LAKEWOOD | With a 52-point victory, the Cherokee Trail boys track team could have taken all 40 scored by star Peyton Sommers out and still won last season’s Class 5A state championship.
That was certainly not the case this season, as the Cougars needed two wins from Sommers — who gutted out three days of competition despite a hamstring injury — and contributions from so many others to complete a rousing three-peat in the state’s largest classification.
Sommers won the 400 meter dash midway through competition Saturday at Jefferson County Stadium, then anchored a 4×400 meter relay victory that sealed a third consecutive victory for coach Chris Faust’s team, which was able to hold off a charge from another Aurora area program in Eaglecrest.
Senior pole vaulters Taylor Waters and Sawyer Carr grabbed crucial points in the penultimate scored event — with Waters winning the individual state title — and the team of Sommers, seniors Nick Hoffsetz and Nurudeen Diallo and junior Dylan Smith finished it off with an exclamation mark.
Cherokee Trail joined Smoky Hill — which won in 2003, 2004 and 2005 — as the only 5A boys teams to win three straight titles and gave itself a chance to be the first to win four in a row if it can secure another next season.
Eaglecrest made a run at bringing an end to the Cougars’ reign, as a victory in the 4×100 meter relay from Quincy Clayton, Bryson States, Burke Withycombe and Eric Hill Jr. made it a possibility.
Coach Chris Carhart’s team battled a few injuries that left a few points unclaimed, though the Raptors still had enough to overcome Mountain Vista to earn the second-place trophy.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
