RANGELY I The Rangely High School track teams braved lousy weather this past weekend at the Tiger Invitational in Grand Junction on Friday and Saturday, the last chance for the athletes to turn in times or heights to qualify for state.
The plan was for the preliminary running events on Friday followed by the finals for the runners on Saturday. The field events were separated to be Friday and Saturday.
Unfortunately, after the second lightning delay, meet officials decided to have the 4×800-meter relay and the fast heat of the 3,200-meter run on Friday evening, then finish the rest of the events on Saturday with no preliminaries.
That decision benefited Rangely quite well in the fact that the Panther boys 4×800-meter relay ran a personal best while Savannah Nielsen also turned in a personal best in the 3,200 in a time of 13:04.64.
With the Tiger Invitational having 26 teams, the Panthers were more concerned about getting preliminaries and holding onto state times and distances as opposed to scoring as a team.
“We had several preliminaries, and the athletes were able to adapt to the change in weather and schedule, which was good, as you never know what will be thrown at you in the sport of track and field,” coach Beth Scoggins said.
For the relays, the boys ran 4×800, 4×400, 4×200 and 4×100 meter relays. The 4×800 team of Ethan Allred, Troy Allred, Zach Glasgow and Patrick Scoggins was able to finish with a time of 8:46.52 and able to qualify the relay for state.
The 4×400 and 4×200 teams didn’t get a preliminary run, but the runners were able to hold on to their state position, and will be traveling to the state meet.
The 4×100 team ran a 48.77 taking 14th place with Kiki Ruiz, Nych Deleon, Marshal Way and Ethan Allred.
The girls ran a medley relay with Sydney Shaffer, Miekka Peck, Antoinette Dorris and Savannah Nielsen taking nearly six seconds off their time for 2:13.94. The girls ran a 4×200 preliminary with Lindzey Thacker, Sydney Shaffer, Antoinette Dorris and Katelyn Brown.
For the throwers, coach Kyle Boydstun said,”I am very proud of Colt (Allred) and the rest of our throwers for the hard work they’ve put in this season.
“Allred will return to the state meet in the shot put and discus throw and he helped the boys’ 4×200-meter relay team qualify as well,” coach Boydstun said. While Chance Shepherd, Austin Ficken, McKenzie Webber, Dawn Stephens, Miekka Peck and Jessica Tolley did not qualify for state, most of them ended their season with personal bests at the Grand Junction Tiger Invitational.
Allred was able to take second in the discus for a throw of 138-08 and took ninth place with a 43-03.5 throw in the shot put.
The jumpers didn’t have their best weekend, but Katelyn Brown’s preliminary leap in the long jump was 15-05.7, putting her in eighth, and she took seventh in the triple jump, where she had a leap of 32-04.75.
Lindzey Thacker’s preliminary leap in the long jump was a jump of 14-01 and she had a preliminary time in the 400 of 65.85.
“It has been a learning experience for me and the jumpers this year, but I am very proud of all the hard work the girls have put into practice, and it has shown in their improvements,” Scoggins said.
For the runners, Ethan Allred had a personal best in the 800 with a time of 2:08.73 while Patrick Scoggins turned in a better time of 2:04.91.
Sarah Connor had a personal best in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 17.98, and Ryan Barlow had a personal best the 1,600 meters for a time of 6:03.84.
The Rangely Panthers will be taking three girls to state:
Sophomore Savannah Nielsen in the 3,200 meters (two mile), freshman Katelyn Brown in the triple jump and freshman Sarah Connor in 100 hurdles.
The following boys will be going in individual events: senior Colt Allred in shot and discus, senior Mitchell Webber in 110 high hurdles and 300-meter hurdles, senior Ethan Allred in the 800-meter run, junior Kaulan Brady in the high jump, sophomore Troy Allred in the triple jump; freshman Brannan Noyes in the triple jump and high jump; and freshman Patrick Scoggins in the 400-meter dash and 800-meter run.
The Panthers will also be taking three relay teams to state: 4×200-meter relay team of Kaulan Brady, Colt Allred, Kiki Ruiz and Patrick Scoggins with an alternate of Nych Deleon; the 4×400-meter relay with Mitchell Webber, Ethan Allred, Troy Allred and Patrick Scoggins with an alternate of Zach Glasgow; and the 4×800-meter relay team of Ethan Allred, Troy Allred, Zach Glasgow and Patrick Scoggins with alternates James Scoggins and Marshal Way.
“I am very excited to be taking this many athletes to state; they have all worked hard and it has been a fun year,” coach Scoggins said.
“I would like to thank all the kids who came out for track this year,” she said. “We had a great experience and I learned a lot from being the coach of the track team.”
Coaches Socggins and Kyle Boydstun said they feel that they have a special experience and bond with every team member.
