Ron Keller won a lot of meets while coaching Durango High School track and cross country, and the Demons honored him well by winning the Ron Keller Invitational on Saturday.
The weather couldn’t have been better in the afternoon at Durango High School for track and field, with the Demons taking advantage by beating the 19 other local teams that came to compete.
“It was a great day,” Durango track and field head coach Johnny Bertrand said. “We didn’t have any hiccups. We had a lot of teams here; probably the biggest meet we’ve ever hosted with 20 teams and over 1,000 entries … running a meet takes a lot of work. We had a lot of really good help from parents … We’re just going to keep getting better, and we’re right where we want to be.”
Durango’s girls won the meet with 193.50 points, beating Alamosa in second with 87 points and Pagosa Springs in third with 82 points. Bayfield finished fifth with 43 points, and Ignacio finished 14th with seven points.
The Demons’ boys won the meet with 219 points. Pagosa Springs was second with 115.50 points, and Bayfield was third with 83.50 points. Ignacio finished sixth with 33 points.
On the girls side, sophomore Hailey Tripp showed her speed by winning the girls 100-meter race in 12.79 seconds. The Durango girls 100 record is 12.73, a mark Bertrand thinks she can beat since it was a little cold and windy when Tripp ran.
Tripp also won the girls 200 in 26.64. Sophomore Maeve Daley won the girls 400 in 1:01.74.
Freshman Zia Fadil led the Demons to a win in the 3200 in 11:15.30.
Durango senior Evie Morris took the 100 hurdles win in 17.26 and the 300 hurdles in 47 seconds.
“With both the hurdles, I didn’t hit my personal bests, but I was okay with that … especially when it comes to the 300 hurdles,” Morris said. “I was a little over half a second over my personal best, but that’s because last time I was racing neck and neck with another girl.”
Morris is super confident going into the final stretch of her last year of high school track. She feels stronger than she ever has and has gone faster than she thought she could. Morris has been working on her strength, eating habits and sleep schedule so she can perform her best.
Before she heads to Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva to be a part of the distance team, Morris wants to score points at state for the Demons.
Durango’s girls 4×100 relay team of Tripp, senior Juliana McKown, freshmen Karleigh Kinn and Lydia Orlowski won in 50.20.
Senior Aileen McManus won the girls triple jump in 34 feet and 2 inches.
On the boys side, senior Seb Tripp won the 100 in 11.06. Tripp wants to break the boys 100 school record of 10.79. He joked with Bertrand that he wants to leave the school with a record before his younger sister, Hailey, gets one. Tripp also won the 200 in 22.78.
Junior George Preston won the 400 in 50.96. Preston also finished second in long jump and was part of the winning 4×400 team with Tripp, junior Benjamin Lively and freshman Tolman Farnsworth that won in 3:33.26
“I love it here so much,” Preston said about the Ron Keller. “It’s just nice that you don’t have to take a four-hour bus ride before a track meet. That always messes up my mentality for some reason Knowing you can get home right after, too, is great.”
Preston’s primary event is the 400, an event he’s been doing since freshman year. He’s worked hard on the open 200 of his 400, since he tried to pace himself early in the past and it cost him time.
The long jump is a new event for Preston. After the jumping squad graduated a lot of seniors last year, Preston tried jumping during one practice, and he found success. Preston hopes to go to state in four events this year.
Senior Miles Snow also had a successful day, winning the 800 in 2:04.12, the 1600 in 4:45.47 and he was part of Durango’s winning 4×800 team with junior Rocco Enea, Lively and junior Jackson Fisher.
Snow is very confident in his 4×800 team’s prospects at state, with the depth of the team. All four guys are within a second of each other. He’s also excited to compete in the mile at state.
“The pacing in the middle is the hardest part,” Snow said about the mile. “I just got back from a year abroad last year in Poland. This is my second mile of the whole year, and I was in the hospital for four weeks. I’m doing better, and I’m excited to work on my pacing.
Ignacio senior Lincoln deKay and Durango junior Rashad Reece had one of the closest races of the day, both finishing the 110 hurdles in 15.97 seconds. deKay got the best of Reece in the 300 hurdles, winning in 41.37 compared to Reece’s 41.46.
Durango senior Oliver Clark won the boys shot put with a throw of 44-5.50. Demons senior Owen Cheatham made his return to track and field after shoulder surgery, winning the discus throw at 147-4.
“Without the surgery, I thought he’d probably hit 180 this year,” Bertrand said about Cheatham. “For getting one week of practice and then coming out and already being 147, that’s pretty good. So, he can get into the 160s, probably even 170s in a short amount of time.”
The Demons will split up next weekend, with a select few going to the 53rd Liberty Bell Track and Field Invitational in Littleton on Friday and others going to the High Altitude Challenge in Alamosa on Friday.
Before the meet ended, Durango’s 18 seniors and their families were honored with a nice ceremony and photos.
“There are a lot of natural leaders here,” Bertrand said. “When you look down the line at all of them when they’re all standing there, you know they’re all going to be successful adults, whatever it is that they’re doing because of the hard work that they put in here, the leadership they have, the ability to work together with teammates and different people and come together and support each other. It’s a special group.”
Bayfield High School ran into a conflict with prom, so a lot of the athletes didn’t stay for the entire meet.
“We had a great day … I got some of our kids to run one or two events, and they did really well in those events,” Bayfield track and field coach Josh Walton said. “Then they got signed out and headed to get ready for prom.”
The highlight of the day for the Wolverines was junior Tanner Vyborny winning the boys high jump at 6-7, tying his personal best. He’s only an inch off the school record set by Tony Kimball in 1999. Vyborny also has been doing a lot of relays, so Walton hopes that’ll benefit him in high jump since he won’t have the pressure of only one event.
Bayfield’s girls 4×200 team of junior Viven Clance, sophomore Mykah Meshew, sophomore Rachel Nava and freshman Ashlynn Bravo won in 1:49.26. Clance also impressed in the 200, finishing in second to Tripp in 13.21, and the high jump, finishing second at 5-1.
Everyone, including Clance, has been working very hard on their starts in practice over the last week, according to Walton.
“It’s going to be interesting because she’s one who is going to probably be qualified in more than four events,” Walton said about Clance. “We’re going to have to make some decisions as to what events she’s going to be doing at state, and what events does she have the best opportunity to get on the podium?”
Bayfield senior Delilah Zink also had a strong girls shot put, finishing second at 31-7.50.
The Wolverines will head to Alamosa on Friday and Mancos on Saturday.