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Coal Ridge sweeps home track meet

Coal Ridge's Jonathan Espinoza competes in the Titans' home meet Friday in New Castle. Espinoza helped the Titan boys win the team portion of the meet.
Chelsea Self / Post Independent |

Hosting the Coal Ridge Invitational on Friday in New Castle, the Coal Ridge boys and girls track and field teams swept the day’s events, winning the boys side of the day with 154 points, while winning the girls side with 165 points.

Along with the Titans, Roaring Fork placed third on the boys side with 59 points, while Rifle placed fifth with 51 points. Basalt rounded out local schools at the meet, finishing sixth with 41 points.

On the girls side, Basalt placed third with 69.5 points, while Rifle placed sixth with 55.75 points. Roaring Fork placed 13th with 16 points.



To start the day, the Coal Ridge boys 4×800 relay team of Jacob Morgan, Justin Allen, Jan Hernandez and Jose Briceno won the event with a time of 8:47.32, finishing nearly three seconds ahead of second-place Hotchkiss.

In the 100-meter dash, Coal Ridge’s Ezequiel Contreras won the race with a time of 11.89 seconds, while Rifle’s Jose Borja placed fifth with a time of 12.23 seconds. Following the 100-meter dash, Coal Ridge’s James Nalley and Dylan Allen finished 1-2 in the 110-meter hurdles as Nalley finished with a time of 16.02 seconds and Allen finished with a time of 16.37 seconds.



Basalt’s Ben Williams placed fourth in the event with a time of 18.22 seconds.

Basalt’s Noah Williams turned in a second-place finish in the 200-meter dash for the Longhorns, crossing the line with a time of 23.34 seconds, while Rifle’s Joel Lopez (23.94 seconds) and Coal Ridge’s Contreras (23.98 seconds) placed fourth and fifth, respectively, in the event.

Nalley and Allen placed first and third in the 300-meter hurdles as Nalley won the event with a time of 42.13 seconds, while Allen turned in a time of 44.69 seconds. Williams turned in a fifth-place finish for the Longhorns, finishing with a time of 46.54 seconds.

In the 400-meter dash, Rifle’s Jack Rubalcave turned in a third-place finish with a time of 52.06 seconds, while Coal Ridge’s Jonathan Espinoza and Jonathan Graf placed fourth and fifth for the Titans with times of 52.29 and 53.27 seconds, respectively.

Rubalcave placed second in the 800-meter run, finishing with a time of 2:01.92, while Roaring Fork’s Ronald Clemente placed fifth with a time of 2:08.23.

Clemente went on to win the 1,600-meter run, turning in a time of 4:46.55, while Allen placed second for the Titans with a time of 4:47.71.

Roaring Fork’s Trevor Stroud placed third in the event, crossing the line with a time of 5:08.35, while Rifle’s Matthew Steinhoff placed fifth with a time of 5:11.83.

In relay events, Coal Ridge’s 4×100 team of Brandon Herrera, Hunter Gerber, Ezequell Vasquez and Contreras placed second with a time of 46.19 seconds, while the Basalt relay team of Nathan Rivera, Pedro Rivera, Juan Rosario and Williams placed fourth with a time of 47.05 seconds.

Coal Ridge then placed second in the 4×200 relay as Herrera, Nalley, Jacx Power and Espinoza turned in a time of 1:35.50, finishing just behind Cedaredge.

Vasquez, Hernandez, Gerber and Espinoza then went on to win the 4×400 relay for the Titans, recording a time of 3:41.54.

In the high jump, Roaring Fork’s dynamic duo of Jasper Germain and Justin Thompson placed 1-2 in the event as Germain recorded a height of 6-1 and Thompson turned in a height of 5-11.

Basalt’s Myles Levy placed third with a height of 5-9, while Gerber placed fifth for the Titans with a height of 5-9.

In the long jump, Thompson and Germain again went 1-2 for the Rams, this time with Thompson winning the event, recording a jump of 20-1.75 while Germain recorded a jump of 19-11.25

Lopez placed third for the Bears with a distance of 19-8, while Contreras placed fourth for the Titans with a distance of 19-1.5.

Power won the pole vault for the Titans with a height of 11-11, while Rifle’s Brian De La Rosa recorded a height of 10-11, placing fourth.

Coal Ridge’s Billet Porter won the triple jump for the Titans, turning in a distance of 40-4.5, capping off the boy’s side of events.

On the girl’s side, Basalt started off the day by winning the 4×800-meter relay as the team of Jenna Curnow, Lilly Gillis, Megan Maley and Carly Robinson turned in a time of 10:40.27, while the Coal Ridge relay team of Cipriana Dacuna, Paige Harlow, Denise Zuniga and Gladis Sanchez placed second with a time of 10:50.89.

Coal Ridge bounced back by winning the 4×100 relay as Jaycelyn Krueger, Santana Martinez, Emily Wright and Dana Kotz recorded a time of 51.60 seconds, and the Rifle relay team of Delaney Phillips, Halie Holmes, Carly Droegemeir and Anna Carter placed fifth with a time of 53.38 seconds.

In the 4×400 relay event, the Coal Ridge team of Claudia Buchholz, Paige Harlow, Sanchez and Martinez placed third behind Olathe and Telluride with a time of 4:26.10, while the Basalt team of Samantha Andrade, Alyssa Maniscalchi, Lily Gillis and Maley turned in a time of 4:27.36.

Kotz won the 100-meter dash for the Titans, turning in a time of 13.06 seconds, while teammate Faith Wood placed third with a time of 13.20 seconds. Roaring Fork’s Jasmin Contreras placed third in the event with a time of 13.77 seconds.

Rifle’s Lauren Arnold won the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 17.81 seconds, while Basalt’s Morgan Ash placed third with a time of 17.97 seconds.

Wood and Kara Morgan placed second and third in the 200-meter dash as Wood turned in a time of 26.88 seconds and Morgan recorded a time of 27.47 seconds.

Morgan later went on to win the 400-meter dash for the Titans with a time of 1:01.67, while Phillips placed fourth for the Bears with a time of 1:04.15.

In the 1,600-meter run, Rifle’s Sarah Wagler won the event with a time of 5:32.29, while Coal Ridge’s Alyssa Wenzel placed third with a time of 5:54.01.

Coal Ridge’s trio of Morgan, Wood and Kaitlyn Harlow placed second, third and fourth in the long jump as Morgan recorded a distance of 15-10.5, while Wood (15-10) and Harlow (15-5) rounded out the top four in the event, capping off a strong day for Coal Ridge at its home meet.


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