The Lone Tree athletes and fans didn’t have a long day at the state track meet, but the memories made during those 15 minutes will last forever.

The Lions ran in the third heat of the shuttle hurdle relay — the first event of the afternoon session on Thursday. 

The stands were packed as sophomores Drew Gauley and Ethan Willoz and junior Cade Patterson made their state track meet debut. 

“It’s a great feeling,” said senior Alex Viner, who returned to the state meet for the first time since he ran the leadoff leg for the 15th-place distance medley in 2019.

“You know, anytime you make it here, it’s a successful season. No matter how you do, and we didn’t run the best, but it doesn’t matter. We made it here, and that’s the most important thing. 

“I’m glad I got to spend it with these guys.”

The Lions finished 19th out of 24 qualifiers with a time of 1:07.87, less than a second slower than their season-best of 1:06.99 from the state-qualifying meet a week earlier.

Patterson said that early in the season, competing in the shuttle hurdle relay wasn’t on their minds, let alone taking the event to state. 

“It’s just great to be here,” he said after the race. “You know, at the start of the season, we didn’t even have a shuttle hurdle team. At our second meet at Waco, we put one together and just really went on from there.”

Lone Tree ran a time of 1:15.76 in the event at the WACO Relays on April 6. Five weeks later they were back on the same track and ran nearly nine seconds faster to qualify for the state meet. 

After Thursday’s race, Patterson said, “we’ve run faster, but you know, I think it was a thrill just to be here, honestly.”

At one point, tickets to the state meet were limited to just two per athlete, but meet officials announced the removal of those limitations on May 18. 

“It’s surreal,” Viner said about the experience afterwards. “It’s crazy seeing all these people. I’m glad the restrictions got lifted and everyone could come. It’s really nice seeing everyone here, just like 2019.”