Cimarron boys, girls retain titles

But winning events didn’t hurt, either.

Both Cimarron teams used some key victories to add to their deep squads and easily retained their regional titles Friday at Del Sol High School.

Cimarron’s boys totaled 147 points to outdistance second-place Cheyenne, which had 105. The Spartans’ girls finished with 114 points, beating runner-up Cheyenne’s 83.

The top two individuals in each event advance to the state meet next Friday and Saturday at Del Sol. Also, the third-place finishers who beat the No. 3 Sunrise athletes who competed Friday at Del Sol also advance.

The fact that Cimarron led the way in the boys and girls was no surprise. Both teams were favored, especially the Spartans boys.

And they showed why.

“What a team effort today, what a team effort,” Cimarron boys coach Harold Vaughn said. “You never know with the heath of the kids. Those Tuesday-Wednesday preliminaries, that’s a lot of races for a lot of our kids because they’re all multiple-event runners.

“But every kid in every area that we competed in just stepped up and did an outstanding job. We’re very pleased with all the kids.”

Spartans sprinter Stephen Nixon showed he wouldn’t let a pulled left hamstring stand in his way.

He injured himself in an early relay, then went on to compete in three more races, winning the 100- and 200-meter dashes.

In the 100, he ran 10.92 seconds. Cheyenne’s Terrence Brison was second in 11.18.

Nixon ran 22.34 in the 200. Western’s Dexter Summers was second in 22.47.

“That’s the last thing I worried about,” Nixon said of the injury.

Underscoring the Spartans’ desire to leave no doubts, Neil Spencer was determined to add the discus title to the shot put victory he secured Thursday. He trailed Bishop Gorman’s Tyler Johnson throughout the event but won with a throw of 150 feet, 2 inches on his final effort. That beat Johnson’s 149-3.

“I don’t know what I did,” Spencer said “I guess I didn’t want to lose.”

In the shot put, Spencer’s throw of 52-9 beat the 48-10 of Bonanza’s Jared Lovaas.

The Cimarron girls were almost as impressive as the boys. The Spartans relied on true team work, with athletes entering various events to build points.

“Every kid, we asked them to step up and do some things, and they did,” Spartans girls coach Jessica Scobell said. “They did exactly what we needed them to do — and a little bit more.”

The Spartans were in good shape entering the day after Aurelia Houston provided a victory in the triple jump (36-6) and a second-place finish in the long jump (17-0).

Then on Friday, Pilar Page won the 800 meters with a 2:18.15, beating out Cheyenne’s Brittney Washington, who ran a 2:20.28.

“These girls, they’re like my family,” Page said. “All of us knew what we wanted, and we worked to achieve it.”

So now it’s on to state, but Cimarron’s boys and girls might have trouble topping this day. If they don’t, Scobell would not be too disappointed.

“State’s the icing on the cake,” she said. “We’re a team that’s qualified a lot of individuals, and ultimately, we just want our kids to run their best races. But we start every season with the ambition of winning this meet, and being able to do it two years in a row — both boys and girls — is an accomplishment that very few schools can hang their hat on.”