It could be considered unlucky that there were strong winds on Friday the 13th, when the Mingus Union High School track and field team hosted the Mingus Invitational.
The winds affected some events, but in the end it was a necessary evil, per se, since similar conditions could be present at the state meet, as they were last season. In the end, the Marauders still had some personal bests and good performances.
“It went really well. It’s nice for the kids to be at home, it’s just a more comfortable environment for them, and so a lot of times they’ll do better at a home meet and a lot of the kids PR’d so overall it was pretty successful for us,” first-year head coach Molly Westcott said.
One event that Westcott did feel was affected by the wind was the final one, the 4 x 400-meter relay. Mingus’ boys took second to Sedona Red Rock High School, but individually still put together a good race.
“It’s hard to say because it was kind of on and off. Personally I think it had an impact on our boys 4 x 400,” Westcott said. “We thought they ran one of their best races and the time didn’t quite show. I think in that race the wind did play a pretty big part in that.
“It’s just something we have to get used to. We don’t know what state is going to be like, and actually state was really windy last year. I think it’s good for our kids to see something different like that, and it was our first really windy meet. I think it played some part, but not too much.”
On the girls side, junior Meg Babcock did well in the 400-meter race, getting down to the 60-second mark, and can still drop even more time.
It was a state-qualifying meet, and the Marauders have two more meets left to get as many runners, throwers and hurdlers into the Division III meet, to be held on Friday and Saturday, May 4 and 5, at Mesa Community College, as possible.
“Most of our kids, they’ve been training hard all season. The kids that are already qualified at the next two meets we’re really working on getting them higher up in the ranking,” Westcott said. “We have a few more kids who we know can qualify so kind of focusing on that. Making little adjustments here and there kind of fine-tuning things to get kids some better times and distances, things like that and so hopefully we can take as many kids to state as possible.”
The next meet is the Bradshaw Mountain Invitational at 9 a.m. on Saturday, April 21, at Bradshaw Mountain High School. There are altitude adjustments at that meet, which should make for better times and distances in order to achieve the team’s goals.
At that meet, Westcott said, there will be a focus on the boys 4 x 800- and 4 x 400-meter relays, as well as the girls 4 x 400 team, which qualified at the team’s first meet and hasn’t run a better time since.
The Marauders’ final meet of the season before state will be up State Route 89A, at the Red Rock Invitational – Last Chance at Sedona Red Rock High School on Tuesday, April 24.
