Area Class 4A prep track teams produced some strong first-week marks in the opening meets of the 2003 season on Saturday.

In Grand Junction, the Rifle girls finished in second place and the Bear boys were third in the team standings at the annual Mickey Dunn Invitational at Stocker Stadium.

Rifle concluded the 17-team girls meet with 95 1/2 points, well behind Class 5A Fruita Monument’s total of 139. Class 4A Palisade was third with 86 points. Hotchkiss, a 3A school, earned fourth place.

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Junior Ali Little, in her first high school track meet, clocked a 1 minute, 3.24 second mark, to earn second-place in the 400-meter run. It was one of two seconds the Bear girls had in the meet.

Jennifer Schneider took home a silver medal in the triple jump, with a leap of 33 feet, 8 inches.

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The Bears also had three, third-place marks in the meet.

Highlighting those efforts was Kristina Dahlin setting a new school high jump record. Her 5 foot, 2 1/2 inch best also qualified her for in the same event for the Class 4A state meet in Lakewood in May.

Shotputter Amanda Bingham earned third with a toss of 34′ 1.5″. In the running events, the 4 x 800 meter relay team of Krista Wagstrom, Savanna Beecraft, Jessica Warwick and Lauren Pleva finished in 10:40.74.

The Rifle boys, who compiled 74 points, had outstanding performances by seniors David Suminski and Micheal Birdsley in the sprints along with high finishes in the 4 x 200 and 4 x 400 relays.

Suminski took third place in the 200 with a 23.19 second time, was sixth best in the 100 meter dash and finished eighth in the 400.

Birdsley clocked a 51.65 in the 400 for third place, finished fourth in the 200 and ran the anchor leg in both sprint relay events.

The 4 x 400 team of Justin Steffen, Jordan Robinson, Will DuBois and Birdsley ran a season-opening 3:33.59 second-place time. Birdsley along with Suminski, Brian Hileman and Kalvin Deere finished third in the 4 x 200.

Steffen had Rifle’s lone first-place mark. In the 300 intermediate hurdles, the junior won the event in 41.52, two seconds faster than Battle Mountain’s Jarad Cliver.

Competing at the Panther Relays at Harrison High School in Colorado Springs, the Glenwood Springs Demons had eight Top 10 finishes in the 19-school meet.

Both of Glenwood’s first-place marks came in the girls’ meet.

The foursome of Amber Sutherland, Megan McKinnie, Jeri Polowchena and Nikita Daniely won the discus relays, led by Sutherland’s 113′ 9 1/2″ throw.

McKinnie, Daniely, freshman Leah Hinkey and sophomore Abbey Walters won the 1600 meter relays in 4:19.0.

The girls team also posted second-place marks in the shuttle hurdles and the 3200 relays.

The Mile Medley team of Justin Church, Joe Schiavone, Dustin Braeger and Marco Salmen finished in second place.

The boys also recorded third-place marks in both the weightman and shot put relays.

Rifle along with Grand Valley will participate at next Saturday’s Delta Invitational. Glenwood is off until March 29 when then travel to Alamosa for the Travis McKinley Invitational.