{"id":28063,"date":"2024-04-21T18:15:00","date_gmt":"2024-04-22T00:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/dolores-girls-relay-team-continues-to-improve\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T00:19:40","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T06:19:40","slug":"dolores-girls-relay-team-continues-to-improve","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/dolores-girls-relay-team-continues-to-improve\/","title":{"rendered":"Dolores girls relay team continues to improve"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/p>\n

DOLORES \u2013 If the Dolores girls 3,200-meter relay squad feels the pressure of an improved junior season, they don\u2019t let it show.<\/p>\n

Keira Larose, Everlee Heaton, and sisters Maya and Elia Lowe were all smiles in the final warmups before their race at the Ron Keller Invitational Saturday in Durango, then they beat their season best by 16 seconds.<\/p>\n

The junior teammates posted a time of 11 minutes, 20 seconds and a third-place finish in the meet. Dolores was ranked 11th in the 2A girls 3,200 relay team rankings going into the meet, according to MaxPreps, and it looks to qualify for state in that event for the first time since 2013.<\/p>\n

Dolores sent a girls 800-meter relay team to state in 2018.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe nerves are definitely there, but we had our goal in mind,\u201d Heaton said. \u201cWe have a lot of trust in our training \u2013 so if we can hit our times in practice, we can do it in a race.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over the years, most of the Bears\u2019 state qualifiers have been in the sprints and field events.<\/p>\n

This fall, the school\u2019s first state qualifying cross-country team, guided by the same foursome, looked to carry that momentum into spring.<\/p>\n

Working toward beating their personal best \u2013 just two seconds in front of them \u2013 began with diligent training that included runs in the DHS Fieldhouse during basketball season.<\/p>\n

\"Dolores
Dolores 3,200-meter relay teammates, from left, Keira Larose, Elia Lowe and Maya Lowe share a light moment before they take the line at the Ron Keller Invitational on Saturday in Durango. (Ben Bradley\/Special to the Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cWe did a lot of winter running, which was really helpful,\u201d Maya Lowe said. \u201cAfter cross-country, we felt inspired to be able to come out for track and keep working hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bookended by the Lowes, with Maya Lowe as leadoff and Elia Lowe as anchor, the Bears ran with purpose, even during stretches when Larose and Heaton found themselves racing the clock. All four girls clipped time off their previous season bests.<\/p>\n

Larose said the Bears are focusing on developing speed for events like the 3,200 relay.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re out there, it\u2019s not about you \u2013 even if you\u2019re tired. Everyone else has already put everything into their leg, so you\u2019re going to do it, too,\u201d Elia Lowe said.<\/p>\n

The Bears stay grounded with their approach to what the sport means to them.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe only get four years to compete, and I can\u2019t imagine not having a team to share this with,\u201d said Larose, and Elia Lowe added, \u201cIt\u2019s a part of our life, year-round.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of gratitude,\u201d Heaton said. \u201cWe remind ourselves that we don\u2019t \u2018have\u2019 to do this, we\u2019re choosing to, and it\u2019s become part of our identity.\u201d<\/p>\n

The boys 3,200-meter relay team, which also eyes a state qualifying spot, shaved seven seconds from its previous mark, with Michael Rantz, Owen Lowe, Corvin Smith, and Bridger Beyhan crossing in 9:29.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ranked 11th in 2A classification<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28064,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[38,39,28,642,396,37,36,346],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-28063","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-dolores-high-school","tag-dove-creek-high-school","tag-headlines","tag-high-school-sports","tag-high-school-track-and-field","tag-mancos-high-school","tag-montezuma-cortez-high-school","tag-sports"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28063","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28063"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28063\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80292,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28063\/revisions\/80292"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28064"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28063"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=28063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}