Last Saturday, March 7th, 2026 the Track and Field members had their first meet of the season, the Mesa County Invite. All of the valley schools Central, Caprock, Grand Junction, Fruita, and Palisade high school joined together at Stocker Stadium for their first meet held by Fruita High School. Many events took place, everything from long jump to short and long distance.
The Palisade relay team during the 4 x 100 meter event took first place with a time of 45.27 seconds, very impressive and a great start of the season. Within the 17 events Central High School and Fruita High school both won 6 of the events, Grand Junction Highschool went home with two first place finishes and Caprock went home with two wins. It was an eventful start of the season for all of the schools throughout the district. A Palisade Senior Gavin Parker also took second place in Discus with a distance of 180’ 7.00” and took third place in Shot put.
Speaking to Senior Aspen Johnson the distance runner captain and Sophomore Aleeya Link a sprinter, both informed me that the community on the track was a lot more positive and encouraging than it had been last year. Johnson first spoke about her events, “I did the 800 and the 2 mile, the 800 was my throwaway event, but the 3200 I got third in.” Starting off strong is always the positive way to face a season. Johnson continued “The distance team did really well. We had quite a few people placing in the top eight.” She spoke confidently about the members of her team and was very positive.
Aleeya Link gave the sprinter’s side of the story, “It went really well. You can tell that it was the beginning of the season because it showed what areas that can be improved and what the team is good at already.” It is good to reflect and move forward, the first meeting is something to improve and look back on. “Everyone was very loud, very supportive, cheering on each other. It was a blast being able to scream in peoples faces.” Reflecting on what was mentioned earlier, a good supportive community can help influence new runners and great performances.
Don’t forget the next meet! The Mickey Dunn Invite, on March 28th again at Stocker Stadium.
