Phoebe Powell passes the baton to Lauren McDonald on Salida's winning 4x800 meter relay. Photo by Sarah Hudelson.
Special to Colorado Track XC by Kenny Wilcox
SALIDA - The inaugural Chaffee County Invitational is in the books. The joint effort between the high schools of Buena Vista and Salida went off without a hitch. These schools, only twenty-five miles apart, are often known for their intense rivalry. For one day, however, that rivalry was put aside in favor of putting area student athletes as top priority. The involved coaches, athletic directors, and volunteers should be applauded for their collaboration.
The reality of hosting a meet in Salida once again became a possibility this fall after the lumpy dirt oval was replaced with a new all-weather track. The new high school is favorably positioned between the track and the prevailing west wind that regularly buffets this mountain town. As a best guess, it has been over fifteen years since the last high school track and field meet was held in Salida.
Even though this was the first ever track and field meet held on an all-weather track in Chaffee County, it’s not as if the sport is new to the town. To name a few, the names of Clint Myers, Katie Dreher and Aaron Blondeau represent state champions in Salida’s past.
And, if you head north to Buena Vista and have lunch at Punky’s Diner, you’ll see the photos of state champions like Joseph DeMoor, Rachel Gioscia, and Mason Finley enshrined on the establishment’s walls. To date, Buena Vista’s Matt Hemingway tops them all with his Olympic silver medal in the high jump in 2004 when he cleared 7-8.25.
I can’t even think that high!
In elementary school, Hemingway was aptly dubbed as “frog legs.”
But the year is now 2013, and there are new athletes making their mark in the sport of track and field in Chaffee County. And not all of them call Buena Vista or Salida their home.
Del Norte’s Sumner Erhard made the trip to Salida and served further notice that he has plans on finishing his high school career in style. Sumner disposed of a 3200 meter field that included South Park’s Jacob Benson and Salida’s Taylor Stack who finished in the second and seventh positions, respectively, at the 3A State Cross Country Meet this past fall. As of this writing, Erhard shows up in the second spot in the 1600 meter and fourth in the 3200 meter rankings for 2A.
Don’t feel too badly for Benson, though, as he found the top spot in the 1600 meters earlier in the day when he surged past Buena Vista’s Evan Walters. Benson, a junior, admitted that his legs were more fresh than normal after a light week of training due to a class trip to Europe this past week.
A class trip to Europe?! Does anyone else have a sudden urge to enroll at South Park?
But, the locals also enjoyed their moments in the spotlight. The 400 meter titles went to a couple of athletes who are no strangers to the local high school track and field scene.
Nic Heller of Buena Vista, and state placer in the 200 meters and long jump in 2012, held off Denver Acres of Cotopaxi for the win in a solidearly-season time of 53.25. Although Nic wasn’t elated with his season best time in the event, it would appear that he will once again factor into a number of events come time for the state championships. When a guy has visions of a low or even sub 50 lap you begin to understand why he wasn’t completely satisfied with a 53.
Cody Mulder of Buena Vista gave Morgan Walters-Schaler (Salida) something to think about in the moments leading up to their 400 meter contest. On this day, Walters-Schaler (eighth at 3A state championships 200m in 2012) won going away. While Walters-Schaler has often kept to the shorter sprints, it would seem that she is just scratching the surface at this distance. One can expect to see both Walters-Schaler and Mulder running in multiple events at the state meet in just over a month.
If you’re into sub plots, you’d be interested to know that Heller and Walters-Schaler also hold the title of boyfriend and girlfriend. That’s one speedy couple!
Mitchell Stagner, a senior from Sangre de Cristo, relegated Buena Vista’s Evan Walters to the runner-up position for the second time on the day in the 800 meters. Walters did, however, manage to get in the last laugh when he later anchored his teammates to victory in the 4X400.
Stagner, who finished with a flurry a year ago to grab the eighth spot in the 800 meters at the 2A state meet, seems to be a step ahead of his conditioning from a year
ago. This should make everyone vying for the 2A half mile title a little nervous.
The biggest story of the day may have come from Sangre de Cristo’s Marissa Storey. Storey blazed to victories in the 100 and 200 meter sprints. Storey’s time in the 100 on Saturday would have placed her in the third position at the state meet a year ago. Although Sangre’s Kathryn New (2012 100 meter state champ) didn’t appear in the
results Saturday, it doesn’t take much imagination to figure the Thunderbirds could put up some serious points in the sprints and short relays when the biggest meet of the year rolls around.
Salida sophomore Lauren McDonald was a double winner in the 1600 meters and 800 meters and also had a hand in Salida’s victory in the 4X800.
Senior Daniel Carr, also picked up two individual titles on the day as the Buena Vista big man owned the shot anddiscus titles.
Cotopaxi’s quartet of Langley, Sawyer, and the sisters Tezak wrapped up the day with a come-from-behind victory over the Salida hosts and reminded everyone that
the Lady Pirates are once again a force in the relays and should be a tall order for anyone in 1A ranks when it comes to the 4X400 and 4X800.
While the first Chaffee County Invitational was an event of only modest, the organizers have plans to expand in the years to come. Often times great things come from humble beginnings--just ask “Frog Legs.”