The Montrose Indians placed 15th out of 65 teams at Lakewood, Colorado in Jeffco Stadium for the 2022 CHSAA Class 4A State Track & Field Championships. Competition was delayed slightly because of a spring storm that dumped over six inches of snow over Denver. The original dates were supposed to be Thursday, Friday, and Saturday but because of the snow it was delayed to Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday.

The Indians had 10+ individuals this year in multiple different events such as the 4×100 boys (Isaac Renfrow, Austin Zimmer, Junior Rodriguez, and Amaris Mora),the 4×200 boys (Mora, Renfrow, Rodriguez, and Alonzo Leiba) and the girls (Sarah Mcgary, Olivia Renfrow, Madison Lucero,and Taylor Foster), and the 4×400 boys (Jonas Graff, Bohden Walchle, Zack Browning, and Leiba) all competed in the relay events. For the non-relay running events, Mora competed in the 100 and 200 meter dash, while Renfrow ran in the 110 and 300 meter hurdles. Will Taylor and Mcgary qualified for jumping events (Taylor in high jump and Mcgary in long jump). Trevor Hill was the only thrower to qualify for Montrose and he made the most of it by placing well in Shot Put. 

Montrose Boys 4×200 relay placed 3rd

Sarah Mcgary placed 5th for Long Jump 

Montrose Boys 4×100 relay placed 7th 

Trevor Hill placed 7th in Shot Put

Renfrow placed 7th in 300 Meter Hurdles 

Montrose Girls 4×200 relay placed 8th  

Will Taylor placed 11th in High Jump 

Montrose 4×400 relay placed 16th

Not only did the relay teams place well, they broke school records with the 4×100 getting running a 43.24 and the 4×200 breaking the record with a time of 1:29.42.

“The awesome things about the 4×100 and 4×200 relay records is they have stood the test of time for 30 years,” head coach Brian Simpson said. “I coached 1992 sprinters who set those records my first year in Montrose. Now I get to watch a new group set a higher standard as I begin my departure from education.” 

“This season overall went pretty great, it was very eventful with me getting multiple personal records,” Hill said.

Snow was a big deal throughout this event; they had to delay the track meet on Friday. While Montrose waited for Mother Nature to clear up, they took in some sight seeing and visited Denver Museum of Nature and Science and were also able to have an indoor practice. 

“It was kinda expected, but at least it didn’t really have an affect on us as a team,”Rodriguez said.

Taylor Foster, a senior for Montrose, had many events this weekend. Foster had to run the 4×200 relay and make it back home for her graduation at 3:30.

 “It was really upsetting to think that I was going to miss my last state track meet and miss standing on the podium with my team,” Foster said. “In the end, the weather cleared and I competed with my team Saturday night around eight. Luckily, the weather was okay to drive in so we left that night, and got home around 3 a.m. I was so lucky to be able to compete and graduate within 24hrs.” 

The track and field season is finally over and some juniors are already looking for senior year.

“I expect us to be at the top of the state next year, if all of us stick to it we will get better and faster and our chemistry will be untouchable,” Mora said.