State track shows SLV excellence

Josh Duran of Antonito clears the bar during 1A Boys’ High Jump. Duran placed fifth while represting the Trojans.


LAKEWOOD — Saturday brought the final day of competition at Jefferson County Stadium. With all the preliminary heats put to rest plenty of athletes were able to focus on finals.
As teams both the girls and boys from Alamosa would come home with fourth place finishes.
Alamosa owed its day three burst to its dominance in categories that involved 400 meter runs. Lilly Lavier got things going for the Moose with a first place finish in the 400 meter run, her second gold medal of the weekend the first coming in the 800 meter on Friday. Ian and Chad Jackson followed up that performance by taking first and third respectively in the boys 400 meter dash.
Alamosa’s final events of the weekend came in the 4x400 meter relay events. Sisters Lilly and Emily Lavier along with Alyssa Romero and Bailee Del Tondo combined for a time of 3:58.15 for another gold for Alamosa.
For the boys the fastest 400 meter runner on the track Ian Jackson took out a lead for the Mean Moose, a lead sustained by Michael Valdez and Cole Schweizer. That gave anchor Chad Jackson a head start in the fourth leg that he hammered home for a 3:23.72 finish that was four seconds faster than Frontier Academy in second place.
Both brothers Ian and Chad Jackson also finished strong in other events. Ian took second in the boys 100 meter while Chad took third in the boys 400 meter. Other notable performances from Alamosa over the weekend included Amaya Atencio and Elijah De La Cerda. Atencio finished fifth in the Shot Put while De La Cerda picked up a fifth and a sixth in the 1600 meter and 3200 meter respectively.
Fellow 3A team Centauri collected some finals placings on day three with Mason Claunch taking sixth in the boys 400 meter run with a time of 51.28. The Falcons also got a sixth place finish out of their 4x200 meter boys’ relay team.
In 2A Monte Vista’s boys’ finished with 10 team points. Seven of those points came from Adrian Naranjo’s third place finish in the Boy’s Long Jump on Saturday, Naranjo registered a 20’ 4.75” leap for the bronze. Elias Sigala did well for the Pirates as well with an eighth place finish in the boys 200 meter dash.
Elswhere in 2A were Del Norte girls and Sanford boys. Sanford placed two athletes on the final day Mason Goodwin and Clay Canty. Goodwin took sixth in the Boys’ High Jump while Canty took seventh in the 300 hundred meter hurdles making up all 5 of their team points. For Del Norte it was Gabriel Jones who placed fifth in the Girls’ High Jump accounting for all five of her team points.
The next class down saw a big day three from Avery Palmgren in the 1A finals. Palmgren of Sangre de Cristo picked up 24 team points all by herself with a first place finish in the Girls’ Long Jump and matching bronzes in the 100 and 200 meter dashes. Alliyah Garcia took eight in the discus over the weekend. As a pair the two combined to place the T-Birds 13th in the state.
Also in 1A Creede and Antonito’s sent individuals to state. Creede’s Casper Freedle took sixth in the Discus with a 120’ 3” toss. Antonito’s Josh Duran placed fifth in the High Jump with a height of 5’11”.