GHS athletes great at state
By Bobby Reyes
GHS Track and Field — Drew Hanks watched his teammate, Colton Stice, kick around the final corner and head toward the starting line. Hanks raised his hand high in the air so Stice could see him as he sprinted down the straightaway in the lead. While he focused on Stice, and thought about his leg of the relay, Hanks wasn’t thinking about graduating from Gunnison High School (GHS) in 19 hours — or the speech he’d have to write and practice the following morning.
A late spring storm delayed the 2017 Colorado State Track and Field Championships by two days, forcing the traditional three-day meet to squeeze into two days, starting Saturday morning and ending Sunday night. Despite the setback, the GHS 4x800 relay team was leading the field of 18 teams this past Saturday evening. While Hanks had graduation looming just a day away, he was determined to give nothing less than his best in his first — and last — state championship experience.
When Stice handed the baton off to Hanks, the senior sprinted around the corner to the roar of the crowd. The irony of Hanks running the second leg of the Cowboys 4x800 relay at the state meet wasn’t lost to him, or to any of his teammates and coaches. While his relay partners of Braydon O’Neill, Jon Wilkinson and Stice had years of track experience, Hanks — the lone senior on the squad — was completing his first season on the track.
“Somebody asked me why I wanted to run track this year and I couldn’t really answer it,” Hanks joked after the race. “I just needed something to refresh my mind, and I always knew these guys were a cool group, so I just went out and did it.”
While Hanks blazed around the track on Colorado’s biggest stage, it was hard to think that he was only a few months removed from his first meet ever — where he ran the 4x100, 4x200, 4x400 and the 4x8.
“We were just trying to figure out the place for me,” Hanks joked. “And we figured the 800 was ideal after that.”
Three months later Hanks entered the second lap of his leg at of the state championships. Pre-race favorite and defending state champions, Alamosa, cruised by, bringing Holy Family along as Hanks pumped his arms to cover the move, keeping GHS in the battle for the state title. When he came around the final corner he looked up the track at Wilkinson, who was waving his hands. Hanks bore down the final straight and handed the baton off to Wilkinson in third place.
Wilkinson gradually pulled Holy Family back and cruised by, inching ever so slightly back to the shoulder of Alamosa, who held a considerable lead. With 200 meters remaining, Wilkinson threw what was left in his tank into the race and passed Alamosa to take the lead. But the Moose weren’t done.
‘I gave it all the speed I had’
Alamosa stormed back on the final straight to reclaim the lead. When Wilkinson passed the baton off to O’Neill, the Cowboys were a few seconds behind in second.O’Neill went to work in the final leg of the relay, trying to claw his way back onto Alamosa’s heels, but the Moose had eventual 800 state champion Oscar Martinez cleaning up. Alamosa telescoped away as Lutheran passed O’Neill heading into the final lap. O’Neill went with the pace and bided his time until 200 meters remained, then he struck.
“When we got to the corner I gave it all the speed I had,” O’Neill said.
He flew off the final curve and back into second place, which he held down the final straight. O’Neill crossed the finish line in second as GHS had run a season best of 8:10 — missing the school record by two seconds. Alamosa defended their title in 8:00. As teams staggered in, the Cowboys celebrated their runner-up finish just beyond the finish line. A year ago they finished fourth in 8:22. Now, they had taken two more steps up on the podium and chopped 12 seconds off their previous result.
“You always want to win,” Stice opined. “But to be the second best in Colorado is something to be proud of.”
Wilkinson shared similar sentiments.
“I’ll take this result any day,” he said. “And having Drew with us wearing the ‘G’ one last time caps it off.”
For Hanks, the experience was surreal, but now he could let his mind wander to his next big achievement: Graduation.
“This is a great end,” Hanks shared. “This is the cherry on top of four years at GHS, I’ll never forget it.”
While Hanks had capped his first and only track season, Stice had two more races on his schedule.
A record and more podium finishes
Fifteen hours later Stice returned to the starting line with O’Neill and 16 other competitors for the 800. When the gun shot, a hot pace ensued. Stice and O’Neill hovered near the middle of the pack, allowing for the fast starters to fade. After blazing through the first lap, Stice began to move through the pack along the back straight.
As they rounded the final bend the massive field went into a unified sprint. Stice hugged the inside as inches separated him and everyone else. Alamosa’s Martinez inched forward for the win as Stice finished fifth in a personal best of 1:57.34. Behind him, O’Neill crossed the line 14th in 2:07.
While the finish — Stice’s second podium spot — would be an achievement within itself, he saved his best for last.
Nearly six hours later Stice toed the line in the mile with Wilkinson for his third event in two days. The duo made waves, establishing GHS as a mid-distance force to be reckoned with.
A year ago Stice finished 10th — one place off the podium. Then-senior Cooper Wiens finished third in that race in a school record of 4:27. The near miss rankled then-freshman Stice, but he made sure to turn the tables on last year’s performance.
Stice paced his way through the field, cruising across the finish line in third — duplicating Wiens’ finish, but breaking his school record by nearly two seconds. Stice reset the record to 4:25.85, a five-second personal best. Not far behind was Wilkinson, who also ran a personal best, finishing fifth in 4:29.84.
The finish was the third time Stice would step onto the podium over the weekend, and the second time for Wilkinson. Other Cowboys who reached the podium were sophomore Kelita Baroumbaye in the triple jump and freshman Bria Rickert in the two-mile.
Baroumbaye finished ninth in the triple jump with a mark of 41-feet, eight-and-a-half-inches, a new personal best, while Rickert finished ninth in the two-mile in a personal best of 12:16.
Just off the podium were senior throwers Josh Stephens and Alysha Wyman, and the girls 4x8 relay.
Stephens finished 10th in the discus with a toss of 137-feet, nine-inches, while Wyman finished 10th in the shot put with a mark of 34-feet, five-and-a-quarter-inches. The girls 4x8 team of Shannon Murphy, Annelise Pelletier, Leah Weak and Rickert squeezed into the state meet ranked 16th, but came out 12th in a season best of 10:29.
(Bobby Reyes can be reached at 970.641.1414 or bobbyreyes@gunnisontimes.com.)
For photos of the meet, visit here: 2017 Colorado Track and Field Championships
