Last Saturday’s Tiger Invitational meet in Grand Junction helped area student-athletes improve their rankings coming into this week’s Colorado Track and Field Championship.

Leading the way in the Class 4A field of Garfield County representatives will be Glenwood Springs High School sophomore Joaquin Sandoval in the 100 and 200 meters. Sandoval heads to the state meet at Jefferson County Stadium Thursday through Saturday ranked fifth in the 200 with a season-best of 22.16 seconds recorded in Grand Junction on Saturday.

He enters the state meet at 13th in the 100 meters with a best of 11.15 seconds, also recorded at the final qualifying event of the season.

For the Demon girls, junior Breauna Sorensen is the top qualifier, seeded sixth in the long jump with a season-best of 17 feet, 4 inches.

Joining her will be junior Sophia Connerton-Nevin, ranked 18th in the 800 meters (2:20.67); senior Maria Carlson, 13th in the 400 meters (1:00.24); junior Ruby Patch, seeded 18th in the 100 meter hurdles (16.31 seconds); senior Miah Suarez, 18th in the 300 hurdles (48.28); and freshman Ana Shea, seeded 18th in high jump (4-11) and 17th in the triple jump (34-1.75).

The Lady Demons 4×800 relay also qualified for state in the 18th and final spot, with a qualifying time of 10:21.

Coal Ridge well-represented in 3A meet

In the Class 3A ranks, for the boys, Coal Ridge High School leads the way having qualified its 4×100 (44.85), 4×200 (1:32.48), 4×400 (3:29.31) and 4×800 (8:45.43) relays.

Junior Eddie Salazar heads to state ranked sixth in the long jump at 21-7.75 and 15th in the triple jump at 41-5.5.

A pair of pole vaulters, Justin Richel and Emjai Holder, are also competing at state, with a season-bests of 11-6 (sixth) and 10-10 (10th), respectively.

Rifle High School sends four individuals and a relay: Kade Bishop, seeded 15th in the long jump (20-10.5), Patrick Whitt, 11th in the pole vault (10-10), Troy Mataia, ninth in the shot put (43-10.25), Daniel Carreon, top 10 in the 300 hurdles (42.43), and the 4×200 relay, which comes in seeded 10th with a time of 1:33.27.

Meanwhile, the Coal Ridge Lady Titans will be looking to defend their 3A state team title with a contingent of seven individual athletes across multiple events and all five of its relays.

Senior Peyton Garrison leads the way, coming into the state meet ranked first in the sprints: the 100 meters (12.16), 200 meters (25.17) and 400 meters (56.16). Garrison is the defending state champion in all three events.

Junior Mikayla Cheney comes in seeded fourth in the 800 meters (2:16.2), fifth in the 1600 meters (5:07.39) and sixth in the 3200 meters (11:19.5).

Senior Natalie Smythe is also among the top contenders in the 300 hurdles (47.68), and the triple jump at 34-06, ranking her seventh in that event. Lydia Karren comes in at 17th in the high jump (4-11), Haven Prodzinski and Liliana Schmitz are entered in the pole vault, both middle of the pack at 8-2, and Brilee Jensen comes in ranked 13th in shot put (33-06) and 12th in discus (104-01).

The Lady Titans 4×100 relay is seeded second at 49.75 seconds, the 4×200, 4×400 and 800 medley all come in as the favorite to win at 1:42.65, 3:56.76 and 1:47.6, respectively, and the 4×800 relay is seeded 10th at 10:20.71.

Elsewhere, Roaring Fork’s Kyra Reeds is entered in the 100 meter hurdles (17.47), and Rifle’s Sophia Craig and Jamie Caron are competing in the pole vault at 8-2 and 8-7, respectively.

In the 2A boys meet, Grand Valley’s Jacob Doyle is entered as the fourth seed in the discus (153-1), Kade Sackett is 12th in the 800 meters at 2:04.08, 18th in the long jump at 19-8.75 and 15th in the triple jump at 39-11.5.

For the Lady Cardinals, the 800 medley relay is entered as the 17th seed with a qualifying time of 2:00.42

Senior Reporter/Managing Editor John Stroud can be reached at 970-384-9160 or jstroud@postindependent.com.