AURORA | City athletes and teams won a combined two team championships and 16 individual event titles between the Class 5A state track & field meet at Jefferson County Stadium and the Class 5A boys state swim meet at Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction. Here’s a quick look at each state champion and how they won:
TEAM
Cherokee Trail: Class 5A boys track & field — The Cougars finished off a tremendous season with a state title built on the strength of sprint and relay depth, plus scorers in a variety of different events over three days at Jefferson County Stadium. Cherokee Trail clinched the title with a win in the meet-closing 4×400 relay as it added to a track trophy cache that also includes the 2007 4A state crown.
Regis Jesuit: Class 5A boys swimming — The Raiders won their 18th state title in the past 19 seasons in dominating fashion, finishing 159 points ahead of runner-up Cherry Creek at the end of two days in Grand Junction. Regis Jesuit won state titles in six of the 12 events and cemented itself as perhaps the best team in an era of domination for the program.
TRACK & FIELD
Regis Jesuit’s Ana Holland: 5A girls 100, 200, 400 meter dashes — Holland swept the triple crown of girls sprint events — which she fell just short of doing as a sophomore in 2011 — and posted the top time in the country in the 100 meters (11.33 seconds) and 400 meters (52.49). Holland finished her prep career with six state championships, five individually.
Gateway’s Zack Golditch: 5A boys discus — Golditch became the first Gateway thrower to win a state championship last season when he took the discus and he became the school’s first two-time state champ when he won the competition again as a senior. A throw of 176 feet, 10 inches, on his first throw of prelims stood all the way through finals. Golditch took 2nd in the shot put.
Regis Jesuit’s Jordan Hatfield: 5A boys pole vault — Just a junior, Hatfield cleared 15 feet to win his first state championship, leading the way as five Aurora boys placed in the top nine in the event. Hatfield’s season best of 16 feet came a week earlier at the Continental League Championships.
Eaglecrest’s Marcus Harris: 5A boys 100 meter dash — Harris finally claimed an elusive state championship with a cathartic victory in the 100 after injuries prevented him from going after them in each of the previous three seasons. Harris had the top time in prelims and finished it off with a time of 10.60 seconds in the final.
Grandview’s Jordan Charles: 5A boys 110-meter hurdles — Charles bested Fountain-Fort Carson’s Dakota Leazer to win his first state championship with a time of 14.21 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles, which he’d led the state in for most of the season. The results were reversed in the 300 meter hurdles later in the day, as Leazer finished first and Charles was the runner-up.
Regis Jesuit’s Kelsey Cunningham: 5A girls triple jump — Cunningham’s wind-legal best jump of 39 feet came way back on April 13 and remained 5A’s best until the end of the season, but 38-11 1/2 in the state finals was enough to land Cunningham her first state championship.
Cherokee Trail’s Jaylyn Mars, Evan White, Devin Arnold, Brandon Singleton: 5A boys 4×200 meter relay — A switch in personnel in the finals helped the Cougars win the state title with a time of 1 minute, 25.61 seconds, a shade off the state meet record of 1:25.59.
Cherokee Trail’s Leighton LaFrombois, MarKeith Bailey, Devin Arnold, Brandon Singleton: 5A boys 4×400 meter relay — The Cougars needed just a top-three finish to secure the state championship, but they went out and won the last race of the meet in style. Cherokee Trail crossed the line in 3 minutes, 20.32 seconds, a week after putting up 5A’s best mark of 3:16.54 at the Centennial League Championships.
BOYS SWIMMING
Regis Jesuit’s Clark Smith: 5A boys 200 yard freestyle, 100 yard butterfly — Smith made it a perfect 4-for-4 in his career swimming the 100 butterfly at the state meet and also added the 200 freestyle — in which he set a Colorado record of 1 minute, 36.73 second — to his medal haul. The University of Texas signee finished his prep career with five individual state titles and five relay crowns.
Regis Jesuit’s Hennessey Stuart: 5A boys 200 yard individual medley — Stuart nabbed his first individual state title in the 200 IM, one of the two events in which he was the top seed going into state. Stuart won the championship final by a full second, clocking a time of 1 minute, 49.94 seconds. Cherry Creek state record-setter Daryl Turner bested Stuart in his quest for a championship double, taking the 100 backstroke.
Regis Jesuit’s Kyle Goodwin: 5A boys 1-meter diving — Goodwin won his second state championship in as many seasons and he again had to hold off teammate Matt Mauser to do it. The pair finished 1-2 last season and again in 2013 with a gap of less than three points, as Goodwin scored 525.05 points to Mauser’s 522.15.
Regis Jesuit’s Clark Smith, Zach Suter, Jesse Suchomel, Erik Biernat: 5A boys 200 yard freestyle relay — The Raiders’ foursome dominated the 200 freestyle with a Colorado state record time of 1 minute, 22.74 seconds, as Biernat swam the anchor leg to cut two seconds off the time they swam in prelims without him.
Regis Jesuit’s Clark Smith, Zach Suter, Hennessey Stuart, Erik Biernat: 5A boys 400 yard freestyle relay — The cherry on top of a strong meet for the Raiders came with the 400 freestyle team’s win by three-plus seconds over Cherry Creek, establishing a Colorado state record of 3 minute, 0.97 seconds.
Reach Sports Editor Courtney Oakes at sports@aurorasentinel.com or 303-750-7555
