AURORA | Weather has created another uneven start to the spring track & field season, but Aurora athletes should be ready to shine as usual by the time the state track meet rolls around in May.

Coach Chris Faust’s massive Cherokee Trail boys group, especially, could have big things in store for the Jefferson County Stadium.

With a total of 100 boys on the varsity squad, a group of sprinters as deep as he’s had and a lot of team engagement so far, the Cougars have gotten off to a flying start to the 2013 season on the track.

“I could not be happier; the kids are working extremely hard and combine that with kids that are talented, that makes us a pretty good team,” Faust said.

The Cougars have piled up victories wherever they’ve gone this season.

They defended their championship at the Aurora City Championship meet March 16. They went on to win the Broomfield Shootout on March 30 and the Legend Track Clash April 6.

Faust has seen the look of a state champion before, as he coached the Cougars to the 4A state title in 2007.

This season’s group doesn’t have the distance strength that team did, but it has a superior group of sprinters, including about 12 Faust classifies as “legitimate varsity sprinters,” which has raised the level of competition at meets.

In just one meet, senior Jaylyn Mars — a transfer from Mullen — posted the state’s best time in the 400 meters (49.12 seconds) and two relays teams, the 4×200 and 4×400, also have state-best times so far.

Mars, senior Devin Arnold, juniors Brandon Singleton and MarKeith Bailey and sophomore Cameron Smith have led the way among a deep group of contributors, which Faust believes has the talent to win the state title.

“I think we’ve got as good as a chance as anybody,” he said. “ We have to keep working hard for the next six weeks, stay healthy and eligible and be unselfish.”

Other Aurora boys are off to great starts.

Regis Jesuit junior Jordan Hatfield pole vaulted 15 feet, 8 inches, at the Mountain Range Invitational on April 6, topping the school record of 15-3 set in 1970. Hatfield leads the state by more than a foot with his effort and is a certifiable state title contender.

Grandview’s Jordan Charles has Colorado’s best time in the 110-meter hurdles so far with a 14.58 and leads a Wolves group that has another individual standout in junior JR Smith as well as its usual relay power.

Gateway senior Zack Golditch is Aurora’s only returning individual state champion from a year ago, as he claimed the 2012 5A state title in the discus. He’s already thrown further than his mark that won last season’s title and ranks second in the 5A.

Rangeview senior Jordan Medina placed third in the 400 meters last season and is the top returning runner in 5A. Medina, who ran a leg on the Raiders’ state championship-winning 4×400 relay as well, ranks third in the state in the 400 behind Cherokee Trail’s Mars and Singleton, who ranks second in the 200 as well.

On the girls side, the sprinting events are king in Aurora.

There’s no doubt in the early season where the sprint power lies, especially with Regis Jesuit senior Ana Holland and Smoky Hill senior Zainab Sanni returning.

Holland won two sprint championships and was a runner-up in another race at the 2011 5A state meet, but a troublesome Achilles injury shelved her for much of last season.

Now signed with the University of Virginia, Holland is back and ready to roll again. She’s got the state’s top times in the 200 and 400 meters thus far and helped spur the Raiders to the girls team title at the Aurora City Championships.

“Ana is feeling well and running great,” Regis Jesuit coach Ryan Taylor said. “She’s such a competitor.”

Holland ran in the three sprint events and on the sprint medley relay team — which won state —in 2011, but may just run individual events for the Raiders.

Sanni, the runner-up in both the 100 and 200 at last season’s state meet with Holland absent, is right there as well. She has the state’s top time in the 100 of 11.79 seconds, which she set on April 6 in winning at the Arcadia Invitational in California.

Sanni ran a lengthy indoor schedule in the offseason and coach Jeff Bliven decided to hold her out of competition during the high school season until she was recovered and had her edge.

Cherokee Trail coach Loren Turner has a strong group of sprinters himself, which is a reason the Cougars have run roughshod over other teams in many meets.

The Cougars matched the boys by winning the Broomfield Shootout and Legend Track Clash. Sophomore Shayna Yon’s improvement in the sprints and surprising performance in the long jump — a state-best effort of 18 feet, 6 3/4 inches so far — has been a key, plus the addition of some talented freshmen have been huge.

Juniors Apeasha Ashby (a strong relay runner) and Hannah Sparks (a state contender in the jumps) are point scorers and significant leaders. Turner is trying to get the Cougars to see the big picture.

“It’s fun winning all these little meets, but all anybody remembers is how you perform on the last weekend,” Turner said.

2013 AURORA TRACK & FIELD KEY DATES, INFORMATION

Key Dates — April 20: Robert F. Caviness Invitational at APSS; May 16-18: State track meet at Jeffco Stadium; Aurora athletes to watch — BOYS: A’Deril Agnew, Aurora Central, sr.; Devin Arnold, Cherokee Trail, sr.; MarKeith Bailey, Cherokee Trail, jr.; Dezant Burks, Rangeview, sr.; Jordan Charles, Grandview, sr.; Zack Golditch, Gateway, sr.*; Marcus Harris, Eaglecrest, sr.; Jordan Hatfield, Regis Jesuit, jr.*; Jarec Henderson, Aurora Central, sr.; Jaylyn Mars, Cherokee Trail, sr.; Gerard Maziel, Eaglecrest, sr.; Connor McClaran, Eaglecrest, sr.; Jordan Medina, Rangeview, sr.*; Mick Norton, Grandview, soph.; Ayo Sanusi, Vista PEAK, jr.; Brandon Singleton, Cherokee Trail, jr.; Cameron Smith, Cherokee Trail, soph.*; JR Smith, Grandview, jr.; Mitchell Waltz, Cherokee Trail, sr.*; GIRLS: Amanda Andrews, Cherokee Trail, soph.*; Apeasha Ashby, Cherokee Trail, jr.; Chloe Andrie, Smoky Hill, jr.; Aaliyah Carter, Vista PEAK, soph.; Rachael Chacko, Smoky Hill, sr.*; Kelsey Cleere, Eaglecrest, sr.; Tianna Cunningham, Rangeview, sr.; Yanoudji Diarra, Hinkley, sr.; Christina Fasci, Rangeview, sr.; Ana Holland, Regis Jesuit, sr.; Melissa Klatt, Smoky Hill, sr.; Olivia Knox, Regis Jesuit, jr.; Maddie Leatherbury, Cherokee Trail, jr.; Anna Loken, Grandview, sr.*; Erin Norton, Grandview, jr.*; Stephanie Nwagwu, Grandview, sr.*; Adaeze Obinnah, Grandview, sr.*; Brianna Pardner, Overland, sr.*; Sydney Rohlwing, Regis Jesuit, sr.; Zainab Sanni, Smoky Hill, sr.*; Lamija Spahic, Overland, soph.; Hannah Sparks, Cherokee Trail, jr.*; Lettia Wilson, Grandview, jr.*; Shayna Yon, Cherokee Trail, soph.

* — Returning state placer