The Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs, Colorado — At the start of the season, Hayden track coach Barbara Manzanares didn’t set a goal for the number of athletes she wanted the Tigers to qualify for the state tournament. She also didn’t specify how many athletes she wanted to place at the regional meet or how many points she wanted her teams to score.

“The goal we set was to take a bus to the state meet,” Manzanares said. “The kids tease me, saying we could take a small bus, but I want a full bus.”

The quest to fill the bus comes this weekend as the Tigers travel to the regional track meet in Grand Junction.

An athlete can advance to state by finishing in the top three of an event or by surpassing certain qualifying standards. Whether Hayden can really fill a bus remains to be seen, Manzanares said, but there are plenty of candidates who will enter the meet with a chance to advance.

The only Tiger to already have nailed down a spot at state is Holli Salazar, who has run over the competition in the shot put this season. Several other Hayden athletes just missed on chances to prequalify, however, and have good shots at making state.

Murphy Smartt came within 1 inch of the 6-foot-2 prequalification mark in high jump. He still could make it by gaining the extra height, though he could figure into the top three, as well.

“We were really hoping to get that 6-foot-2, but still, from the other kids we’ve seen, he’s one of the best jumpers in our region,” Manzanares said. “He still has a really strong chance of making it.”

Freshman Delanie Ve­­depo, meanwhile, will be up against a tough field in the 1,600-meter run, and she could be more dependent on the time than the placing. She needs to shed two seconds off her season-best time of 5 minutes, 41 seconds.

Elsewhere, the squad could send up to four relay teams, Manzanares said. The girls 3,200-relay squad saw its prequalification hopes dashed last week when Maddison Kopsa had to pull out of the event after sustaining an injury while warming up for the triple jump.

She also had been a threat to qualify in that event, but will miss both again this weekend because of the injury. Stepping in will be Laura Zirkle, an open 3,200 specialist this season but a distance runner with experience on the 3,200 relay and one who still can help put the team into state.

“Laura ran it last year and ran it at the beginning of this year, so she knows what it takes and will be able to switch gears,” Manzanares said. “We’re confident she’ll be able to hold her own.”

The boys 3,200 and boys and girls 400 relays also hope to qualify.