{"id":94135,"date":"2019-05-09T17:49:51","date_gmt":"2019-05-09T23:49:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/siblings-unite-to-form-record-breaking-relays-at-m-chs\/"},"modified":"2019-05-09T17:49:51","modified_gmt":"2019-05-09T23:49:51","slug":"siblings-unite-to-form-record-breaking-relays-at-m-chs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/siblings-unite-to-form-record-breaking-relays-at-m-chs\/","title":{"rendered":"Siblings unite to form record-breaking relays at M-CHS"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"From
From left, Elena Short, Aryelle Wright, Morgan Short and Avery Wright explode from the blocks during a practice at Panther Stadium on May 8.<\/span>Ian MacLaren\/For the Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

During his 43 years coaching track at Montezuma-Cortez High School, Bob Archibeque has rarely witnessed the combination of grace, speed, character and competitive drive exhibited by Aryelle Wright, Morgan Short, Avery Wright and Elaina Short on and off the track.<\/p>\n

Bound by blood and forged in friendship, the two sibling groups have combined to form what has become the fastest relay group in their M-CHS history while elevating the girls track program to new heights.<\/p>\n

Competing at the Pueblo Twilight track meet in Pueblo on May 3, the Wright and Short sisters paired up to beat numerous Class 4A and Class 5A schools and win top honors in the 4\u00d7100-meter relay (49.73), 4\u00d7200-meter relay (1:43.86) and 800 sprint medley Relay (1:49.46).<\/p>\n

The team\u2019s times in the 800 sprint medley and the 4\u00d7200-meter relay broke Pueblo Twilight meet records and the quartet currently holds school records in the 4\u00d7100-meter relay, the 4\u00d7200-meter relay, the 4\u00d7400-meter relay and the 800 sprint medley relay.<\/p>\n

The school records in the 4\u00d7100-meter relay, the 4\u00d7200-meter relay and 800 sprint medley were set in 1991, 1992, and 1990, respectively, by a decorated group of runners who won multiple state championships.<\/p>\n

Asked what makes the combination so special, M-CHS track coach Bob Archibeque cited the combination of work ethic and natural strength and speed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s an aura between all four of them,\u201d Archibeque said. \u201cThey see a light at the end of the tunnel and they work their butt off to get to the light. They\u2019ve also been real fortunate to have been blessed with some athletic gifts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chief among the athletic gifts to which Archibeque referred are strength and speed. Aryelle Wright is the defending Class 3A state champion in the 400-meter dash and M-CHS\u2019s school record holder in the 800-meter run.<\/p>\n

Avery Wright is currently the school record-holder in the 200-meter dash and 400-meter dash, Morgan Short ranks among the area\u2019s top sprinters and hurdlers, and Elena Short has consistently found herself near the top of the standings in sprint events.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have great coaches this year,\u201d Aryelle Wright said when asked about the keys to the team\u2019s success. \u201cWe have specialized coaches (for different events) and every coach is experienced. We\u2019re focusing on state titles and we\u2019ve been planning (for the state meet) for a while.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although the decorated group has yet to decide which relays they will compete in at state, they will likely rank at the top of every event that they enter and will be favorites to capture multiple state relay titles.<\/p>\n

As meaningful as their success on the track has been and will be, however, all four runners agreed that the bond they share on and off the track and the support they provide to each other in everyday life will be far more meaningful than medals.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re all really supporting of one another and we try to hype each other up when we get nervous,\u201d Elaina Short said. \u201cWe are so excited and proud of one another.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re all really close,\u201d Avery Wright added. \u201cI remember in Pueblo, when we heard that we broke the record, I remember running to each of (my teammates) and hugging them. The fact that we are all so close has made it extremely special.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe humble each other,\u201d Morgan Short explained. \u201cWe pray before the races and we go back to remembering that we\u2019re blessed to be here; we\u2019re blessed to run on the track and we\u2019re blessed to be healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n

With Morgan Short and Aryelle Wright set to graduate from high school in May, the group\u2019s opportunities to compete together are quickly dwindling.<\/p>\n

With that in mind, each runner is focused on making the most of their remaining opportunities while setting a stellar example for young runners in their community who would one day like to be in their shoes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe advice that I would give (to young runners) is to work hard and never give up,\u201d Morgan Short said. \u201cEven if success doesn\u2019t happen right away, it will happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say don\u2019t let circumstances disable you from doing bigger things,\u201d Aryelle Wright added. \u201cJust because you\u2019re from a small town \u2026 don\u2019t let certain things defy you. Go after what you want.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wise words, to say the least, from the fastest quartet of runners in Montezuma-Cortez High School history.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Aryelle Wright, Morgan Short, Avery Wright and Elaina Short smash school records<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":94136,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5770],"tags":[36,346],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-94135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-high-school-sports","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\/94135","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=94135"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94135\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/94136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94135"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=94135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}