Special to the HT
RANGELY | The Rangely High School track and field team traveled to Gypsum, Colo., this past weekend to compete in the Eagle Valley Invitational. With near-perfect conditions and several of the Western Slope’s top athletes, the Panthers continued to improve their best marks.
The pole vault was one of the most exciting events of the meet for both girls and boys. On the girls side, Kira Jo Benson and Tylee Fieldereach cleared 6 feet, while Natalie Bolinger and Rachel Elder each cleared 6 feet, 6 inches. Miah Wren set a personal record of 9 feet, 6 inches, to finish second overall.
On the boys side, Izaiah Moody cleared 7 feet, 7 inches, Clay Allred vaulted 9 feet, and Kacey Allred cleared 9 feet, 6 inches. Jordan Irwin cleared 13 feet for a personal best.
On the infield, Chance Allred and Landon Bollinger competed in the boys high jump. Allred cleared 5 feet, 1 inch, and Bollinger cleared 5 feet, 5 inches. Kira Jo Benson cleared 4 feet, 1 inch, in the girls high jump, and Natalie Bollinger cleared a personal record of 4 feet, 3 inches.
In the boys long jump, Logan Peterson led with a jump of 18 feet, 6.25 inches, followed by Landon Bollinger’s jump of 18 feet, 2 inches. Christian Fortunato set a personal record with a jump of 16 feet, 5 inches, and Robert Murray jumped 16 feet, 0.75 inches. Ashlynn Ducey jumped 15 feet, 10.5 inches, for third place in the girls long jump. Natalie Bollinger and Kira Jo Benson set personal records with leaps of 14 feet, 4.25 inches, and 11 feet, 11.5 inches, respectively. Chance Allred jumped a personal record in the boys triple jump with a final measurement of 34 feet, 10.25 inches, and Ayden Frasier jumped 29 feet, 5.75 inches.
Taylor Fouch finished seventh in the discus with a personal record throw of 85 feet, 7 inches. Aubrianna Tapia threw 74 feet, 8 inches, and Miley Francis threw 67 feet, 6.5 inches. Chase Cochrane set a personal record in the boys discus, finishing fifth with a throw of 121 feet, 10 inches. Jaren Blankenship threw 78 feet, 8 inches. In the boys shot put, Cochrane threw 36 feet, 5.5 inches, and Blankenship threw 32 feet, 4 inches. Taylor Fouch finished third in the girls shot put with a throw of 31 feet, 7.5 inches, Aubrianna Tapia was fourth with a throw of 30 feet, 0.5 inches, and Miley Francis threw 19 feet, 10 inches.
Ashlynn Ducey finished seventh in the girls 100-meter dash with a time of 13.64 seconds, while Rachel Elder ran 14.69 seconds. In the boys 100-meter dash, Robert Murray led with a personal record time of 12.39 seconds. Ayden Frasier ran 13.12 seconds, Easton Peterson 13.41 seconds, and Christian Fortunato 13.60 seconds. In the girls 200-meter dash, Ashlynn Ducey and Miah Wren each ran personal records to earn third and fourth with times of 27.44 seconds and 27.66 seconds, respectively. Tylee Fielder ran 30.70 seconds, and Logan Peterson ran a personal record of 24.35 seconds in the boys 200-meter dash. In the boys 400-meter dash, Logan Peterson set another personal record of 56.42 seconds, Chance Allred ran 59.21 seconds, and Titus Friedrich ran 1:03.87.
Taya Wren finished second in the girls 800-meter run with a time of 2:25.64. Addison Thayn ran 3:01.15. In the boys race, James Talbot won with a personal record of 1:55.74. Clay Allred ran 2:18.80, and Kellen LeFevre ran a personal record of 2:23.49.
Faith Preito and Courtney Casto ran the girls 1,600-meter run. They finished in 7:02.62 and 8:39.93, respectively. Tavan Morgan led three other Panthers in the boys 1,600-meter run with a personal record of 5:31.69. Kyler Fouts also ran a personal record in 5:54.68, while Aaron Savage ran 6:17.46 and Gage Nielsen 7:00.25. Titus Friedrich finished the 3,200-meter run in 14:11.22.
In the mixed 4×400-meter relay, Miah Wren, James Talbot, Taya Wren, and Jordan Irwin finished third in 3:54.46.
The girls 4×400-meter relay of Kira Jo Benson, Addison Thayn, Courtney Casto and Faith Prieto ran 5:25.04. The boys 4×400-meter relay of Clay Allred, Kellen LeFevre, Tavan Morgan and Chance Allred ran 4:05.12. Robert Murray, Izaiah Moody, Logan Peterson and Jordan Irwin ran 48.31 seconds for the boys 4×100-meter relay. Miah Wren, Tylee Fielder, Rachel Elder and Ashlynn Ducey ran 1:53.58 in the girls 4×200-meter relay to finish fourth, and Christian Fortunato, Titus Friedrich, Izaiah Moody and Robert Murray ran 1:49.32 in the boys 4×200-meter relay.
“This was a really great meet to be at,” head coach Beth Scoggins said. “It seems that every week the kids get a little faster, a bit stronger, and a lot more competitive. All day long we had athletes giving it their all and fighting for a win. It’s still relatively early and so much will change in the coming weeks, but this weekend saw several of our athletes jump into some of the top spots in the state.”
The Panthers will compete next weekend in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, at the Demon Invitational.
