Main shatters 25-year-old Meeker High School discus record

MEEKER | Records are made to be broken, but Meeker High School sophomore Sydnie Main not only set a set new school record, she shattered an old one. Classmate Gracie Bradfield set a new school record in the 200-meter dash during the Western Slope League meet in Grand Junction last weekend.
Both the girls and boys teams finished second in a field of 12 teams and athletes will have one final opportunity this weekend to qualify (top 18) for the 2017 Colorado State Track and Field Championships. The pole vaulters will compete in Coal Ridge Friday and the rest of the team will compete in Parachute on Grand Valley High School’s track Saturday.
Main threw her discus 119 feet, more than five feet farther than Rianna Watson threw hers (113-11), back in 1992. Main earned a league championship and all-conference honors with the new record throw.
Bradfield broke a record in the 200 dash, set by current Meeker High School senior Halle Ahrens when she was a freshman. Bradfield’s new record is 26.57 and it placed her third in the league meet.
“Four of the top six 200-meter runners in the state are coming out of our league,” said Meeker head coach John Strate, who was impressed by his team’s overall league finish. “Our league is incredibly tough, so it (second place finish) was a strong showing for both programs.”
Meeker seniors Maggie Phelan and Austin Russell also earned league titles, with Phelan winning the 400-meter dash and Russell winning the 3,200 run.
Meeker’s 4×100 relay team, consisting of Loran Casias, Madi Russell, Tori Lasker and Bradfield, which currently has the fastest 2A time in the state, also won a league championship.
Coach Strate said three teams are currently “within two-tenths of a second.”

Coach Strate said the pole vaulters started off the team scoring at Grand Junction High School last Thursday before the track and field events were held Friday and Saturday at Stoker Stadium.
Meeker senior Peyton Burke finished third, Main was fourth and Kinzy Turner placed fifth in the pole vault for the girls’ team, while Tevin Pelloni placed fourth for the boys.
“Both Tevin and Peyton are in the hunt for state qualifying but both will likely have to improve their marks (9-6 and 7-8 respectively) this week to make it in,” coach Strate said.
Phelan also scored points in the triple jump with a mark of 34-2.25 and freshman Kirstin Brown placed fifth, with a mark of 32-1. Kassi Luce placed seventh in the high jump.
Casias ran a personal best in the 100 and finished third and Lasker also had her best time in the same event and placed sixth. Freshman Makenna Burke also scored team points by making the finals in the 100-meter dash.
Juniors Avery Watt and Sierra Williams finished one-hundredth of a second apart in the 800-meter run (2:33.86 and 2:33.87) placing fifth and sixth respectively. The two also ran on the third place 3,200-meter relay with Briar Meszaros and Karlee Nielsen and senior Delenn Mobley scored team points with an eighth-place finish, running 3,200 meters by herself.
Russell led the boys with his league championship in the 3,200 run and he also placed second in the mile and 800 meter runs.
Senior Cole Brown finished third in the 200, fourth in the long jump and sixth in the 100, scoring valuable team points in all events.
Senior Caleb Bradford placed third in the shot put (44-0) and was fifth in the discus.
Coach Strate said freshman Jake Shelton “had a huge day in the discus,” with a “monster personal record” of 125-5 and a third place finish.
Kale Burke had a personal best and fifth place finish in the mile and Matthew Beck earned team points with a seventh-place and personal best finish in the two mile, while Pake Burke placed fifth in the triple jump and Andy Kracht took sixth in the long jump.
“We have one more week before we head to the state meet,” coach Strate said. ‘We are in the fortunate spot where most of our athletes are in a comfortable spot to qualify for the state meet, so this meet will be a great opportunity to polish some things up and for us to focus on some specific events before the state meet.”