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PREP ROUNDUP: Coal Ridge soccer downs Middle Park, 2-1; Glenwood track and field competes at Rebel Invite

Josh Carney
Post Independent

Hosting the Middle Park Panthers Friday afternoon at ‘The Pasture’ in New Castle, the Coal Ridge Titans girls soccer team picked up an important 2-1 win over the visiting Panthers, thanks to 2 first-half goals.

Against Middle Park, sophomore Libby Tharp scored on a breakaway for a 1-0 lead before sophomore Astrid Bejarano scored on a cross into the box by senior Adriana Vargas made it 2-0 at the half.

Middle Park scored early in the second half, but the Titans held on for the 2-1 win.



Coal Ridge improves to 2-2 on the season and returns to action April 2 in a home game against Grand Junction Central High School.

jcarney@postindependent.com



Risner and Johnson Victorious At Rebel Invite

The Glenwood Springs High School track and field teams kicked off spring break by traveling to Denver on Thursday to find some Front Range competition. The Demons showed the tracksters from the city that the kids from the Western Slope were competitors as well.

Denver South High School played host to over 35 schools in the annual Rebel Invitational at All City Stadium. Some of the best track and field talent in Colorado was on hand at this meet and Glenwood Springs was right there with them.

Two Glenwood Springs athletes returned home after claiming first-place victories in their events. Senior Bryce Risner closed strong at the finish to win the boys 300m hurdles, while freshman Ella Johnson, in similar fashion, sprinted by her nearest competitors to take first in the girls 3200m run.

Risner, fresh off of a second place finish in the 110m hurdles, ran stride-for-stride with teammate Wyatt Ewer and Nate Hanson of Lutheran through seven of the eight hurdles in the longer event. The 6’ 5” senior then used his long stride to power past his competitors over the eighth barrier and to the finish line.

The winning time was a hand-held 40.2 seconds, compared to Hanson’s 40.3.

Ella Johnson burst on the running scene this fall as a member of the Glenwood Springs Cross Country team and quickly established herself as an elite runner. Her first track race east of the continental divide allowed that side of the state to see just how good the freshman is. In the eight-lap 3200m race, Johnson and two runners from Cheyenne Mountain High School separated themselves from the rest of the pack. With one lap to go, Emily Chaston of Cheyenne Mountain surged past her teammate and the Glenwood runner. Johnson maintained her composure and stayed close until the final 100 meters when she shifted gears and roared past the maroon-clad runner for the victory.

Johnson’s winning time was 11:43.27.

Glenwood’s Gavin Harden continues to start his 2019 campaign in grand style. The UCCS-bound senior ran a 9:46.67 3200m run to place second behind Denver West’s Yasin Sado’s 9:42.53. Fellow Demon Henry Barth finished third in that race with a 9:55.76. Earlier in the day, Harden and Barth ran the first two legs of a third place 4x800m relay. Dalton Deter and Will Berkheimer joined the two standouts to run a season-best time of 8:38.28.

Additional place-winners for the Glenwood boys include Risner in the high jump (2nd), Gavin Olson in the 200m dash (5th), AJ Adams in the triple jump (5th), Adams again in the high jump (6th), and Taber Uyehara in the 110m hurdles and Kuba Bartkik with a pair of 8th place finishes (100m dash & 300m hurdles).

The boys 4x400m relay team closed the meet out in stellar fashion for the Demons. The quartet of Bartnik, Patrick Young, Risner and Olson fought off several schools to claim a second place finish behind 5A powerhouse Arapahoe. Glenwood’s time of 3:34.37 was a season-best.

The Glenwood girls also celebrated many season-best performances, particularly in the field events. The shot put was a shining example where all three girls in Qwynn Massie, Payten Spencer and Michelle Marshall all eclipsed their marks from the first two weeks of the season.

Spencer was not finished with her season bests as she managed to clear 8’ 1” in the pole vault to claim third place.

Also scoring big points for the ladies from Glenwood Springs on Thursday was Sequoia Kellogg. The senior recently made a verbal commitment to Western Colorado University and went on to place second in the 100m hurdles, second in the triple jump and 8th in the 300m hurdles.

Kellogg also anchored the 4x200m relay team with Daniela Barajas-Lee, Emily Worline and Hadley Yellico to a fourth-place finish.

Additional point contributers include Emma Barsness (8th) in the 100m hurdles, Yellico (8th) in the long jump and Barajas-Lee (8th) in the triple jump.

Team results were not available.

The Glenwood Springs boys and girls will take an abbreviated squad, due to the RFSD spring break, to the Mickey Dunn Invitational in Grand Junction on March 29-30.

The Glenwood track and field report was submitted by head coach Blake Risner.


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