Luc Andrada and Kain Medrano's strong start have the Eagles hoping to make a push at the 4A boys track crown; Denver East's Minor looking to add more medals
With the ups and downs that wet, often snowy, weather brings to the
spring sports season, it hasn't been easy for track and field athletes
to settle into a rhythm.
With any luck, that's
about to change. With one bomb cyclone (or two, depending on how you
judge such things) in the past, and it seems like a run of warmer
weather may be on the horizon. With the state meet just one month away,
that couldn't come at a better
time.
That's
not to say that the first month of the season was a total wash. A
number of meets statewide have taken place, even if the conditions
haven't been completely ideal. So, with the second half of April set to
begin, here is a quick look back on what has been accomplished thus far
in the 2019 season (the only times listed here are those reported to
MaxPreps.com):
Boys
Track Events
SprintsNineteen years ago,
Fountain-Fort Carson's
Gregg Trigg ran a time of 10.53 seconds in winning the 100-meter dash,
which was good for the Class 4A state meet record. It's a time that has
held up for nearly two decades. Earlier this month, reigning 4A
100-meter sprint champion
Luc Andrada of
Pueblo East
recorded a time of 10.55 seconds in the John Tate Challenge Cup.
Andrada, who recorded a winning time of 10.66 as a junior, is a favorite
to repeat next month.
Five sprinters from the 5A ranks have recorded sub-11 times in the 100, led by
Elijah Williams of
Gateway (Aurora) (10.84) and
Jackson Connelly of
Regis Jesuit (Aurora) (10.85).
Andrada
also holds the leading time in the 200 (21.47), set on the same day.
Gateway's Williams is again second overall and tops in 5A.
Distance
Speaking of Sado, he won the 1,600 at the Mullen Invitational in 4:16.24, just edging out
Austin Vancil of
Dakota Ridge (Littleton) (4:16.49) for the top time. Vancil is also second overall in the 3,200 behind Gateway's
Yonas Mogos, who ran a 9:24.08 at the Lyons Invitational.
Hurdles
Brighton's Cameron Harris and Regis Jesuit's
Zion Gordon
each placed in the top six in the 5A 110-meter hurdles at state last
spring, and both are at the top through the first month of 2019. Harris
ran a 14.02 at the Mercury Classic, and Gordon went 14.21 at the Mullen
Invitational.
Elizabeth's Mason Anthony,
who was the runner-up in both hurdle events in 3A as a junior, leads
the 300 field with a time of 37.92. That would have been good for a 3A
state-meet record, which was set by Bayfield's Carl Heide in 38.36 in
2018.
Garrett Nelson of
Poudre (Fort Collins) finished .30 seconds behind Anthony at the Mullen Invitational.
Relays
Doherty (Colorado Springs)
currently has the top time in the 400 relay of 42.42, set last weekend
in the Petrelli & Hunt Invitational in Colorado Springs.
Overland (Aurora) isn't far behind at 42.61, which was good to win the Mullen Invitational.
In the 800 relay, Fort Collins, Doherty,
Pine Creek (Colorado Springs) and
Far Northeast (Denver)
are within .40 seconds of each – those times each came at four
different events. Fort Collins also owns the fastest time in the 1,600
relay after winning the Randi Yaussi Championships in 3:21.80
.
Finally,
Mountain Vista (Highlands Ranch)
– the reigning 3,200 relay champion in 5A – leads the state at 8:07.70.
The Golden Eagles were just more than four seconds off the state record
in winning the title last May.
Field Events
JumpsIt should come as no surprise that Monarch senior
Max Manson
is clearing the field in the pole vault. Manson, who set the overall
state meet record last May with a height of 17 feet, 3.5 inches, cleared
17 feet at the Mullen Invitational. The next closest mark is
Hunter Potrykus of
Silver Creek (Longmont), who cleared 14-8 in late May.
Doherty's
Donte Marsh
cleared 6-08 in the high jump at the Palmer Terror Invite on March 23,
which would have tied last year's winning 5A jump. Maybe even a bigger
story is
Jade Cass of 1A
Pawnee (Grover).
Cass cleared 6-07 at the Thunderbird Twilight on April 1. Cass finished
second in 1A last spring at 6-01, and his current mark would easily top
the 1A state meet record.
