Yuma High School’s track and field teams are taking large contingents to the Class 2A Track and Field Championships, today through Saturday, at Jefferson County Stadium in Lakewood.
The Indians will have their sights set on high team finishes for both the boys and girls as they compete in multiple events.
“I think I am more excited than anything because I think our boys could score pretty high in the team points,” head coach Lucas Lubbers said.
This will be the first state track and field meet since 2019, when it was condensed into two days due to rains.
Yuma’s boys team in particular has the potential to make a run at a team championship, ranking at or near the top in 2A in several events.
The boys team is taking nine athletes to compete in 11 events, while the girls are taking seven in six events.
Clay Robinson is the top seed in the 100- and 200-meter dashes. The prelims are today. Daman Thornton is in the 400 dash, with its prelim today.
Beau Tate is highly ranked in the 110- and 300-meter hurdles. The 110 prelims are today, and the 300s are Friday. Nash Richardson also is in the 300 hurdles.
Yuma’s boys are the top seed in the 4-by-100 relay (Alex Lozano, Tate, Kail Cooper and Javier Duran ) and the 4-by-200 relay (Duran, Lozano, Cooper and Thornton). They are the second seed in the 4-by-400 relay (Thornton, Tate, Duran and Cooper). The 4-by-200 prelims are today, and the other two relays prelims are on Friday.
Jaxson Lungwitz is the top seed in the triple jump, which will be held today. Cooper and Braden Smith are the top two seeds in the pole vault, which will be held today, and Richardson is 11th. Robinson also will be in the long jump on Saturday.
Yuma’s girls are the third seed in the 4-by-100 (Lyndsey Mekelburg, Lea Richardson, Garcia and Caddis Robinson), with its prelim run on Friday. The Indians are in the 4-by-400 relay (Ashley Ibanez, Hailey Eyring, Shelby Blach and Richardson), with its prelim on Friday, and the 800 sprint medley (Mekelburg, Robinson, Garcia and Richardson), with its prelim today. The foursome of Eyring, Ibanez, Richardson and Blach are the third seed in the 4-by-800 relay, with its final being run today. It is the only racing final today involving Yuma athletes.
Nearly all racing finals will be held on Saturday. Some are being run on Friday, such as the 800 sprint medley.
“I am just hoping they go have some fun,” Lubbers said of YHS track and field qualifiers.
Final meets
The YHS tracksters wrapped up the regular season with a pair of meets, late last week.
Some of them went last Friday to the St. Vrain Invitational, hosted by Lyons High School but held at Everly-Montgomery Field in Longmont. It was a huge meet with more than 80 schools participating.
Yuma’s girls did not place in any of the 11 events in which they were entered.
The boys managed to place in five events out of the 11 entered.
Clay Robinson placed fourth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.28 seconds. He was sixth in the 100 dash in 11.03 seconds.
Braden Smith cleared 12-foot-9 to place fifth in the pole vault.
Jaxson Lungwitz hopped, skipped and jumped 42-1.75 to place seventh in the triple jump.
The 4-by-200 relay team of Kail Cooper, Javier Duran, Alex Lozano and Daman Thornton managed to finish eighth with a time of 1:31.78.
Other team members went to the HWAY Invitational in Akron on Saturday.
Nuvia Vega placed second in the 100 in 15.12 seconds, while Nina Horn was seventh in 17.26.
Liddy Day cleared 7-0 to win the pole vault, and Abril Montes de Oca 6-6 for third. Jordan Glanz cleared 4-4 to place second in the high jump. Vega was third in the long jump with a distance of 13-6.5, and Horn was sixth at 11-8.25.
Day took third in the 100 hurdles with a time of 21.2 seconds, and Glanz was fifth in 22.42. Montes de Oca took fourth in the 200 in 32.34 seconds, and Horn fifth in 36.7.
The 4-by-200 relay team of Day, Glanz, Montes de Oca and Vega placed second with a time of 2:05.33, and the same foursome took third in the 4-by-100 in 59.73 seconds.
For the boys, Bridger Lynch took third in the 110 hurdles with a time of 20.3 seconds. Eduardo Corral was fourth in the 200 in 26.66 seconds. Trey Stegman took fourth in the 400 in 1:03.1, and Lynch fifth in 1:07.64. Kevin Orona was fourth in the 800 in 2:34.48, and Jaime Montanez eighth in 2:55.27. Lynch cleared 9-6 for fifth in the pole vault, and Corral long jumped 13-9.25 for sixth place.
The 4-by-100 relay team of Montanez, Orona, Lynch and Stegman placed third in 52.8 seconds.