Between the Ray Headley Invitational held in Swink and the Thunder Storm Invitational held at CSUPueblo, the Rye High School track team registered 39 personal bests, according to Connor Pigg, boys track Head Coach.
Twenty-two teams participated in Swink on April 7. Pueblo County won both the boys and girls half of the event. Rye’s boys’ team placed 4th in their best finish of the season with 61 points. The girls’ team were 11th with 19 points.
The boys’ 4x200 meter relay team came home with the gold medal. They did it in dramatic fashion coming back from last place to win in the last two legs of the relay. Derek Sheets, Damien Pachecco, Derrick Bak, and Isaiah Guzman ran the four legs in a gold medal time of 2:23.93.
In the triple jump, Guzman came near a second gold medal with a jump of 39’10”. He settled for the silver. Garret George collected two bronze medals. The first came in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 18.15 seconds. In the 300-meter hurdles he also placed third in a time of 45.31 seconds.
The boys’ 4x800 meter relay team finished 3rd in a time of 10:08.85. Colton Hendricksen, Mason Ford, Timmy Blackhurst, and David Maroney were the four legs in that event.
Highest finisher for the girls’ team was Kendall Himmelberg who grabbed the bronze in the triple jump, with a jump of 31’ .5 “. Himmelberg also placed 8th in the long jump with a leap of 14’5”.
Jaklyn Newitt had a 4th place finish in the shot put with a toss of 29’6” and a 5th place finish in the discus with a throw of 82’1”.
David Maroney had a 4th place finish in the 3200meter run with a time of 11:50.60 and a 5th place finish in the 1600-meter run which he ran in a time of 5:18.84.
The boys 4x400 meter relay team also took 5th in a time of 4:23.11. Ford, Pachecco, Justin Siduyla, and Henricksen carried the baton for Rye.
Derick Bak threw the discus 98’7” which was good for a 6th place finish. He also placed 8th in the shot put with a throw of 34’4” The girls’ 800 spring medley team placed 6th in a time of 2:23.93. Ming Tam, Sofia Crosson, Gwen Larson and Clara Chandler ran each section of the event.
Timmy Blackhurst had a 7th place finish in the boys’ 3200-meter run in a time of 13:41.47. Hendricksen had a 7th place finish in the 300meter hurdles in a time of 58:31.
Ford finished 9th in the triple jump with a leap of 32’8”. And the final top ten finisher on Friday was the girls’ Ming Tam who placed 10th in the 400-meter dash in1:13.43.
“We are starting to see our relays coming together, we just need some better exchanges and get everybody in sync,” shared Pigg.
Bright and early the next morning Rye traveled to CSU-Pueblo for a huge 43 team meet with many larger schools.
Erie High School won the boys’ meet with 99 points. Rye finished 25th with four points. Alamosa girls won the girls’ side of the meet with 85.5 points. Rye’s girls did not score any points.
Highest finisher for the Thunderbolts was Isaiah Guzman who placed 5th in the triple jump with a jump of 41’9”. In the 110-meter hurdles, Garret George placed 11th in a time of 17.37 seconds.
The same 4x800 meter relay team of the day before, came in 12th in a time of 11:00.76. Colton Hendricksen, Mason Ford, Timmy Blackhurst, and David Maroney made up the team.
Highest finisher for the girls was Himmelberg who placed 13th with a leap of 30’10.5 inches.
Bak placed 14th in the discus with a toss of 106’11”. Ford, Pachecco, Siduyla, and Hendricksen placed 15th in the boys’ 4x400 meter relay in a time of 3:55.24.
Newitt placed 16th in the girls’ discus with a toss of 84’4” and she placed 19th in the shot put. Heaving the shot 27’ 9.5”.
The final top 20 finisher at CSU-Pueblo was Guzman in the boys’ long jump who flew 18’7” for 18th; “We have a great group of kids who support and challenge each other,” summarized Pigg. “We are very much looking forward to the Santa Fe League meet this weekend at Swink High School.”
