Thursday, May 10th was the first day of the Colorado Springs Metro League Championships for Track and Field. Our girls and boys teams here at Coronado are trying to win overall, as well as qualify for state, and the girls team is currently in 2nd place by a margin of 1 points and the boys team is 4th. The first day of this meet yielded some impressive times from many athletes:

Our girls sprint medley team, Jasmyne Terrones, 10, Tinah Muhammed, 9, Zoe Gross, 10, and Alison Ambuul, 10, won 1st place with a time of 1:51.10, and are currently 10th in state. They are also 0.86 seconds away from beating the current school record in the medley and having their names up on the record board forever, as this is the last year that the medley will be run in track and field. For extra motivation, Muhammed would take the record away from her older sister Tatiana.  Our girls 4×800 team, Maddy Morland, 11, Taylor Dutton, 12, Chloe Cassens, 12, and Grace Abernethy, 10, got 2nd to Pine Creek. Tinah Muhammed ran a 13.23 in the 100 meter dash, which put her in 8th place and qualified her for the finals. In the 400 meter dash, runners Isabella Janney, 11, Alison Ambuul, 10, and Zoe Gross, 10, got 3rd, 4th, and 5th places respectively, with times of 1:00.31, 1:01.31, and 1:02.48 respectively. Making her 3200 debut, Madeline Morland ran an impressive 12:07, putting her in 3rd place overall, with teammate Grace Abernethy coming in just behind her in 5th place with a time of 12:15. In the field events, Jaelyn Hershberger, 12, jumped 36-07 in triple jump, earning her 2nd place and Bethany Heitland, 12, made her debut in the high jump after playing tennis all season, clearing and impressive 4-08, which put her in 8th place overall.

On the boys side, the 4×800 team, Charlie Schroeder, 10, Eric White, 10, Conor Strizich, 12, and Ben Swanson, 11,  ran a time of 8:14.74, putting them in 4th place. Justin Dwinell, 12, is in the second spot in  both the 100 and the 200, running times of 11.21 and 22.19 qualifying him for finals in both; he is currently 18th in state for the 100 and moved up, temporarily, to 11th in the 200.  In the 400, Ellis Sawyer, 12, and William White, 9, got 6th and 7th with times of 51.92 and 51.94 respectively. In the 3200, Ben Swanson ran an impressive 10:12.12, earning him 4th place. In the field events, Charles Broomfield, 12, was the champion with a throw of 160-03.75, which was more than 7 feet farther than the 2nd place thrower. Devon Bell, 12, had a big PR in the long jump with a 20-02.5, earning him 4th place,

The second and final day of the CSML Championships will take place this Saturday, May 12th, starting at 9 am. Come cheer for your talented runner, jumpers, and throwers trying to kill the competition and make it to State!

UPDATE:

After a season of personal bests, school records, and state hopes, the men’s track and field team took on the Colorado Springs Metro League Championship May 10-12. In most of the team’s final hurrah of the season and a few’s last chance to tune up before state, the Cougars had a strong showing against tough competition from around the city.

After a good first day, covered by the Cougar Daily above, senior Justin Dwinell placed second in the finals of the 100 with an 11.27, and then placed 4th in the 200 finals later in the day with a 22.59. Dwinell will compete in both at state, and will aim to renew his spot on the 100 podium. In addition, sophomore sprinter Ben Tonneson placed sixth in the 300 hurdles with a new personal best of 42.42.

The distance team was also a key component in the team score. Junior Ben Swanson came back from his stellar 3200 two days before with a PR in the 1600, in which he placed third. Later Saturday afternoon, sophomore Eric White and Conor Strizich raced a blazing fast 800 that saw seven boys go under 1:59. White and Strizich placed sixth and seventh respectively with their 1:58.41 and 1:58.76 finishes. It was both runners’ first time breaking 2:00 in the event, which gives the team great hope for the team’s 4×800 chances at state.

In the field events Jareth Morey, 12, wrapped up his first track season with a sixth place in triple jump. Another sixth place came from Isaiah Outler, 11, in high jump. After winning discus on the first day of competition, Charles Broomfield continued his dominant season with a first place in shot put.

In the end, the Cougars took home a fifth place from the CSML meet. While the finish did not fulfill the team’s hopes going into championship season, many individual performances were outstanding.