Basalt girls 4×800 relay team finishes with satisfying podium at state meet

LAKEWOOD — There’s a fine line between being on the podium and that dreaded 10^th place, which goes home without a medal.

Seeded ninth entering Saturday’s race, the Basalt High School girls’ 4×800-meter relay team knew it had to be on top of its game to finish on the podium side of that line.

“The goal was to get on the podium, and being a couple point seconds away from eighth place and ninth place and 10^th place, it was a really close race,” Basalt junior Jenna Curnow said.

Thanks to a blistering start by sophomore Megan Maley, the BHS girls finished the race in 10 minutes, 10.20 seconds — a solid seven seconds faster than their previous best — to finish in eighth place.

Curnow had the second leg of the race and had to continue what Maley got started.

“It’s rough because second leg going in it’s still kind of a tight crowd. It’s still neck and neck and Megan set us up in a really good spot,” Curnow said. “My goal was to stick as strong as I could onto the girls right in front of me and just push through the pain and get there and get a good spot for Carly to keep picking off those girls.”

Junior Carly Robinson handled the third leg, leaving the race to be finished by freshman Lily Gillis. Considering the youth and the surprising results of the relay team, it has already set high goals for next season.

“We know it’s our set relay and we know that this is the one we are going to push each other to do as a team,” Curnow said. “We are like just four seconds off the school record, so that’s definitely going to be what our goal is next year.”

Peak to Peak won the 3A girls’ 4×800-meter relay in 9:12.44, a new 3A meet record.

A mixed bag for Basalt the rest of the way

Basalt High School junior Noah Williams is more excited about Sunday, when he will compete in the 3A boys’ 100-meter dash. The shorter race is more his speed compared to the 200-meter dash he competed in Saturday, taking 17^th in 23.24 seconds.

“I kind of run out of steam at about 160 meters, and that’s when the crowd starts passing me and life starts to fade away,” Williams said. “But (Sunday), the full 100, I feel like I can do all right.”

Williams ran in the first section of the race, eventually won by Aspen High School’s Sunday Abarca in 21.39 seconds. This is the first season running track for Williams, who transferred to Basalt in December from Truckee, California.

He is seeded 15^th in Sunday’s 100-meter dash.

Also Saturday, the Basalt girls sprint medley team finished 13^th in 1:56.08, a touch slower than its seed time. BHS junior Morgan Ash finished 12^th in the 3A girls’ high jump, clearing 4 feet, 9.5 inches. She holds the school record with a height of 5-1 set earlier this season.

Sunday, Ash will compete in the girls’ 100-meter hurdles at 10:15 a.m.; the BHS girls’ 4×100 relay team competes at 12:55 p.m.; Maley will compete in the girls’ 400-meter dash at 2:10 p.m.; and senior Miles Levy will compete in the boys’ high jump at 5 p.m.

acolbert@aspentimes.com