At one point during his 800-meter run at the Cortez Invitational on March 25, Mancos High School Ro Paschal was nearly blown backward by strong winds.
The junior persevered, winning by more than six seconds with a time of 2:04.99 and helping the Mancos boys' team finish 4th overall at the 11-team meet.
"You can't control the wind," said Mancos head coach Brady Archer. "It really messed with some good races, but we still had a number of good performances."
Joining Paschal with top finishes were junior Nic Archuleta and freshman Simon Kearns, who placed first in the 1600-meter run (5:08.48) and 3200-meter run (11:13.5) respectively.
Junior Asa Kearns placed 4th in the 3200-meter run (11:13.5) and junior Adrian Hernandez placed 4th in the 800-meter run (2:21.26).
In the field events, junior Andrew Plunkett led Mancos with a 1st place finish in the high jump (5 feet, 6 inches) and a 3rd place finish in the triple jump (37 feet, 10 inches).
"I thought that Andrew Plunkett had a good meet jumping in both the triple jump and the high jump," said Archer."
On the girls' side, Mancos benefited from five individuals finishing in the top-five of their individual events and placed fourth overall.
Sophomore Emma Most paced the Bluejays with a 2nd place finish in the 1600-meter run (6:27.47), while sophomore Hannah Skinner was not far behind with a 4th place finish in the 1600-meter run (7:02.83).
"Our distance group did a nice job of being patient in the first halves of their races," said Archer.
Other Mancos girls finishing in the top-five included sophomore Kaylee Rose, who placed 3rd in the 800-meter run (3:00.56), junior Jessica Gutierrez, who placed 4th in the triple jump (26 feet, 9 ¾ inches and senior Taylor Goff, who placed 5th in the discus (77 feet, 7 inches).
We have a bunch of young athletes who are still rounding into shape and we have seven meets left," said Archer.
Next up for both Mancos teams will be the Abel Velasquez Invitational, in Ignacio on April 11.
