Another inch in the shot; a longer lean at the finish of a sprint; a cleaner exchange in a relay; one more heartbeat in the mile; that was what separated Pomona and Highlands Ranch men's track teams at the Mustang Invitational on April 5. After a full day of athletic events, only 1 1/2 points separated the two teams. The Invite was a state qualifying meet, which always brings out stiff competition. Our hats are off to Mountain Range High School for hosting a well-run and exciting meet.

Helping Pomona to its second-place finish, Cole Carveth placed first in the discus and shot put. His discus throw of 172 feet broke the Pomona school record and placed him in the top 20 nationally. Ryan Duman and Hayden Hunsucker placed in the top 5 of both events. Emily Hunsucker led Pomona's female throwers with a first place in the discus and second in the shot put. Kaitlin Krattenmaker notched a top-5 performance in the shot put while Lanaia Carveth earned a top 10 in the discus.

John Gamble paced Pomona's field athletes with a first-place finish in the high jump and fourth place in the pole vault. Jon Bunge tried to match this performance with a second- and fourth-place finish in his events; the triple jump and long jump. Pomona's women received a boost with Kelsey Hoge placing second in the pole vault.

Not to be left out, Dustin Ebner anchored a very exciting 4x200-meter relay to a first-place win. The team of Dustin, Cliff Henry, Derik Linch and Drew Ebner made the most of several excellant exchanges to top the field. Dustin also placed in the top 5 for the 400- and 200-meter individual events. Distance runners Matt and Ian Harkreader gave Pomona some needed points with personal best in the 3200-meter run.

Pomona's next track meet will be in Fort Collins, weather permitting, on April 10. There will also be plenty of running, jumping and throwing this weekend with meets for elite, varsity, junior varsity and freshman athletes.