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A clear day to showcase Ron Keller

Demons honor their Hall of Famer with 11 wins on their home turf

Some attendees thought it was the Ron Keller Memorial track and field meet.

Durango High School’s newly minted Hall of Fame former track coach was very much alive at the 2014 edition of the Ron Keller Invitational on Tuesday at DHS.

“It represents the years that you put in and the people that you meet,” Keller said after he was honored during the meet. “When I got the call in the fall I went into storage and pulled out about eight or nine boxes; it really brought everything back.”

Current DHS head coach David McMillan and 12 of Durango’s elite athletes just returned from the Arcadia Invitational in Los Angeles on Monday, but that didn’t stop them from competing.

The Demons won 11 events as a team.

Hannah Peterson took first in the girls 800-meter run in 2 minutes, 31.18 seconds.

The DHS girls 4x200-meter relay team of Alli Davis, Miranda Gallegos, Shannon Maloney and Gabi Razma won in 1:48.9. That same team finished first in the girls 800 sprint medley relay in 1:15.66, which nearly broke the school record.

“We got pretty close over the Arcadia trip, so we were able to work together,” said Davis, daughter of Donna and Jim Davis. “That’s probably what made our handoffs so good.”

The school record was 1:15.6, but Durango’s coaches weren’t positive of the record’s time to the hundredths place and couldn’t officially declare the record broken.

Davis also won the girls high jump with a leap of 5 feet, 2 inches.

Razma couldn’t break her own school record in the triple jump for a third consecutive meet but still finished nearly 4 inches clear of her closest competitor at 35-1.

David Moening won the boys 800-meter run in 2:01.64.

Joe Crawford finished first in the boys 1,600-meter run at 4:46.73, high-fiving and hugging his competitors after he crossed the line.

Zeb Soignier just edged teammate Liam O’Neil for the boys 110-meter hurdle title at 17.29 seconds. O’Neil finished in 17.49.

The Durango boys 4x100-meter relay team of Shane Bisogno, Bryan Dunlop, Justin Marcum and Moening won in 45.65 seconds.

The Demons’ boys 4x200-meter relay of Bisogno, Marcum, Moening and Joaquin Valdez finished first at 1:33.52.

“I think we’re just where we want to be. We haven’t thrown our full hand in a bunch of things,” McMillan said. “I think we’re sitting pretty.”

Bayfield High School

All day whispers ran through the meet saying, “the girls mile is going to be really good.”

Bayfield’s Eva-Lou Edwards would face Durango’s Shannon Maloney – a distance heavyweight fight under the primetime lights. The pair ran even through the first lap, and Edwards took a slight lead after the second.

“I have never run a first lap that hard, and it’s thanks to (Maloney),” said Edwards, daughter of Paul and Vivian Edwards.

Edwards finished in 5:28.83 to win and hugged Maloney, who finished second in 5:42.05 after the race, showing no sign of the referenced rivalry.

“We are such good friends,” Edwards said. “We go running in the summer.”

Edwards also won the girls 3200-meter run in 11:40.66, which extended her unbeaten senior season, dating back to the cross country season and her Class 3A title.

Katie Hawkins jumped 8 feet in the girls pole vault to win that event.

“That was her personal record,” BHS head coach Sherry Kimball said. “She was one of our stars (Tuesday).”

Nate Tate picked up a win for the Wolverines on the boys side in the 200-meter run as BHS swept the top three spots: Tate finished in 23.86 seconds, Brian Mashak was second in 23.88 seconds and Gabe Kaufmann third at 24.44 seconds.

“This is the first year I’ve run in the fast heat,” said Tate, son of Christina and Ron Tate. “Actually having competition to push me just makes me faster.”

Michael Voss cleared 13 feet on the pole vault to complete a BHS boys-girls sweep of the event.

The Wolverines, after the Ignacio Bobcats’ “home meet” Abel Velasquez Invitational on Saturday at BHS, are up next to host, the Pine River Invitational on Saturday at Wolverine Country Stadium.

“It’s a little hard sometimes, and we try to spread out their events when we have close meets like this,” Kimball said. “I’m hoping for a good weather day.”

Ignacio High School

Adam Herrera took a brief break from the IHS baseball team to scorch the track for a day. He won the boys 100-meter dash in 11.88 seconds and took first in the boys long jump at 21-04.

“It being my first running meet in the 100, it wasn’t that bad,” said Herrera, son of Eliseo and Francis Herrera. “You always have to have that motivation to where you’re going to do good every time.”

Wyatt Hayes came in second in the boys 400-meter dash in 52.63 seconds.

“He’s finally getting into track shape after basketball,” IHS head coach Tony Kimball said.

Ignacio’s 4x100-meter relay team of Hayes, Christian Knoll, Blaine Mickey and Mike Perez finished second in 46.15 seconds.

Nicholas Herrera took third in the boys high jump at 5-6.

Kelton Richmond finished third in the boys discus throw at 121-06.

The Bobcats’ 4x200-meter team of Hayes, Nicholas Herrera, Knoll and Perez finished third in 1:36.07.

IHS will compete at the Pine River Invitational on Saturday.

kgrabowski@durangoherald.com

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Apr 14, 2014
Demons hang their hats on second


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