Area teams record high scores at Palisade's Woodburn Invite

GRAND JUNCTION, Colorado — In a 19-team field, the Rifle boys track team performed well enough to earn 74 points and finish as the runner-up to Fruita Monument on Saturday at the Frank Woodburn Invitational hosted by Palisade.

Senior sprinter Hazen Moss once again shined for the Bears. His time of 50.47 seconds not only was fast enough to win the 400 dash, but was also good enough to pass the state qualifying time of 50.60. Moss also finished second in the 200 (23.47) and fifth in the 100 (11.71) and along with Tyler Chapman, Joe Burgess and Clayton Spillane, helped Rifle win the 4X400 relay (3:30.57).

Spillane hurdled his way to Rifle’s third title of the day by winning the 110 hurdles in a time of 16.80. He also placed second in the 300 hurdles (42.55). Chapman rounded out the Bears top-three finishes by taking second in the 800 with a time of 2:02.23.

The Grand Valley boys finished 15th with 13 points and were led by Jared Tonder, who tied for second in the 110 hurdles with a time of 17.00 and took third in the 300 hurdles with a 43.24 mark. The Coal Ridge boys placed 16th overall with Gary Bowker finishing fifth in the 300 hurdles (44.09) and seventh in the 110 hurdles (17.56).

Thanks to a speedy day by the Rifle girls relays, the Bears finished 10th out of 20 in the girls team standings, with 30 points. Natalie Whitmore, Tori Jorgensen, Cammi Castillo and Holly Keeper helped the Bears’ 4X200 and 4X400 relay teams take second with 1:54.43 and 4:20.67 marks, respectively. The 800 sprint medley team of Makayla Wilkins, Katie Armstrong, Whitmore and Castillo also finished second in their event with a time of 1:58.31 while Wilkins, Abby Rath, Armstrong and Whitmore placed third in the 4X100 relay in 53.53.

The Grand Valley girls edged Coal Ridge by one point to place 13th overall with 20 points while the Titans settled for 14th. Brandi Krieg shined for the Cardinals with a second-place finish in the 3,200 (12:16.18) and a fifth-place finish in the 1,600 (5:39.13).

Cheyln McCain once again led the way for the Titan girls as she placed third in both the 100 and 300 hurdles with times of 16.93 and 49.25, respectively.

The Grand Valley boys and girls teams will be back on the track on Wednesday to host their own meet starting at 3 p.m. Then on Friday, Grand Valley, Coal Ridge, Glenwood Springs and Roaring Fork will all be heading to Rifle to participate in the Bears meet, which will begin at 1 p.m.