The Rye High School track team competed in the SCL League Meet/ Pueblo County Championship 2023 last Thursday and then turned around the next day and participated in the 43 team Rocky Ford Invitational.
The nine schools from Pueblo County faced off at Dutch Clark Stadium with Pueblo West dominating both the girls’ and boys’ division. In the boys’ division PW ended up with 205.5 points. Rye finished 6th with 36 points.
In the girls’ division PW ended up with 255 points. Rye finished 8th with 17 points.
Rye grabbed a pair of gold medals at the SCL meet in the boys’ division. Garret George took the gold in the 110-meter hurdles in a wind aided time of 17.63 seconds. Teammate Isaiah Guzman won the long jump with a leap of 42’2”, also claiming the gold.
The boys’ 4x800 meter relay team won the silver at the SCL event. Mason Ford, Colton Hendricksen, Timmy Blackhurst, and David Maroney finished the race in a time of 9:58.28 to secure the silver.
Hailey George and Jaklyn Newitt were the highest finishers for the girls’ team. Both took 4th place. George was 4th in the 300-meter hurdles which she ran in a time of 56.06. She also was 6th in the 100-meter hurdles in a time of 18.49 and 7th in the long jump with a wind aided jump of 14.85’ Newitt placed 4th in the shot put with a throw of 29’11”. She also finished 8th in the discus with a throw of 79’2”.
The boys’ 4x200 meter relay team placed 6th. Hendricksen, Nathan Santini, Derek Sheets, and Justin Siduyla ran the four legs in a time of 1:52.33.
Derek Bak placed 6th in the discus with a throw of 99’4”. Bak also placed 9th in the shot put with a throw of 36’.
The girls’ 4x200 meter relay team finished 7th. Clara Chandler, Sofia Crosson, Hayley Newitt, and Ming Tam ran the event in a time of 2:17.15. Madison Heasley threw the shot put 25’9” which was good for a 7th place finish and Emmyle Varner placed 9th in the shot put with a throw of 24’11”.
David Maroney finished 9th in the 1600-meter run in a time of 5:04.57 and Mason Ford finished 9th in the 400meter dash in a time of 58.85 and Ford also finished 10th in the long jump soaring 34’5”.
“We had 17 personal records at the SCL/Pueblo City County Meet on Thursday,” shared women’s’ track coach, Catherine Gallegos. “The next day at Rocky Ford we had six personal records.”
At the Rocky Ford Invitational, the Rye boys’ team placed third with 50 points. Limon won the meet with 110 points. The girls’ team placed in a tie for 12th in the 43 team meet. Limon also won the girls’ side of the event with 114 points.
David Maroney and Isaiah Guzman both brought home a gold medal. Maroney won the 3200-meter run in a time of 11:08.41. Guzman won the gold in the triple jump, where he leaped 39’.
Guzman also won a bronze medal in the long jump with a wind aided 19’ 5.5” jump.
Top finisher for the girls was Kendall Himmelberg who won a bronze in the triple jump, leaping 29’10”.
Himmelberg also long jumped 14’ 3.5” which was good for 7th.
Garret George won a bronze medal in the 110meter hurdles which he ran in a time of 18.50 seconds.
He also placed 4th in the 300-meter hurdles in a time of 3:51.69.
Hailey George was 4th in the triple jump, leaping 29’ 1.25”. George also placed 5th in the 110-meter hurdles which she ran in a time of 18.77 seconds.
The boys’ 4x400 meter relay team placed 4th in a time of 3:51.69. George, Mason Ford, Derick Bak, and John Lopez ran the four legs. The 4x800 meter relay team, composed of Ford, Colton Hendricksen, Derek Sheets and Maroney, placed 5th in a time of 10:11.07.
Timmy Blackhurst was 5th in the 3200-meter run with a time of 12:39.41. The girls’ 800-meter sprint medley team placed 6th. Ming Tam, Sofia Crosson, Gwen Larson and Clara Chandler ran the four legs in a time of 2:30.87.
Jaklyn Newitt placed 10th in the shot put with a throw of 26’11.5” and Derick Bak placed 10th in the boys’ shot put with a throw of 35’8”.
Gallegos assessed the two meets back-to-back,” A late night on Thursday and an early morning Friday proved to be challenging for our athletes with fewer personal records in Rocky Ford, but they still performed well!
We were extremely proud of all their performances at both meets.”
Gallegos shared that currently, Isaiah Guzman would qualify for state in both the long jump and triple jump.
Garret George would qualify in the 110-meter hurdles and Kendall Himmelberg would qualify in the triple jump.
Official qualification will be made known the week of May 15th.
Rye travels to CSU-Pueblo for the Pueblo Twilight Meet this Friday.