Seniors set the tone at Battle Mountain Invitational

Technically, Tuesday’s Battle Mountain Invitational was ‘senior night’ for the track and field team. The class of 2024 wasn’t just recognized on the homestretch midway through their sole home meet — they showed up to compete, too.

Axel Gutierrez and Caleb Hodges went 1-2 in the 200-meter dash and Cooper Skidmore dominated the discus with a throw of 162 feet, 10 inches to lead the boys. Presley Smith’s 2.66-second win in the 400 and Tabi Schroeder’s 100-meter victory were the girls’ individual highlights on a day which included 4×100, 4×400 and sprint medley relay titles, too.

“I hope the team sees us and they’re like, ‘they’re making this fun,'” Schroeder answered when asked about the seniors’ legacy. She said the midweek meet’s traditionally “laid back” atmosphere tends to help the sprinters.

“Last year we got the (4×100) record,” she said. “I just feel like we’re always like ‘whatever’ and we go so much faster.”

The Huskies 4×100 team welcomed back junior Kiki Hancock last week. Hancock, who tore an ACL in the basketball off-season, anchored the Huskies to a 1.44-second win over runner-up West Grand.

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“I thought our handoffs were great and Kiki had a great finish,” Schroeder said. Everyone just had a strong effort.”

Hancock also placed fifth in the open 100 and ran a leg on the sprint medley team, which won by five seconds to set the tone at the beginning of the cold, cloudy afternoon.

“She really is a key aspect of our team,” Schroeder said. “I love having her there because, one, her positive attitude and two, she pushes us.”

Schroeder once again dueled Eagle Valley’s Lily Brueck in both short sprints. Similar to the Devils Invitational on April 6, Brueck lost the 100 but bettered her rival in the 200, running 26.68 to Schroeder’s 26.78. Overall, the Devils posted several impressive performances competing on enemy soil.

Zakia Shreeve jumped 16-07.50 to win the long jump and was followed by her teammate, Ava Geiman (14-08.50) in second. Kaden Kraft comfortably held off a trio of Husky challengers to win the 400 in 51.75 while Jakob Methvin (52.59), Hodges (52.63) and distance star Porter Middaugh (52.90) — who tried his hand at the open 100 and 4×200 as well — came in second, third and fourth, respectively. Finally, Jack Packert and Gage Stowell went 1-2 in the 1600 and Blake Anderson and Stowell were first and second, respectively in the 800.

“It felt pretty good,” said Stowell. “The wind was killer on the backstretch.”

Devils distance coach Charlie Janssen said Armando Fuentes, Cooper Filmore and the Blair twins rested Tuesday to prepare for a school-record attempt at the 4×800 at the Warrior Invite in Grand Junction this Friday. He was pleased to see Packert pull away on a tough afternoon to solo a personal best.

“It was great — he’s got back some of the same momentum that he made for himself in cross-country,” Janssen said of the senior, who went from running 19:01 for 5k as a junior to 16:38 this season, but was ill at the start of track. Packert’s fitness has come around recently. He won the 1600 and 3200 in lifetime bests at the Glenwood Springs Invite on Saturday before clocking another personal best — 4:56.8 — on Tuesday, albeit 1,500-feet higher in elevation.

“It definitely felt harder than last week. I think the wind played a part,” Packert said. “Overall, it was a good race. I think I’m now starting to get back to the point where I’m feeling stronger each day.”

Janssen said Packert’s quiet, subtle sense of humor enriches the Devils’ deep distance squad. “Pretty much anything that comes out of his mouth is gold,” the coach said. “Him and Gage are both integral parts of the team.” 

As seniors tend to be.

Battle Mountain’s Willem Rohwer gave one of the more fascinating future plans during his senior recognition. The classically-trained bassist hopes to pursue music performance and astrophysics next year. His dream job is to work in space exploration at SpaceX, Boeing or NASA, “and obviously, play music in some capacity,” he said.

“It’s a really far-fetched dream, but it’s something I’m super passionate about.”

Rowher started learning bass from his father (his mom is a cellist, too) when he was five. He’s participated in all-state orchestra every year since sixth grade and currently studies with the professor of bass performance at DU. In addition to playing in the Battle Mountain string orchestra, he’s also been involved in the school musicals since his family moved from Michigan two years ago. On Tuesday, he ran 58.25 in the 400 and cleared 7-03 in the pole vault.

“We have a lot of really great runners out here and I wanted to be a part of the scene,” he said before adding that his artistic and athletic pursuits occasionally overlap: 12 years of rigorous study in the former has taught him to be be “happy with the progress and the process” in the latter.

“Playing an instrument teaches you how to refine your skills so deeply, and there really is no end to it,” he said. “You don’t stop learning — you just keep getting better and better.”