County track teams keep running

by David Tesitor
PRIMERO AND SPRINGFIELD- The weather has been cooperating for high school athletics. Both the John Mall Panthers and La Veta Redskins competed at the Primero Invitational last Thursday, with individual athletes improving their positions to qualify for the upcoming state tournament in May. (See related story.) The Panthers also traveled to Springfield Saturday in their second meet of the week.
Myranda Trujillo was the lone Panther to garner a first-place finish at the Primero meet, running the 1600 meter run with a time of 6 minutes, 20.00 seconds. Josiah Christian from La Veta was the only Redskin to take home a first-place medal; he won in the 300M hurdles.
Trujillo also took seventh in Springfield in the 300M high hurdles. Trujillo finished the run in 59.91 seconds, an improvement of 4 seconds over her personal best.
Panther speedster Natalie Neece continued to improve her times at Primero, placing in the finals in the short dashes. In the 100 meter dash, Neece placed second, clocking yet another personal best time of 13.10 seconds. Neece also ran the 200M and finished second in a time of 27.28 seconds, another personal best. Neece also tried her foot at the long jump in Primero, sailing 14 feet, 1 inch. At the Springfield meet, Neece finished third in both events. She competed while nursing a pulled hamstring.
The Panther girls 4 X 400M relay team and 4 X 100M team finished third at the Primero event. The team also competed at Springfield, but did not qualify for the finals.
Adriana Martinez competed in Springfield in the 100M dash where she finished tenth and the 200M, finishing sixteenth. Lena Tutz competed in the 100M and 200M and did not qualify for the finals. She also competed in the long jump.
For the boys, Dominic Pino finished eighth in the 400M at Springfield and competed in other events where he did not place in the finals.
In the field events, the Cats fared well. Krista Cordova finished ninth at both meets, tying her best throw of 27 feet, 8.00 inches. Cordova also placed fifth in the discus at Springfield. Angelica Souza placed third in the shot at both tournaments. Sara Pineda competed at the shot in Springfield, finishing eigheenth. Tony Martinez went to Springfield and competed in the discus and shot put.
The La Veta Redskins also had a field day, placing several tracksters. Matt Hammernik placed seventh in the 400M dash with a time of 57.49 seconds. Adam Ortivez finished seventh in the 800M and eighth in the 400M with times of 2:17.50 and 57.64 respectively. Hammernik’s time in the 400M eclipsed his previous season high time. Jacey Day finished sixth in the 200M dash in a time of 28.99 seconds and fifth in the long jump with a distance of 13 feet, 4 inches. Bradley Vigil finished eighth in the discus with a throw of 103′.00, shattering his previous best by a whopping 10 feet, 3 inches.
The boys’ track team, consisting of Hammernik, Austin Wagner, Ortivez and Eric Griego finished the 4 X 400M relay in fourth position with a time of 3:47.12 and sixth in the 4 X 200M in 1:40.84.
Ashton Rinker placed fifth in the 100M (13.20) and third in the 400M (1.05.06).