Friday the 6 was a long, successful day for the Coronado track teams, girls and boys both taking first place at the Canyon City High School Cherry Blossom Invitational after two lightning delays and a final event concluding at 10:45 P.M.

In the girls meet, Coronado dominated the mile run, freshman Madeline Morland taking first with a time of 5:29, followed by teammate Chloe Cassens, 10, with 5:31, in second.  Coronado’s Jeanine Smith, 11, won the girls 200 meter dash with a time of 26.93, and Coronado’s Emily Ambuul, 12, and Isabella Janney, 9, took second and third in the 300 meter hurdles, with times of 49.21 and 49.79. Cougars Faith Roth, 9, Hannah Besse, 10, and Shauna MacKay, 9, took second through fourth in the two-mile, with times ranging between 12:10 and 14:26. The girls 4×400 relay took first place, edging out Widefield by four seconds with a time of 4:07, the girls 4×800 relay also took first place, decimating the nearest competitor, Salida, by 21 seconds. Senior Madison Brown took second in the 800 meter run by a single second, finishing in 2:18, behind Canon City’s junior Katie Till’s 2:17.  Junior Celia Smith and sophomore Jaelyn Hershberger placed first and second respectively in both the girls long jump and triple jump, and future West Point student Rachele Smith took second in shot put. The Cougars took second in the 800 meter sprint medley.

In the boys meet, sophomore Conor Strizich took second in the boys mile, with a time of 4:53, sophomore Justin Dwinell took first in the 200 meter dash over Widefield’s  Jaquaireus Grant, 10, by 0.16 seconds. Junior Raiden Mares took third in the boys 110 meter hurdles, freshman  Ben Swanson took third in the boys two mile, coming in at 10:56, and senior Gerrit Ralston placed first in the 800 meter dash. Coronado throwers and jumpers performed, sophomore Charles Broomfield taking third in shot put and discus, junior Jaydon Lewis taking first in high jump, followed by senior Taron Lagasca in third place in boys high jump. Junior Joey Callan took third in long and triple jump, senior Eli Stauffer took fifth in long jump and second in triple jump.  Each of Coronado’s relays placed in the their respective event’s top three times, the 4×100 taking third place, and the  4×200 and 4×400 taking second place.

The Cougars pulled into the Coronado parking lot at 12:45 P.M. on May 7, and 7 and a half short hours later, were competing at Garry Berry at the Doherty Spartan Invite. At the Invite, the men’s team took second place, and after choosing to rest a tired 4×4 relay team, the girl’s team also took second place, behind Pine Creek.

The Cougars will compete in the 5A Colorado Springs Metro League Championships on May 12 and May 14 at Gerry Berry Stadium.