Shortly after wrapping up a season in which he led the Eaglecrest boys track team to second place at the Class 5A state meet and the girls to third, Chris Carhart has taken the head coaching job at Denver East.
Carhart has daughters who attend and compete in distance events for Denver East and he will be able to coach them with his new position, which he has long wanted given deep family ties to the storied school. He departs after a long and successful career in multiple stops the Aurora area, as he led strong programs at Hinkley, Rangeview and Eaglecrest.
The Eaglecrest job is currently listed on the Cherry Creek Schools website and is open through July 14 (here).
Carhart arrived at Hinkley as an assistant football coach under Bob Bozied in 2005 and took over the schools track program the following spring. He had multiple individual state champions there and led the Thunder to consecutive third place finishes in the 5A boys state meet in 2016 and 2017 before he left for Rangeview, which he built into the dominant program in the then-EMAC League. His senior-loaded Rangeview boys team looked to be one of the favorites to win the state title in 2020 before the coronavirus pandemic wiped out the spring season.
Carhart made the short jump to Eaglecrest beginning with the 2022 season and the Raptors became perennial top-five teams in boys and girls with multiple individual state championships, especially in relay events. The Eaglecrest girls 4×200 meter relay team will have to go for a fifth straight 5A state title next season without Carhart or Jaylynn Wilson, a member of all four previous wins.
Denver East finished in a tie for 10th in the 5A girls standings and in a tie for 42nd in boys this past season. The program has 14 all-time state track & field championships in boys (the last coming in 1966) and three in girls (the last coming in 1992).
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports