Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — The Steamboat Springs High School track team again was led by its distance runners Saturday at the Mickey Dunn Invitational in Grand Junction.

In a highly competitive field, Steamboat’s Jeff Sperry paced the Sailors.

Sperry finished second in the 800-meter run at 2 minutes, 2.88 seconds. The time put Sperry seventh in the event in Class 4A. The top 18 individuals and teams qualify for state. The time was about a second slower than Sperry’s personal best last year in Rifle.

Other top finishes included Colton Lewer running the 400 meter in 55.43 in to finish 16th.

Jack Burger was fourth in the 3,200 meter, running a 10:13.20, almost a full 30 seconds faster than his winning time from last week. Asher Rohde was eighth in the 3,200, finishing in 10:36.12. Burger is 12th and Rohde is 18th in the Class 4A 3,200 rankings.

Keegan Burger, competing in his first track and field meet, finished fifth in the long jump with a mark of 18 feet, 11.5 inches.

The boys 3,200 relay team of Lewer, Jack Burger, Sperry and Rohde was third in 8:40.19 — the 11th fastest time in 4A.

That team will more than likely stay the same, with Lewer, Jack Burger and Sperry keeping their spots. The final spot will go to Rohde or Scott Powers.

“It’s whoever is running the best at the time,” Steamboat coach Andy Reust said.

Steamboat should get a good idea of where its distance teams stand this week. They compete at 2 p.m. Friday in Broomfield.

“We’re pretty close to right on track,” Reust said. “This week, for me, is the best meet we go to just in number of the quality of teams.”

— To reach Luke Graham, call 970-871-4229 or email lgraham@SteamboatToday.com