Fifteen student-athletes from Durango High School will travel to Lakewood for the Colorado High School Activities Association Class 4A state track and field meet this Thursday, with events scheduled through Saturday evening at Jefferson County Stadium.
After winning the boys cross country state title in the fall, the Demons are loaded with a strong field of distance runners and relay teams. DHS is also well represented in field events and numerous other track categories going into the weekend.
Here is a closer look at those who will represent the Demons:
Events: 1,600, 4×800
Expectations: “I moved here last year and I feel lucky to have gotten to join this group. We aren’t just a group of kids running, this is a family and they’ve had a great impact on my life.”
Events: 4×400
Expectations: “I’m looking forward to the experience, but I believe in us and I believe in this group of girls.”
Events: Team Captain
Expectations: “This group has been my family for the last four years. I’m so proud of my friends to have qualified after watching all of us grow over the years. I just hope to provide some wisdom and help pull them through.”
Events: 4×400
Expectations: “I am more than honored to run with this group of girls. It would be nice to get the school record, and I think we will do really well.”
Events: Pole vault
Expectations: “I have a goal and it’s to clear 12-foot-6. I’ve had that goal for awhile, and it would be cool to hit that mark at state.”
Events: 4×400
Expectations: “I’m a senior, and this is my first year going to state, so that’s excitement enough. Now that I’m going, I want to take first, and I’m confident that our team has the ability to do that.”
Events: Discus, shot put
Expectations: “I”m so excited. I’d be happy just to be on the podium for discus, but I really think I have a chance to win the shot put. Last year I was nervous, but this year I’m pumped.”
Events: 3,200
Expectations: “I”m just going to go yonkers in this race because this is my last chance. This time of year, you have to feel the will to win inside of you. It has to be something extra from the inside that pushes you ahead. I’m going to go as hard as I can.”
Events: 4×400, 4×800
Expectations: “The state meet is the culmination of the end of a season and now it’s the end of our careers here. The week leading up to state is always a time to remember how you got here and the people who helped out. I’m excited and ready to go.”
Events: 4×400
Expectations: “I just hope that we can go out and run our best. I’m not worried about what place we finish, I just want us to leave it all out there on the track.”
Events: 400, 800, 4×400, 4×800
Expectations: “I always look forward to making more memories with these people. It’s not the moment of winning or competing during the race, but it’s the time in between spent with the group that makes it special.”
Events: 4×800
Expectations: “This is the last time to run with a bunch of kids who have always meant a lot to me. It’s actually been kind of a somber week for me because this is it. We’re ready to lay it all on the line for each other, though.”
Events: 800, 4×400
Expectations: “I didn’t expect to qualify for state, but I slipped in at the last second, so I’m just happy to be going. I’m really looking forward to watching the others compete because this is such a talented group and we might never be on this good of a team again.”
Events: 4×400 alternate
Expectations: “I think the 4×400 team has a strong chance to win this year. Obviously I don’t want anyone to get hurt, but if something bad happens, I just hope I can fill in and not let the team down.”
Events: 3,200
Expectations: “This is the first time I’ve been to state for track, so I’m excited for that. It’s my last race in high school, so I’ve been thinking about everything that happened up to this point, but it also makes me excited about running in college.”
Events: 4×400
Expectations: “I remember watching the 4×400 team my freshman year. They ran the same time we did at leagues. They went to state and ran 3:21, so if we could beat that, it would be something I never thought we’d do.”
For more on the team Bayfield and Ignacio will send to state, see Thursday’s print edition of The Durango Herald.
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