Bulldogs run at Safford

The Douglas Bulldogs were looking to improve their times for the state meet at the Safford Invitational April 20.

The Bulldogs who scored just 30 points finished 11th out of 17 teams.

Host Safford was first with 108 points. Thatcher was second with 72.5 followed by St. Johns in third with 71.5.

Alphonso Mejia finished second in the 300-intermediate hurdles with a time of 40.4 seconds and second in the 100 meters with a time of 11.31.

Rafael Carrillo was eighth in the 110-meter high hurdles finishing with a time of 18.3 seconds.

In the 800-meters Ricky Larez finished fifth with a time of 2:11; Israel Andrade was seventh with a 2:15.

Luis Padilla placed eighth in the triple jump with a jump of 37-feet.

The Bulldogs 4x100 relay team of Mejia, Diego Guerrero, Jose Moreno and Jesus Ayala finished fifth with a time of 45.6 second while the 4x800 relay team of Stewart Hernandez, Larez, Andrade and Gustavo Melendez placed seventh with a time of 9:10.7.

Douglas’ track coach Ron Ellsworth said he saw improvement in a lot of the times and distances at this meet.

Those athletes on the verge of making it to state have one more chance to improve their marks at the Last Chance meet which takes place May 3 in Benson.

The coach said this will give those athletes on the state list one last chance to better their marks before the state meet which takes place May 11-12 at Mesa Community College.