Eagle Valley hurdler leads Devils at home invitational

When she joined the Eagle Valley track team as a freshman, Lillian Brueck couldn’t have imagined herself pushing teammate Zakia Shreeve.

“I was so new to it and she’d already been to state a couple times, so I was just intimidated by her,” Brueck said of Shreeve, the team’s top hurdler and horizontal jumper. “But as the years have gone, like, we’ve gotten pretty even.”

With Shreeve — a three-sport star and three-time state qualifier in both hurdles and the long jump — out with an injury for the Devils’ home invitational on Saturday, it was up to Brueck to step up and lead the hosts. The junior placed second in both hurdles and helped Eagle Valley to a runner-up finish in the 4×200-meter relay and the gold in the mixed 4×400.

“What she brings to practice every day is tenacity,” Eagle Valley head coach Jeff Shroll said. “If I asked her to run through a brick wall, I’m pretty sure she would do it. She’s a tough kid and doesn’t take a kid off.”

Shroll said Saturday was the best weather for track his team has seen all year. But, he noted that Brueck’s work ethic isn’t contingent upon the forecast.

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“She brings it every single day,” he said. “And I think it’s starting to show.”

After running 17.13 to finish 0.06 back from Soroco’s Joanna Almeida in the 100 hurdles, Brueck burst out of the blocks in the 300. She found herself in a tight duel with Kina Will, 3A’s third-place state finisher last year. Will cut the tape in a time of 46.88 seconds while Brueck came home in a new personal best of 47.91.

“I definitely tried to come out really strong. I felt fast around the curve and just need to work on some training for that last bit there,” Brueck said. “But I think it was a good race.”

While Brueck competed in the 4×100 and 4×400 at the state meet last year, she’s hoping to qualify as an individual this season. She’d like to dip under 47 seconds, which would put her even closer to Shreeve, whose best is 46.28. Of course, any healthy internal competition between the two has been for the betterment of both.

“In practices and races, we’ve definitely pushed each other a lot,” Brueck said. “It’s really helpful to have her with me.”

Eagle Valley squeaked past North Fork by 1.5 points to finish second in the girls team race on Saturday. Coal Ridge dominated the 16-team field with 146 points as the Devils came through with 61.5. Allie Braun placed second in the high jump (4-11) and senior Sara Marino continued to impress in her first track campaign, running 5:38.50 in the 1600 to pick up a silver there and doubling back for fourth in the 800 (2:30.68).

“We have some really good seniors,” Brueck said when asked about the state of the team as a whole. “They’ve really stepped up and been great leaders.”

Battle Mountain jumper sets school record

Tyler Heimerl redeemed a disappointing high jump performance with a stunning horizontal leap at the Eagle Valley Invitational on Saturday in Gypsum. The Battle Mountain senior, who boasts a 5-4 best in the high jump but failed to clear her opening height of 4-9, returned with a vengeance on the other side of the track.

Heimerl jumped 17-8.50 on her first attempt, breaking her own school record (17-6.75) set at the Broomfield Invite on March 22. The previous program best was Sabrina Sutter’s 2019 leap of 17-4 3/4.

Heimerl wasn’t done, though. She went 18-1.50 on her third attempt and fifth attempt as well. Unfortunately, a 2.8 and 2.1 meters-per-second (mps) tailwind was recorded on those attempts, the latter of which is just 0.1 mps above the legal limit for state-qualifying purposes.