ohana Mataia also had a good day finishing second in the shot put and Ridings and Kinzy Burke made the finals in the 100-meter hurdles.
“The girls’ team had some good individual performances, the only setback was Sydney Hughes suffering a severe ankle sprain on Friday,” Coach State said.
The boys also had a couple of relay teams place high in the Glenwood Springs meet, where the 3,200 relay team finished fourth and the 400 relay team was sixth.
Caleb Lange, Aaron Cochran, Tristin Pelloni and Josh Cochran ran the 3,200 in 9:20.8, to finish with the fourth best time.
J.C. Henderson, Tristin Pelloni, Anthony Watt and Jeremy Musgrave completed one lap around the track in 47.49, to finish sixth.
“Hopefully as we progress toward the end of the season, we can qualify some of our boys’ relay teams,” Strate said.
The Cowboys will compete in Rangely on Saturday, starting at 9 a.m.