AURORA | Chris Faust’s joy for track & field had turned gradually turned into pressure.
The longtime coach had guided his Cherokee Trail boys track team to back-to-back Class 5A state championships the past two seasons and with a cast headed by senior Peyton Sommers, came into this season feeling the weight of expectations.
An early hamstring injury to Sommers — a Penn State signee who was coming off four event titles at last season’s state meet — created some uncertainty and made the weight seem heavier.
“I was pretty miserable at the beginning of the season because I was so focused on trying to not lose a state championship because of what we had coming back,” Faust said. “I wasn’t focusing on enjoying track, but these kids changed that. They may not be the most talented group we’ve ever had, but this is the best group of kids I’ve ever been around.”
Throughout the season, Cherokee Trail — which won last season’s state championship by a whopping 53 points — wasn’t able to post the commanding type of wins at meets it was used to, but the character that emerged along the way gave Faust reason for hope.
Fifteen individuals and four relays teams qualified for the state meet May 15-17 at Jefferson County Stadium, but after two days, the Cougars sat in sixth place with challengers such as Eaglecrest and Mountain Vista in front of them.
Sitting with his staff at the Rusty Bucket Bar & Grill about 10 minutes from the state meet site, Faust — who is always big on crunching the numbers and figuring out his team’s path to a title — knew it would take a special effort to overcome the deficit on the final day.
“We were thinking maybe we can get second (based on seeding after prelims), but I sent a message to the kids that said “Forget seed, let’s go do what we’re capable of doing and see what happens. They all performed out of their minds today.”
That set up a final day where just about any scenario was in play, from Cherokee Trail bringing home a third straight state title all the way to finishing without hardware for the first time since 2022.
The points began to come little by little — starting with the fourth and fifth-place finishes from senior Solomon Griffen and freshman Joshua Stewart in the 110 meter hurdles to open the day — and they began to make a move up the standings.
Event by event, the Cougars closed until only two events remained to be scored, the pole vault and the 4×400 meter relay, long one of Faust’s emphasized events because of its importance at the close of meets. Senior Taylor Waters won the pole vault just before the Cougars won the relay, which Sommers finished with a smile as he anchored a satisfying closing victory.
“This was the toughest and it is the most gratifying because it was in doubt the entire time,” Faust said.
Cherokee Trail boys put on full display of team on way to third straight 5A state title
The past two Class 5A state championships for the Cherokee Trail boys track team had leaned heavily on sprints and sprint relays, but those were anything but certainties this season.
Because of that, balance became more necessary for the Cougars and they certainly demonstrated that as they completed a three-peat in the state’s largest classification that hadn’t been done by Smoky Hill in 2003, 2004 and 2005.
Coach Chris Faust’s Cherokee Trail team got double-digit points in pole vault from seniors Taylor Waters and Sawyer Carr, high jump points from junior Prince David Ajibade and long jump points from senior Nurudeen Diallo to help the cause.
“We’ve always been a track school — our relays and track events have been great — but it’s never been field,” Waters said. “This year, we have great triple jump, we have great pole vaulters, we’ve got great long jumpers. Our field is outstanding.”
The Cherokee Trail program had never had a pole vault state champion before, but Waters made that happen with his performance. He finished fourth last season with a top state jump of 14 feet, 10 inches, but took a great step forward this year. Waters cleared 16 feet or higher in every single competition through out the year and won a state title with a top jump of 16-9, just missing three attempts at 17 feet.
“I’m feeling good; I’m happy I got a PR and won my first state track meet,” Waters said.
Carr cleared 13-10 to tie for sixth place and grab 3.5 more crucial points in the penultimate event. Ajibade had earned fourth place in the high jump, while Diallo grabbed ninth in the long jump.
On the track, junior Dylan Smith made a huge impact for the Cougars with a third-place finish in the 800 meters — a three-place improvement from his seed time coming into the meet — plus a seventh in the 400 after he came into state as the No. 16 seed. On top of that, Smith combined with seniors Diallo, Nick Hoffsetz and Peyton Sommers to win the clinching 4×400 meter relay.
