Dove Creek, Dolores Athletes Find Early Form at Cortez Track Meets

Early-season track meets around Cortez gave Dove Creek, Dolores, Mancos and Montezuma-Cortez athletes their first competitive benchmarks of the spring, with the Bulldogs emerging as the area's deepest state-bound program heading into the postseason.

Dove Creek's boys and girls programs each assembled a substantial roster of state qualifiers after high-caliber performances on the local circuit. The senior-laden Bulldogs will showcase talent across multiple disciplines for coach Jason Fury, with seniors Kade Hankins and Trista Barnett earning top billing after qualifying in both hurdle distances. Hankins will also compete in the long jump and will share the 300 hurdles with freshman Bobby Pastorius, while junior Cody Alexander made the field in the 110 hurdles.

On the girls side, Dove Creek will send a pair of relays to state, the 4x100 and 4x800, alongside a strong field event contingent. Senior Tara Glover qualified in both throwing events, with Rylee Hickman joining her in the discus. Sophomore Ralynn Hickman earned a spot in the long jump, and freshman Marlee Mack will make her maiden trip to the 1A state championships in both the 100 and 300 hurdles. Head coach Bob Archibeque's boys program will also send a state-qualifying 4x100 relay squad to complement the individual entries.

Elsewhere in the Bulldogs lineup, Kendall Gardner made the field in the discus, long jump and triple jump, classmate Quaden Huffaker will compete in both horizontal jumps and the 200 meters, and Cole Taber advanced into the long jump. All four Bulldogs relay teams will compete at state.

Dolores freshman Micheal Rantz will carry the Bears' banner at the 2A meet, where he qualified in the 400 meters. Rantz will compete alongside a Mancos contingent that includes sophomores Spencer Eschallier and Jonah Ritter in the high jump, junior Levi Martin in the long jump, Brooke Jabour in the 800 meters and Teagan Archer in the 3,200 meters.

The Cortez-area meets served their intended purpose: giving programs an early look at lineup construction and state-qualifying potential before the postseason arrives. For Dove Creek especially, the picture that emerged was one of a team with enough depth across sprints, hurdles, throws and jumps to make a legitimate run at the 1A podium.