Cibola's Barr takes home two wins in sprints

"This is the bottom of the pyramid," said Cibola sprinter Jeremy Barr at the end of a home tri-meet Wednesday, "and you have to build your way up."

So what is the "bottom of the pyramid" for Barr?

Two first-place medals, a fourth-place finish in a sprint he'd never run before and a spectacular effort for gold in a relay race attempt in the season opener.

Barr was one of three Raiders with multiple first-place finishes as Cibola (68 points) took second behind Ironwood (83) on the boys side, but topped Valley Vista (27).

For the girls, Ironwood had 86 points, Cibola 55 and Valley Vista 31.

In the final boys event of the day, the 1,600-meter relay, Barr was looking at a big deficit heading into his anchor leg. He made up a super-human amount of time on the leader, but still fell short and had to settle for two first-place finishes - the 400 (50.09 seconds) and 800 (2:08.22).

Barr also ran the 100 for the first time, finishing in 11.89 to take fourth. He said he had loftier expectations than that.

"Goal was four first places," Barr said. "I was trying to catch that guy (in the relay). I knew it was a little bit far, but I always have someone to catch. I had my teammates on the side cheering me on, so I went faster. I knew I could catch it, but the fourth leg isn't always that strong for other teams."

Cibola coach Gordon Mosher said that attitude is typical of Barr.

"He is a very dedicated young man," Mosher said. "He has really worked hard moving to more of a sprinting role this year. His 400 and 800 times are right where we want them now, and we're expecting him to do well at state."

David Daniels was the Raiders' other multiple winner on the boys side, claiming first in the high jump by clearing 6 feet, 2 inches and finishing the 300 hurdles in 41.97. He also won the 110 hurdles (17.34). Daniels missed a perfect day with a second-place finish the long jump, reaching 18-81/2.

Mosher said Daniels improved dramatically in the high jump. "I know he's been working hard at that," Mosher said. "Six-two is getting up where we need him. In the hurdles, the wind hurt him a little bit but he's looking to be right where we want him."

The lone girl with two wins was sophomore Nicolette Monroe, who twice bested senior teammate Hannah Heredia by less than a tenth of a second in the hand-timed meet. In the 100, Monroe finished in 14.00, with Heredia clocking in at 14.09. In the 200, she finished in 28.58, .05 ahead of Heredia.

"Those are my two leaders on the girls sprint side," Mosher said. "A lot of times I look to them to do things in practice when I'm doing things elsewhere. They're really taking on a leadership role."

Monroe said she was hoping for a personal record, something she felt short of - although a strong wind in the face of the sprinters may have had something to do with that. "I did okay, but I could have done a little better," Monroe said. "I was hoping to hit my PR. I think I should work harder at practice."

In all, Mosher was pleased with results.

"We got a lot of good PRs, and that's what we're all about - the kids setting a goal, achieving that goal and moving to the next level," Mosher said. "When they're getting a PR, I don't care to much if they took first or second or third."

Notes: Other first-place finishers for Cibola were - Preston Taylor with a toss of 121-61/2 in the discus; Danielle Amavista with a toss of 31-51/2 in the shot put; Dezarae Rodriguez in the pole vault, clearing 7-0; and Ryan Norton in the 3,200 (11:45.60). ... Cibola took the top three spots in the girls' 100, as Michelle Soto finished behind Monroe and Heredia in 29.12. ... Jake Carlson was second to Barr in the 400 (55.98). ... Anthony Daniels, brother of David Daniels, was second to Taylor in the discus, tossing the disc 115-5.