This past weekend on Saturday April 4th 2026, Palisade Highschool hosted its first track meet of the season called the Frank Woodburn Invite. This meet took place from 8:30am to about 12:00pm with an immense amount of excitement and focus. It was a meet to remember with many schools sharing the track, ranging from Nucla to here in Grand Junction. Palisade runners as a whole placed 6th amongst the other 18 schools. Students such as sophomore Isabella Fenske, sophomore Huxley Peak, senior Gavin Parker, Makenzie Dibsie, and the relay team dominated their events. Many PRs were hit during this meet and student athletes improved more and more.
This particular meet is special because it is specifically named after Frank Woodburn, also known as coach Woodburn. Frank Woodburn is a beloved coach who taught at Palisade high school for over 36 years before he passed away in 2022. He was a coach for many sports including football, wrestling and baseball. Additionaly he was the Athletic Director and Assistant Principal for Palisade many years ago. During his time at the school he was selected to be the Outstanding Educator of the Year in 1986, the Colorado Athletic Director of the year in 1989, and was nominated for the National Athletic Direct of the Year. Coach Woodburn worked hard for the school community that we still see the reflections of today. Woodburn fought for a bigger opportunity for high school women to play sports.
Speaking to a Sophomore Huxley Peak who set two new PRs for himself this past week, he explained the environment of the meet. Peak mentions, “It was a bunch of local schools, which we have been against before. So it’s all fairly familiar with each other. It’s really competitive but also just friendly at the same time.” The perfect balance of competitiveness and friendship within these meets, keeping everything professional for the high schoolers involved. Peak then shines some light on his own achievements of the meet, “I think I did pretty well, I PR’d in both triple and long jump so I got second in long jump and third in triple jump.” Concluding that this was a very successful weekend for this jumper Huxley Peak.
Work Cited
GJ Sentinel. “Robert Frank Woodburn.” GJSentinel, https://www.gjsentinel.com/tributes/obituaries/robert-frank-woodburn/article_632c31fb-a83b-5385-840a-9cdfd90a1294.html#:~:text=Frank%20was%20selected%20as%20the,Arrangements%20by%20Palisade%20Funneral%20Home.
