Archive for Sunday, May 4, 2008

Rams track team finds stride

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— As strange as it might seem, the Soroco High School track and field team will enjoy its most time outside all season this week.

Of course, that's a good thing with regionals starting Friday and Saturday in Grand Junction. What's also encouraging is the performance the team had on Saturday at the league tournament in West Grand.

In what seems to be a constant occurrence with Rams track, Soroco saw personal and seasonal bests litter the results sheet.

Seasonal bests happened in the 3,200-meter boys relay, with a time of 9:43; 1,600-meter boys relay, at 3:52; the girls 800- and 1,600-meter relays and the sprint medley relay.

Dennis Morgan threw a personal best of 136 feet in the discus; Matt Watwood threw his best in the shot put, with a throw of 39 feet; and Alex Estes jumped his best in the long jump, soaring 19 feet.

Morgan also finished second in the shot put, Sarajane Rossi finished second in the 400-meter dash, Glenda Long finished second in the 100-meter dash and Traci Schlegel finished second in the 300-meter hurdles.

"We've started tapering off, and the kids' legs are starting to get underneath them," Soroco coach David Bruner said. "Plus, it's their attitude. I was disappointed in messing up a few handoffs, but I was real pleased overall."

The girls 800-meter relay team ran a season-best time of 1:51 despite having one handoff where two team members almost had to come to a complete stop.

Bruner said with the times he saw Saturday - and with the potential of running in weather warmer than 50 degrees - he's extremely confident going into the regional tournament.

Along with the relays, Bruner said multiple individuals are right on the cusp of being able to qualify for the state meet.

The team is expected to practice Monday and Tuesday on the track at Steamboat - and surely work on handoffs - as well as get a practice at Grand Valley on Thursday before the regional meet.

That, coupled with the ever-dropping times, has Bruner confident as he enters his second regional meet with the Rams.

"With the kind of wacky year we've had - heck, it was snowing the last week - kids have really shown character," Bruner said. "In both the boys and girls, I'm excited. It's been a good year."

The Hayden High School track and field team also competed at the league tournament Saturday in West Grand, but coach Barbara Manzanares could not be reached Saturday evening.

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