State-Bound – Championship events today

by David Tesitor
HUERFANO, LAS ANIMAS — The qualifying meets ended April 30 and come May 1, the field was set.  Eleven area athletes finished up their 2015 track and field events this past weekend with solid performances, earning them a shot to compete this weekend at the 2015 Colorado State Track And Field Tournament.  
These athletes will compete in 21 events.  Athletes from John Mall, Trinidad and Hoehne will send representatives hoping to bring home a state championship individually and for their schools. The Hoehne Farmers have the most athletes with seven competing; plus they will have four relay teams competing as well.  
While any one of these athletes might bring home the gold, it is hard to predict, based on final ranking who will prevail.  Anyone can have a burst of speed or monster jump or throw to come out on top.  At this point in the season, everyone has a chance.  In all track events, the top three in each heat plus the next three best times advance to the finals.  The following is a brief summary about the athletes.
John Mall
Garrett Quintana is a junior from John Mall and is the defending 2014 state champion in the discus. His throw at state was 149-7.00 feet, which came during the final throw of the event.  Since then, his throws have improved and he is 8-0 in the discus, throwing his best at 163-03.00 feet which eclipsed the school record.  The 2A state record in the discus was set in 2013 at 166-11 feet which is reachable for all three area athletes in the discus.  Quintana stated both he and Vigil are throwing over 175 feet at practice.
Quintana will also compete in the shot put at state.  This is his second trip in this event also.  Last year he finished 5th throwing 44-01 feet.  This year he is ranked 3rd with a personal best of 44-05.50 feet.  Both Quintana and Vigil’s first throws in the discus are today at 1:30 pm.  The top marks of three attempts move the top ten throwers per heat, plus three more, into the finals.   
Andrew Vigil, a junior from John Mall, also will go to state in both the discus and the shot put.  His performance in these events two weeks ago at the Doherty-Spartan propelled him to state.  His discus toss of 145-09 feet was his best of the season and moved him into 6th in the state.  Last year Vigil finished third at state with his personal best throw of 148-05 feet.  Vigil will also compete in the shot put.  This is his second trip in the event, where he finished 15th last year at 41-05.00 feet. This season, Vigil is ranked 7th at 44-01.25 feet.  For Vigil and Quintana, the shot is Friday at 8:30 am.  Same qualifying throws as discus apply. 
The Panthers 4 X 100 relay team will enter as the number 13 seed.  They earned the right because of their record-setting best time of 46.30 set at the Pueblo Cyclone May 7.  
Hoehne 
Tyler Molter, a senior, will once again compete in the 110 Meter Hurdles.  Last season he competed at state but fell short in his preliminary heat with a time of 16.28 seconds.  This year, Molter improved his speed and is currently ranked 4th at 15.58 seconds.  Molter has three first-place finishes in the event this season and hoped to leave his multi-event career with a placement at state.  He will also compete in the 300MH event.  He is 5th in the state in a time of 42.58 seconds.  His first race will be today at 3:55 pm.  
Chris Lujan, a junior, will make his first state appearance in the discus.  He is currently ranked 12th at 137-02 feet, which was his personal best throw.  Lujan has not placed in the top three this season at any meet, but has the potential to have a throw which could catapult him into the rankings picture. 
Aspen Anderson, a senior, will compete in three events at the state tournament this year.  Her two strongest events are the high jump and the triple jump.  She has won several firsts in these events throughout her high school career, including four in the high jump this season, and she won the Santa Fe league championship in the triple.  She will also compete in the 300MH.  Anderson is currently 11th in the state at 50.58.  She is also tied for second in the high jump at 5-02 feet.  In the 2014 state finals, Anderson placed 2nd.  
Her last event is the triple jump.  She is tied for 14th with a distance of 33-00.50 feet.  Her jump this season is six inches under her personal best and for her win this event, she needs to leap herself into the Hoehne record book.  The 300M hurdles will be run Friday at 11 am.  
Sophia Anderson, a junior, will be the busiest athlete from the team to compete at state.  She will be in four individual events plus the relays.  She will run the short distance 100M, 200M and 400M dashes as well as compete against her sister in the triple jump.  Sophia is currently ranked number two in the state in the triple at 35-10.50 feet. She set her best jump at the Sangre de Cristo Thunderbird Classic.  In the 100M, she is ranked 14th, a mere .03 of a second from not qualifying.  Her last events are the 200M, where she is 6th going into state and the 400M where she is 6th with a time of 1:01.04 minutes. Sophia will run the 200M today 5:59 pm, the 400M at 6:50 pm and the triple jump Friday at 10 am.   
Shaelyn Walton, a freshman, is definitely making an impact for her team.  She has four first-place finishes in the 800M and one in the high jump and 400M.  She is second in the 800M with a time of 2:20.75 minutes, a time she set two weeks ago at the Pueblo Twilight.  She is also in a 4-way tie for 9th in the high jump at 5-00 feet.  The high jump will be today beginning at 1:30 pm.  
Adam West- Davis was a late entry to the state roster with a time of 23.92 seconds in the 200M.  With the wind credits, Davis actually is in 21st place, but because of scratches and other runners ahead of him who did not have the necessary meets to qualify, Davis is in.  His second heat of the 200M will be today at 5:55 pm.
Zane Gilmore actually finished 20th in the final Max Prep rankings, but like his teammate, his time of 2:08.95 minutes put him as the 18th seed in the meet because of scratches and athletes ahead in the rankings dropping out.  
His best time was met at the Pueblo Twilight meet May 1.  His run will be tomorrow at 12:40 pm.  There are no preliminary matches so Gilmore has one shot to win. 
The Lady Farmers relay teams are also making an appearance at the state meet.  The teams have consistently ran the relays at state, but failed to make it past the preliminary heats.  The only exception in 2014 was the 800M Sprint Medley relay team which finished in fourth place in 1:54.19 minutes.  
This year the 4X100M team finished 15th, 0.01 from not qualifying, the 4X200M placed 11th in the state with a time of 1:52.19 minutes, the 4X400M is 5th with a time of 4:16.95 minutes and finally the 800M Sprint Medley is ranked 6th with a time of 1:55.81.  All the relay runs will be run throughout the day on Friday. 
Trinidad Miners 
Joah Hoffpauir is the only Miner who will compete individually for Trinidad.  
He is a senior going to state in the 300M Hurdles as the fifth seed.  His time of 40.97 was set three weeks ago at the High Altitude Championship.  He will compete tomorrow at approximately 11:15 am.  
The top three in each heat plus the next three best times advance to the finals. 
The 4X400 relay team consisting of Ethan Duran, Joah Paradisio, Thomas Bowman and Josh Paradisio, are ranked fifth in the state.  Their qualifying time of 3:33.44 places them in the seventh slot, running against the top three best times in the state.  Their preliminary heat-1 will be run tomorrow at approximately 3:28 pm.  
The top three in each heat automatically qualify plus the next three best times.