AURORA | A look back at significant individual and team performances at Cherokee Trail High School for the 2024 spring prep athletic season:
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
CHEROKEE TRAIL (SPRING 2024)
TRACK & FIELD: The track yielded the most notable achievement for the school in the spring, as the boys track team repeated as Class 5A state champions and did so in style. Coach Chris Faust’s group accrued more points than any boys team had at the meet in two decades with 111. Junior Peyton Sommers racked up 40 of those points with a sweep of the 100, 200 and 400 meter dashes and brought home the 4×200 meter relay title as anchor of a team that also included seniors Jayden Hughes and Kahari Wilbon, and junior Nick Hoffsetz, which also came with a Colorado all-classification state record. The Cougars had eight other athletes who scored in at least one individual event (Wilbon in two), and all four relay teams placed in the top seven in a complete team performance. A week earlier, Cherokee Trail finished as the Centennial League boys runner-up with league champs in Sommers (100 and 200 meters), Wilbon (400 meters), junior Solomon Griffen (110 meter hurdles), junior Taylor Waters (pole vault), sophomore De Marcues Harris (triple jump) plus the 4×100 and 4×200 meter relays. The Cherokee Trail girls finished eighth as a team in the 5A state meet and had a state champion of their own in junior Kaeli Powe, who grabbed her gold in the triple jump, placed in the top three in three events and top nine of four. Powe was the Centennial League champion in the triple jump and long jump and the 4×100 meter relay team also took a league crown.
BASEBALL: The Cherokee Trail baseball team had another outstanding campaign that ended in the Class 5A Championship Series. Coach Jon DiGiorgio’s Cougars — last season’s state runners-up — were the Centennial League Challenge runner-up to Cherry Creek (the eventual state champion) and finished 1-2 in the double-elimination Championship Series. Senior Logan Reid earned Centennial League Pitcher of the Year honors, while fellow seniors Akoi Burton and Braeden Reichert joined him on the all-league first team. The All-Centennial League second team included senior Johnny Robledo and the junior trio of Jake Hernandez, Carter Wilcox and Ethin Woltz, while seniors Jack Boyko and Keegan Eberly along with junior Connor Carlson and Brody Ceyrolles made the honorable mention list.
BOYS SWIMMING: The boys swim team — in its first season under Kevin Chatham as head coach — made a big rise at the Class 5A state meet and finished 11th. Junior sprinter Bronson Smothers was a two-event championship finalist, while senior Hugh Mullen and sophomore Tyson Walker also scored in two events, while two of the Cougars’ three relay teams made championship finals. Cherokee Trail also finished fourth at the Centennial “A” League Championships, which saw Smothers win the 200 yard freestyle.
GIRLS LACROSSE: Coach Blake Macklin’s team made it to the Class 4A state quarterfinals for the first time in program history, with a 12-5 campaign coming to an end with a three-goal loss to 2023 state champion Mead. The Cougars won their final six games of the regular season and defeated Horizon in a second round contest to earn a shot at the Mavericks, who they lost to by two goals in the regular season. Senior Kyla Bieker, junior Lorelei Gearity and senior Aubrey Benton all finished in the top 10 in 4A in total points and all three made the All-4A East League first team along with junior Abby Vanzant.
BOYS VOLLEYBALL: The boys volleyball team had the Centennial League Player of the Year in senior John Clinton, who helped lead the way in an 18-9 season that ended in the state tournament with two close losses to Thornton and rival Eaglecrest (in a five-setter). Clinton (who had 355 kills, which was the second-most in the entire state) and senior Chase Jensen (who ranked No. 6 in the state) were all-league first team picks for coach Mike Thomsen’s team, while junior Jaeden Barnes got a second team nod.
GIRLS SOCCER: The girls soccer team finished 5-8-3, with a 4-1-2 record against Centennial League teams — which included a scoreless draw with league champion Cherry Creek — and qualified for the Class 5A state playoffs, where the Cougars lost their opener to high-scoring Ralston Valley. Cherokee Trail had the Centennial League’s co-Player of the Year in senior Kiana Sparrow and the league’s Coach of the Year in Jose Rosales and another all-league first teamer in senior Andi Hiatt. Two of the Cougars goalkeepers — senior Tatiana Villasenor and junior Ruby Arsenault — made the All-Centennial League second team, as did senior Daniella Iaquinta.
BOYS LACROSSE: The boys lacrosse team finished with a 4-12 record (and saw the Predators Cup go back to rival Grandview after it was Cherokee Trail’s property in 2023), but ended up with one of the last spots in the 5A state tournament. Coach Matt Crawley’s Cougars nearly pulled off an upset before falling 11-10 to Ralston Valley in the first round. Senior attackman Nate Gilmore made the All-League 4 first team, while senior Sam Burnette and junior Blake Rodriguez secured second team positions.
GIRLS TENNIS: The girls tennis team finished 6-3 in dual matches (4-2 in Centennial League play) and earned a win at the Amy Howe Invitational hosted by Smoky Hill. International Baccalaurete testing on the final day of the Class 5A Region 3 tournament essentially ended hopes of having any individual state tournament qualifiers for coach Eric Olsen-Dufour’s team. Senior Abigale Beougher and junior Kaitlyn James won 18 matches together at No. 3 doubles.
GIRLS GOLF: Coach Justin Jajczyk’s new-look Cherokee Trail girls golf team had a pair of Class 5A state qualifiers in freshmen Brinnon Cook and Kaylee Saul, who both made it out of the Southern Region tournament. Cook finished 65th and Saul 66th in the individual state standings in a field of 84 that played at The Broadlands in Broomfield.
NOTES: Cherokee Trail had a spring athlete who qualified individually for two state tournaments in junior Sawyer Carr, who made it to the Class 5A boys swimming state tournament in 1-meter diving, while he also made the 5A boys state track meet in the pole vault.