“Everyone came through with their events on this team,” said Smith, who also ran on the ninth-place 4×800 meter relay. “If one person doesn’t make the points they were supposed to, another one makes it up. It’s been great. …This team is incredible, we could not have pulled it off without everyone on the team.”
Even with all those contributions, Cherokee Trail clearly would not have won the meet without Sommers, who provided a gutsy performance in the 400 meters that inspired the entire team. As he aimed to win the event for a third straight time, Sommers had late lead, but had to lean to beat Valor Christian’s Ryan Fick to the finish line, which he did in 47.09 seconds.
“That was probably the worst race of my state career, but I think it means the most with everything I had to fight through to be in this position,” Sommers said. “I didn’t think I was going to be able to do it. There was a lot of doubt, so I can’t believe I was able to do it.”
When it became clear that the 4×400 meter relay could clinch the state title, Sommers did not hesitate in telling Faust he was going to run in the race no matter what. He got to end his prep career in the ultimate fashion, with the track & field version of a walk-off victory as anchor of the final relay.
“This season has been brutal on Peyton, but he just kept the faith and got the points he could get this team,” Faust said. “If he’s a ‘me’ guy and says I don’t want to compete at the state meet if I can’t be healthy and go defend my championships, we don’t win. But he came and competed in what he could compete in. We needed every one of those points.”
Eaglecrest boys make run at 5A state championship, end up second
One of the teams that hoped to unseat Cherokee Trail at the Class 5A boys state track meet came from just down the road at Eaglecrest.
Coach Chris Carhart’s Raptors finished fourth last season, but came into the meet with designs on winning the program’s first state championship since 2002.
Things didn’t go to plan, however, and Eaglecrest lost senior sprinter Noah Brown — an individual and relay component — to injury, while anticipated points didn’t come in some places, which ultimately left it 7.5 points short.
“It was a rollercoaster for sure,” Carhart said. “The kids faced a lot of adversity and really kept themselves close. They picked each other up and didn’t let anything get them down. We entered today with a chance to win, which was all we wanted.”
Junior Cameron Bell did yeoman’s work for the Raptors with three top-three individual finishes as he was second in the 110 meter hurdles and third in both the 300 meter hurdles and the long jump, which saw three Eaglecrest placers in Bell (third, senior Kendell Moreland in fourth and senior Thierry Asare in sixth), while the 4×100 meter relay team of Quincy Clayton, Burke Withycombe, Bryson States and Eric Hill Jr. won a state championship on the final day to give the Raptors a chance going into the final event.
The 4×100 foursome ran a time of 41.40 seconds and Hill Jr. — who was part of the Raptors win in the same event last season — held off Mountain Vista at the finish.
A win by more than five places over Cherokee Trail in the 4×400 relay could have vaulted Eaglecrest to the state championship, but with the Cougars throwing their all into the event, the runner-up finish of States, Withycombe and Asare plus Mohamed Lamine Sylla wasn’t enough, though it did lift them over Mountain Vista for second place.
“To have it come down to the 4×400 was just amazing,” Carhart said.
Eaglecrest girls wins 4×200 meter relay for fourth straight season, help Raptors to third place finish in 5A standings
The Eaglecrest girls track team ultimately came of short of winning the Class 5A state championship, but it was hard to ignore throughout three days of competition.
The Raptors finished third behind Fossil Ridge and Centennial League rival Cherry Creek in the final standings, but most notably extended the program’s dominance of the field in the 4×200 meter relay.
The team of senior Jaylynn Wilson, junior Tatum Gratrix, sophomore Zenobia Witt and freshman Evangeline Ansah held off a challenge from Fossil Ridge to win in 1 minute, 39.88 seconds. Wilson is the common denominator of all four of Eaglecrest’s victories in the event.
“Being able to come out here and pulling it off for a fourth time in a row and win it is amazing,” Wilson said. “I know I’m going to leave a legacy and it’s amazing to see the young ones perform. They are going to keep winning because that’s what they do.”
