Local track teams compete

by David Tesitor
PUEBLO- Both the John Mall Panther and La Veta Redskin track teams competed in a statewide competition at Dutch Clark Stadium in Pueblo last Saturday where teams from 2A to 5A vied for top honors. The Cats and the Skins competed in the Division II category. Two Panthers and the La Veta boys and girls 4 X 400 meter team put up some of the best times in the entire meet.
Panther Natalie Neece continues to run circles around the competition in the short distance runs. She finished second in the 100 meter dash, a mere .63 seconds off first place, with a time of 13.96. Her time was the tenth best in the entire competition, including the Division I runners. Neece also finished the 200M dash in second place in a time of 23.33. Neece ran her qualifying preliminary heat in a time of 28.08, eclipsing her season best. She also posted the fifth best time of the entire meet.
La Veta’s Aston Rinker ran her way into the finals in the 400M dash qualifying with a time of 1:05.51 seconds. In the finals she finished third, improving her time by .35 seconds, which does not sound like much, but was the difference between third and sixth. Rinker also finished sixth in the 100M dash in a time of 14.64 seconds and .65 seconds off first. Sami Willhoite finished eighth in the 100M in a time of 21.16
The Redskin girls 4 X 400M Rely team of Rinker, Willhoite, Jacey Day and Haley Hake took home fifth place with a time of 4:44.85, seventeen seconds behind the leaders. The Redskin team also finished third in the 800M Sprint Medley, posting a time of 2:07.12, which was five seconds off the lead.
In the field events, John Mall Panther Angelica Souza continues to post strong throws in the shot put, this week claiming second place with a throw of 30’6.75 inches, besting her previous throw by an inch. The throw was the ninth best in the event.
Krista Cordova finished tenth in the discus with a throw of 77’5 inches and finished fifth in the shot put. The winner, Shandi Waldroupe of Crowley County shattered the school record with a toss of 99′ 9 inches.
For the boy’s team, La Veta’s Josiah Christian placed fifth in the 300M hurdles in a time of 44.69, 1.8 seconds off the lead. The boys 4 X 400M relay team of Matt Hammernik, Austin Wagner, Adam Ortivez and Eric Griego finished seventh with a time of 9:31.59.
Other John Mall athletes competing, but failing to advance past the preliminaries included: Adriana Martinez in the 100M; Lena Lutz in the 100M, 300M hurdles and long jump; Melisa Mestas 800M run, 1600M run; Rebekah Tenorio in the 1600M run; Jasmine Striegle in the long jump; Sara Pineda in the shot and the discus; and Deborah Aguirre in the discus.
For the Lady Redskins, Hake competed in the 800M dash and the 300M high hurdles, Day also ran the 200M, Betsy Trenckmann competed in the 300M hurdles and Sam McCay ran the 400M dash.
Competing for the Panther boys were Matt Burch (100M dash), Isaiah Vigil (400M dash, shot put and discus). Tony Martinez (shot put and discus), and Dominic Pino (long jump).
The Redskin competitors included Adam Ortivez (400M), Clinton Smith (1600 M run), Austin Wagner (300M high hurdles) Logan Williams (shot and discus) Bradley Vigil (shot) and Logan Williams (discus).