Canon City's Brendan Young,
who was third in 4A in the long jump, had a monster leap of 23-09.5 at
the Petrelli & Hunt Invitational. That mark isn't far off the 4A
state meet record of 23-11 set back in 1992. Fort Collins'
Micaylon Moore jumped 23-08.5 at the Pomona Invite.
In the triple jump, Young is second to Fort Collins'
Allam Bushara, who went 47-09.5 at the Pomona Invite.
Throws
Pueblo East's
Kain Medrano
is the reigning champion in both the shot put and the discus; Medrano
set a state meet record in the latter event of 185-09. So, it's no
surprise that the senior leads both events overall. Medrano had a huge
throw of 199-09 in the Petrelli & Hunt Invitational, and he is more
than 14 feet ahead of Silver Creek's
Samuel Dirkes.
In the shot put, Medrano again leads Dirkes with a toss of 57-09.5 at the John Tate Challenge Cup.
Girls
Track Events
SprintsFor three years, the sprint events have belonged to
Denver East's Arria Minor.
The University of Georgia-bound senior won the 100 and 200 in each of
her first three years, and won the 400 as a freshman and sophomore
before taking second last spring. She set the all-classification record
in the 200 and 400 last year (the latter coming in prelims).
The
only record she doesn't hold is the 100 (that belongs to Regis Jesuit's
Ana Holland, set back in 2013). Minor leads the field in the 100
through the first month though, running 11.78 in the Denver South Rebel
Invite.
Broomfield's Sydney Holiday is second at 11.87.
Remington Ross of 2A
Highland (Ault) is fifth at 12.21, just .02 seconds off her state-winning time as a junior.
Holiday leads the state in the 200 with a time of 24.34 (Ross is fourth at 25.37). Niwot's
Taylor James is first in the 400 at 54.72.
Distance
Riley Stewart of
Cherry Creek (Greenwood Village) won the 3,200 at the Pomona Invite in 10:59.66, good for first in the state thus far. Niwot's
Layla Roebke is second at 11:03.52.
Hurdles
Valor Christian's
Anna Hall
dominated the hurdles a year ago at state, setting the 4A state meet
record in 40.76 seconds in the 330 hurdles. Rock Canyon's Emily Sloan
broke the Colorado prep record last year with a time of 40.60.
Relays
Smoky Hill (Aurora)
currently leads the pack in the 400 and 800 relays. The Buffaloes won
the Thomas Jefferson Twilight Meet in 48.56 seconds, though Fort Collins
isn't far behind at 48.85. Smoky Hill is tops in the 800 at 1:42.59,
set in the same meet.
In the 1,600 relay, Valor
has the top time through the first month of the season by nearly four
seconds. The Eagles won the Murray Kula Invitational in Windsor on April
2 with a time of 3:57.07.
The
Peak to Peak (Lafayette)
time of 9:31.98 leads the 3,200 field, and Niwot is first in the 800
sprint medley relay at 1:46.64. The Cougars are in the top five in every
relay but the 100, where they sit seventh.
JumpsA strong tradition continues in the pole vault among the Willis family at
The Classical Academy (Colorado Springs).
Andrea set the Colorado prep record of 13-09 in 2013, and last year
Erika broke the 3A state meet record for the second year in a row after
clearing 12-09.
Kristina Willis was third as a sophomore, and currently is tied with Monarch's
Mia Manson for first in the state at 12-00.
In the high jump,
Bayfield's Jordan Lanning
set a 3A state meet record as a junior with a height of 5-07.75.
Lanning has already cleared 5-09 this spring at the Abel Velasquez
Invitational in Ignacio.
In the triple jump, one year after Cherokee Trail's Sydnee Larkin set the Colorado prep record of 41-07, Fort Collins'
Taryn Burkett is first at 38-06.
Throws
Logan Derock of
Roosevelt (Johnstown),
who won the 4A shot put as a junior, is out in front again this spring.
Derock's throw of 41-10 won the Broomfield Shootout. Derock, who is
also the reigning 4A shot put champion, is second in the state to
Loveland's Kajsa Borrman, who has a throw of 145-06.
MaxPreps Colorado girls state track & field leaders
