AURORA | City teams and athletes won a combined four team championships and 12 individual events in the final weeks of the 2016 spring prep sports season. Here’s a look at one of Aurora’s individual state event winners in Vista PEAK sophomore Maya Evans, the Class 4A girls long jump state champion:
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Aurora Prep Sentinel
VISTA PEAK’S MAYA EVANS: 4A GIRLS LONG JUMP STATE CHAMPION
Vista PEAK sophomore standout Maya Evans had grand designs for her second state track meet, as conditions (namely the warm weather she enjoys) seemed favorable May 20 at Jefferson County Stadium for her to eclipse the coveted 21 foot mark in the long jump. After all, she came into the meet as the owner of the top-non-wind aided jump in the entire country this season according to national database Milesplit.com — a mark of 20 feet, 6 3/4 inches set at the Liberty Bell Invitational April 22 — so the 4A state meet mark (20-3 set by Niwot’s Griffin Matthew in 2005) and/or the Colorado prep record (21-1 3/4 notched by Montbello’s Chelsea Taylor in 2005) seemed well within range. Instead, Evans scratched her first two jumps of prelims and faced the possibility of not even scoring in the event she came in as the overwhelming favorite and defending state champion. She managed to land a legal jump on her final jump of prelims to end the drama, with an effort of 19-5 1/4 that stood up as the winning mark by more than a foot. Evans — who said she was “irritated” by scratching her first two jumps — also scratched all three of her jumps in the finals. Largely on the strength of Evans’ efforts — which also included her second place finishes behind Discovery Canyon’s Lauren Gale in both the 4A 100 and 200 meters — coach Quinn Pack’s Vista PEAK team (which also got a sixth-place finish from sophomore Kamryn Scott in the 400 meters) finished ninth among 43 scoring teams in the 4A girls standings.