Opening up the 2019 track and field season, the Glenwood Springs Demons boys and girls track and field teams, under the direction of veteran head coach Blake Risner, competed at the Early Bird Invitational at Stocker Stadium in Grand Junction, hosted by Fruita Monument.

At the Early Bird Invite, the Glenwood boys turned in a second-place finish with 127 team points, while the Glenwood girls recorded a third-place finish with 73.5 points.

Opening up the invite, Glenwood’s Ella Johnson turned in a second-place finish in the 800m run, clocking a time of 2:36.18. while teammate Alicia Lowe placed seventh with a time of 2:48.86, scoring points for the Demons.

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Building on her 800m performance, Johnson won the 1600m run, clocking a time of 5:43.54, winning the race by nearly a full second. Teammate Emily Worline placed fourth in the 1600m run, recording a time of 5:56.83. Later on in the day, Glenwood saw Sequoia Kellogg and Hadley Yellico finish 1-2 in the 300m hurdles, as Kellogg clocked a time of 47.35 seconds, while Yellico finish in 52.71. The next closest competitor to the two Glenwood athletes was a Fruita Monument runner, who finished in just over 57 seconds as the Demons dominated the race.

In relays, the Glenwood girls 4×400 relay team of Worline, Johnson, Kellogg, and Daniela Barajas-Lee won the event with a time of 4:21.47, edging out two Moffat County relay teams.

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Competing in field events, Kellogg placed third in the high jump for Glenwood, clearing a height of 4 feet, 10 inches, while Yellico and Barajas-Lee placed fourth and sixth in the long jump, jumping distances of 14-09.50 and 14-01.50, respectively.

Barajas-Lee also placed fourth in the triple jump with a distance of 30-10.75.

Payton Spencer closed out the day strong for the Glenwood girls with a third-place finish in the discus, recording a throw of 90-6.

The Glenwood boys got off to a fast start on the day as Gavin Olson placed third in the 200m run, clocking a time of 23.91 seconds, while Patrick Young and Telford Underwood placed third and sixth in the 400m dash with times of 56.60 and 57.74 seconds, respectively.

Demons finished 2-3-4 in the 800m run as Bryce Risner placed second with a time of 2:10.85, Brian Delgado placed third with a time of 2:17.51, and Ale Angeles placed fourth with a time of 2:20.40, boosting the Demons in the team standings.

Gavin Harden and Henry Barth kept the ball rolling for the Demons on the day as the duo finished first and third in the 1600m run, as Harden clocked a time of 4:33.66 and Barth finished in 4:38.08. Risner then followed up with a win in the 110m hurdles with a time of 15.57 seconds, while Kuba Bartnik placed second in the 300m hurdles with a time of 44.57 seconds, and teammate Taber Uyehara placed fourth with a time of 45.53 seconds.

The Glenwood boys 4x200m relay team of Bartnik, Angeles, Olson, and Jacob Wolf won the race with a time of 1:36.28, while the 4x400m relay team of Angeles, Bartnik, Delgado and Risner won the event with a time of 3:46.30. The 4x800m relay team of Dalton Deter, William Berkenheimer, Harden and Barth made it three straight relay event wins for the Demons at the Early Bird Invite.

In field events, Risner and AJ Adams finished 1-2 in the high jump with heights of 6-4.00 and 6-2.00, while Adams and Geffrey Oliva placed third and fifth in the triple jump with distances of 37-04.75 and 37-00.25 feet.

The Demons return to action next Friday at the Rifle Invitational at Rifle High School.

jcarney@postindependent.com