RANGELY I The Rangely Panthers showed that in the case of track meets more really is better. Competing in two separate meets in a matter of three days, the Panthers traveled to Hayden for the Tiger/Bulldog Invitational on Wednesday, June 2 before making the short trip over to Meeker for the Meeker Invitational on Friday, June 4. Having two meets gave many of the student athletes opportunities to compete in multiple different events and set lots of new personal bests.
Mary Scoggins set the tone for the week on Wednesday when she beat the defending state champion and claimed the No. 1 ranking in 2A for the triple jump, covering a distance of 35 feet 0.25 inches. Scoggins also went on to win the long jump with a leap of 16-1.75 and placed sixth in the 400-meter as she crossed the line in 1:05.18. Dixie Rhea also finished the first meet with two wins, claiming the 100-meter and 200-meter titles in a personal best effort of 12.63 for the 100 and 26.53 in the 200. Rhea finished sixth in the long jump with a distance of 15-7.25.
Rylee Allred, Brooke Filfred and Kyrah Phelps scored big for the Panthers in the throwing rings. Allred took home the discus crown as she threw 95-0 to go with a fifth place finish in the shot put of 23-10. Filfred grabbed a third and a sixth place finish, throwing the shot put 26-5 and the discus 73-5, respectively. Phelps had a big personal best as she finished runner-up in the shot put after throwing 27-8. Phelps finished second again in the discus with a distance of 89-7.
Hayley Burr continued to compete well on the hurdles and improve her sprinting, winning the 300-meter hurdles in 52.97, finishing second in the 100-meter hurdles in a personal best 18.39, and lowering her 200 time to 28.61. Maya Mercado cleared 4 feet 9 inches to finish third in the high jump to go with personal records in both the 100 and 200, finishing in 13.75 and 28.66, respectively. Macy Morgan completed the 1,600-meter in 9:21.26 and the 400 in 1:53.72. Emma Smith ran the 100 in 15.17, the 200 in 31.75, and leaped 13-2.75 in the long jump.
Hayden proved to be a good location for jumping, as Timothy Scoggins sailed over the second highest clearance in 2A this season to finish fourth overall with a jump of 5-11. Scoggins also ran the 400 in 56.46 and threw the shot put 33-9.5. Kenyan Cochrane threw well yet again, finishing runner-up in the discus with a throw of 125-6 and taking fifth in the shot put with a throw of 35-2. Cochrane also cleared 5-6 in the high jump. Andrew Dorris ran several tough races, finishing second in the 1,600 in 5:11.10 along with completing the 400 and 800-meter in 57.90 and 2:40.43, respectively.
Anthony Dorris and Colton Noel hopped in the 400 as well, finishing in 1:04.49 and 1:01.87, respectively. Noel ran the 3,200-meter later that day in 11:54.97 to place fifth. Justin Allred snagged a fifth place finish in the 800 when he completed the two laps in 2:35.30. Allred also threw the discus 72-4 and leaped 14-6 in the long jump.
The team made good use of Thursday, taking a bit of time to recover and work on their skills before competing hard again on Friday at the smaller, but still very competitive, Meeker Invitational.
The crew of Andrew Dorris, Justin Allred, Timothy Scoggins and Colton Noel started the morning in Meeker with a second place finish in the 4×800-meter relay in 9:35.91. This event was just the start for a very busy day for each of these student athletes. Dorris went on to win the 800 (2:14.11) and place second in the high jump (5-7); Allred long jumped (14-7.5), threw the discus (67-7), and ran the 400 (1:06.91); Scoggins claimed fourth in the high jump (5-7) to go with throwing the discus (83-9) and shot put (36-3); and Noel took on another six laps as he ran the 1,600 (5:40.08) and 800 (2:32.58). Kenyon Cochrane kept himself rather busy as well as he won the discus (131-11) and competed in the high jump (5-7), 200 (25.72), and shot put (34-0.5).
Several of the girls kept with the theme of packing their day, with many of them competing in three to four events. Hayley Burr ran the 100 hurdles (fourth, 18.92), 300 hurdles (second, 51.55), 4×200-meter relay (fourth, 1:59.57), and 800 sprint medley relay (second, 1:55.88). Annika Cantrell ran the 200 (34.35) and 4×200 relay, threw the discus (59-4), and high jumped (fifth, 4-7). Maya Mercado was a part of both relays and high jumped (third, 4-8). Macy Morgan ran the 1,600 (9:15.26) and 400 (1:46.31) to go with her long jump (7-7). Dixie Rhea competed in the 400 (first, 1:03.27), 100 (13.09), 800 SMR, and long jump (second, 15-1). Mary Scoggins won both the 800 (2:37.15) and triple jump (33-5) as she also ran in the 800 SMR and 1,600 (5:57.29). Emma Smith raced in the 4×200 relay and 200 (31.52) as well as long jumped (fourth, 14-1.5).
The lady Panther throwers of Rylee Allred, Brooke Filfred and Kyrah Phelps again doubled in both shot put and discus. Allred threw 92-8 to finish third in the discus and 25-1 in the shot put. Filfred threw 25-8 and 71-7 in the shot put and discus, respectively. Phelps ended the day with a 26-2.5 throw in the shot put to go with a throw of 80-4 in discus.
The team will travel to Grand Junction this Thursday and Friday for the Western Slope League Championships.
