Devils, Huskies top Eagle Valley Invite
Chris Dillmann | Special to the
GYPSUM — Sometimes the beauty of spring sports is being outside on a bluebird day. Sometime’s it’s not so pretty.
Nineteen schools competed in the wind and rain during the Eagle Valley Invitational on Saturday in Gypsum with Eagle Valley’s boys and girls winning the meet with Battle Mountain in second on both sides.
The Vail Christian boys finished eighth and the girls finished 12th with part of the team attending the meet at Mullen. (The Huskies also had a contingent at that meet.)
“On a day like today, where the wind’s going crazy and it’s cold, it’s early season, you’re just looking to train through a meet like today and work on getting better,” said Saints coach Tim Pierson.
“I think kids get pumped up more for this meet and it sets the tone for the season. Our home meet is really kind of our first gauge against all of the competition we’re going to see in our conference this year.” Jeff ShrollEagle Valley coach
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VAULTING TO THE TOP
Girls of Eagle County like to fly higher, or at least they fly high in the pole vault. Vail Christian’s Taylor Alexander earned first place with a height of 11 feet while Battle Mountain’s Alix Thurston and Eagle Valley’s Cody Osteen rounded out the podium.
Not to be outdone, the local boys filled the pole vault podium with Cooper Daniels, of Vail Christian, in first with a height of 12 feet, 10 inches; Miles Petterson, of Eagle Valley, finished second; and Battle Mountain’s Kevin Rodriguez finished third.
Eagle Valley’s Charise Crabb broke her own school record in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 15.82 seconds.
Ethan Pence, competing at Mullen for the Saints, set a personal record for the mile in a time of 4 minutes, 30 seconds.
Jay Neal had a strong showing in the 300-meter hurdles for the Devils, finishing second with a time of 42.40 seconds. Battle Mountain’s Demetrius Parrish finished third in the event.
“I think kids get pumped up more for this meet and it sets the tone for the season,” said Devils coach Jeff Shroll. “Our home meet is really kind of our first gauge against all of the competition we’re going to see in our conference this year.”
“It’s definitely a good startup meet for those that don’t often get to go to a varsity meet,” said Huskies assistant coach Tony Crisofulli. “They get to see where they fit in and how they can push themselves to get to that spot.”
