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Saints soar at home meet

Chris Freud
VCT Pearson, Caleb BH 4-22
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GYPSUM – Tiny, but mighty.Class 1A Vail Christian track and field hosted the third annual Phelan/Alexander Invitational at Eagle Valley Saturday, and the Saints, one of the smallest teams in the meet, put up some top-notch performances in front of the home crowd.The boys’ team was sixth with 42 points, while the girls were seventh with 48. West Grand came away with wins in both divisions.”I think we’re in a great spot,” Saints coach Bob Isbell said. “You look at the number of personal bests, Jessica Linder running almost 17 seconds better than her best all year. Molly Books is running her best in the 400, and Jackie (Parker) did the same thing. Caleb (Pearson), Allison (Vossler), we’re getting some good quality workouts in the last couple of weeks, and that’s been exciting.”Isbell just named a few of the highlights.

“Everybody’s building to the top of their game, but I think we’re doing better than last year,” Molly Brooks said. “We’ve got some amazing freshmen.”Amazing freshman would certainly apply to Jessica Linder. She won the girls’ 1,600 in 5 minutes, 47.93 seconds, and logged a personal record in the process.”Jessica was in third for most of the race,” Isbell said. “In the last 120 yards, she just blew past those (Basalt’s Amy Lund and Aspen’s Christy Severy), and those are two very good milers. They’ve both been very successful at state in 3A. That was really exciting. She competed so well.”Linder, along with Molly McGee, Katie Russ and Vossler, started the day in fine style with a win and school mark in the 3,200 relay. The quartet came around in 10:38.41.Brooks flew 13 feet, 9 3/4 inches in only her second outing in the long jump. She finished fifth.”This meet, I kind of knew what I was doing a little bit, but it was still kind of winging it,” Brooks said.

Brooks and company were much more comfortable in the familiar confines of the 400 relay. Russ, McGee, Parker and Books flew to second, nearing the school record with a 53.46.Russ wasn’t done with picking up points. The junior was fifth in the open 400, clocking a 1:07.99. The same went for Vossler. She took sixth in the 300 hurdles (56.42). The Lady Saints finished the day with silver in the mile relay. Brooks, Linder Jackie Parker and Vossler logged a 4:31.98.Pearson, Francis go 1-2The high jump was the place to be for the Saints boys’ team. Person won it with a leap of 5-8. He went for 6 feet, but missed out on a chance at breaking his own school mark. Jaryd Francis was right behind him at 5-6, good for silver.Pearson cranked the discus 106-6 to take seventh and skipped to second in the 300 hurdles (46.01). He completed his day with a leap of 18-2 in the long jump. The fifth-place finish capped a 24-point day.



Jonathan Armstead (39-3) captured fifth in shot put.Matheson wins 400?It’s pretty established that Eagle Valley’s Sean Matheson’s pretty fast in the 100 and 200. It turns out he knows how to run the 400 as well. Matheson blew away the field in his 400 debut in 51.94, not far off the school record. By and large, the Devils’ JV got some work at the Phelan/Alexander. The girls finished fifth, and the boys tied for eighth.Bryonny Hiland and Angela Phillips went 1-2 in the 100 hurdles. Hiland was also golden in the 300 hurdles. Sasha Pickslay was second in the high jump (4-6). Kacey Blair won silver in the discus.

For the boys, Eric Kline won the 300 hurdles in 45.29.Battle Mountain’s top finishers were Jason Funk’s bronze in the 300 hurdles and Mike Jansen’s fifth in the discus. Kodi Wyatt (high jump), the boys’ 800, Jesus Benitez (1,600), Levi Horn (200), the boys’ mile relay, Kyleigh Quintana (shot put), girls’ 3,200, girls’ 800, Joselyn Funez (800) and the girls’ mile scored for the Huskies.Sports Editor Chris Freud can be reached at 949-0555, ext. 14630, or cfreud@vaildaily.com.Vail, Colorado


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