Aspen’s Abarca dominates at WSL track meet; BHS junior sets school mark
Kara Williams/courtesy photo |
Sunday Abarca continues to be untouchable.
The Aspen High School senior rolled through his competition over the weekend at the Class 3A Western Slope League meet in Grand Junction en route to three victories with the state meet less than two weeks away.
Abarca, the two-time reigning 3A state champion in the 400-meter dash, won his signature event at the WSL meet with a time of 49.27 seconds, more than two seconds ahead of second-place finisher Jacob Wear of Delta. Abarca also won the 100-meter dash (11.01 seconds) and 200-meter dash (22.08 seconds), the latter of which he won by a full second over Delta’s Ab Ontiveros.
Basalt High School junior Noah Williams was Abarca’s closest competition in the 100-meter dash, taking second in 11.49 seconds. Williams was third in the 200-meter dash with a time of 23.16 seconds.
Other highlights for the boys’ competition included a second-place finish by Aspen in the 800-meter relay and Basalt’s third-place finish in the 400-meter relay. Also in the top six were Basalt’s Pablo Rivera in the 800-meter run (fourth place) and Aspen’s Laughlin McIntyre in the long jump (sixth place).
Basalt junior sets school record in high jump
While she only took second in the event, Basalt junior Morgan Ash stole the show for the girls by setting a school record in the high jump. She reached a height of 5 feet, 1 inch, second to only Grand Valley’s Kylyn Rigsby, who reached 5-03. Basalt’s Kaylin Williams was third with 4-11.
According to the school, the record Ash broke had been in place since 1988. She also took third in the 100-meter hurdles.
Basalt’s strength came in the relays, where it won both the girls’ 400-meter relay and 800-meter sprint medley. BHS also took fourth in the 3,200-meter relay and fifth in the 1,600-meter relay.
Other notable finishes for the Basalt girls include Megan Maley’s third-place finish in the 800-meter run (2 minutes, 30.53 seconds); Maley’s fifth-place finish in the 400-meter dash (1:01.66); Carly Robinson’s fifth-place finish in the 3,200-meter run (12:41.34); and Nicole Alvarado’s sixth-place finish in the 100-meter dash (13.48).
Aspen’s only top-six finish on the girls’ side came from Dara Schenck, who took fourth in the discus throw (97-00).
For complete results, click here.
The final list of state qualifiers is expected to be known by the end of the weekend, after the final regular-season meets this week. The state track meet begins May 18 at Jeffco Stadium in Denver.
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