Wilson did more than just run on the relay, however, as she placed fourth in the triple jump in her first season competing in the event. Ansah had a huge debut with two top-five finishes in the sprint events and anchor performances on the 4×100 and 4×200 relays and freshman Rhyan Gadlin and senior Kaitlyn Hendrian got on the medal podium.
Witt won the long jump state championship as a freshman and she was able to repeat in the event with a win over Cherokee Trail senior Kaeli Powe. Witt jumped 18 feet, 7 inches, which was the same as the best effort from Powe, but her next best jump beat Powe’s to give her the tiebreaker.
“That was scary, I was not leading until the last jump, but I came through clutch on that one,” said Witt, who like the rest of the field had to battle tremendous headwinds during the event. “There was slight pressure, but I knew as long as I believed in my training, I could get it done.”
Cherokee Trail’s Kaeli Powe, Overland’s Jarrius Ward defend 5A event state titles
Several Aurora area athletes earned repeat state titles at the Class 5A state track meet, among them were Cherokee Trail senior Kaeli Powe and Overland senior Jarrius Ward.
Powe won last season’s state title in the 5A girls triple jump, but a tweaked foot — in addition to the blustery conditions that put the field at a disadvantage — made a second one slight more uncertain.
The University of Central Florida signee had only one of her three prelim jumps scored and that got her into the finals, where her final attempt of 41 feet, 4 1/2 inches, earned her another state title.
“I just want to let it all go on the last one,” said Powe, whose wind-aided effort of 42-1 3/4 at the Broomfield Shootout was tops in the state this season. “It feels good to come back and do it again, for sure.”
Powe easily surpassed the top efforts of Columbine’s Kailani Forbes (38-9 1/2) and Eaglecrest’s Zenobia Witt (38-1 1/2).
Exactly one year and one day later after he set the Colorado 5A state meet record, Ward returned to the discus venue at Jefferson County Stadium with even bigger goals for his final prep competition.
His throw of 203 feet, 4 inches, last season had knocked the 192-5 of Westminster’s Todd Austin from 1977 off the top spot in the meet recordbooks, so the only mark left to better was the all-classification Colorado record of 214-1 established by former Buena Vista star Mason Finley in 2009.
A large crowd gathered to watch Ward’s pursuit, which ultimately fell short of the record, but his top effort of 182-5 was plenty to put him in front of Loveland’s Ashton Daly (163-6) and Northfield’s Lucas Lawson (153-1). In fact, Ward had the three longest throws of the day, as he also threw 180-3 and 177-10.
“I feel great,” Ward said. “Sadly I didn’t get to break the records I wanted to, but I’m definitely happy. Everybody supported me along the way and I’m definitely proud.”
Ward is headed to Colorado State-Pueblo to compete in both football (as a running back) and in track as a thrower.
Begashaw earns two top-four spots in 2A competition for Lotus School For Excellence
Coming off a runner-up finish at the Class 2A boys state cross country meet in the fall, Lotus School For Excellence senior Biruk Begashaw had huge aspirations coming into the state track meet Jefferson County Stadium.
Begashaw qualified for both the 1,600 and 3,200 meter runs and he believed he could win both of them, though neither win came to pass.
Golden View Classical’s Bobby Kiesewetter made sure nobody else could win the 3,200 meter run as he set the 2A classfication’s state meet record of 9 minutes, 25.63 seconds, while Begashaw was edged by The Vanguard’s Max Miller by just 0.01 of a second for the silver medal. Kiesewetter was at it again in the 1,600 with another state meet record, while Begashaw finished fourth this time.
“I was trying to get the double win, but it just wasn’t in the cards for now,” Begashaw said. “It’s alright, I’m going to keep training and come back for nationals (Nike or New Balance). It wasn’t exactly what I expected, I didn’t feel too hot.
“This just makes me want to run faster. Without losses, you can’t know what it’s really like to win.”
Begashaw is looking forward to competing at Adams State, where he will join his brother, Kidus, another former Lotus School for Excellence star and 2A cross country state champion who competes in cross country and track with the Grizzlies.
