Track & Field: Remembering Ed Navarro at the BoCo Championships

Track and field coaches, student-athletes, parents, and other spectators from across Boulder paid their respects to long-time Courier photographer Edward Navarro at the 42nd annual Lonnie Nixon Boulder County Championships, held April 14 at Centaurus High School.. Navarro, a fixture at area high school and college sporting events for more than a decade, passed away on Dec. 31 from complications of pulmonary fibrosis.

Navarro family members, including wife Trudy, son Edward (Lucky) and daughter Emily, were on hand as Ed was recognized as 2018 Honorary Referee for his service as the annual meet’s official photographer. Over the years, Navarro captured thousands of images of athletes, not just from Niwot, but also from every other school in the Boulder and St. Vrain Valley school districts, which he shared free of charge. At the 2017 BoCo Championships, Navarro shot 10,565 total images, 6,494 of which eventually made it to his web site. Several of those photos graced the pages of the 2018 meet’s 32-page program.

By day, Navarro was an attorney who served in numerous in local charitable and political organizations, including El Comité de Longmont, which he co-founded in 1980 in response to a police shooting that killed two young Latino men.

Meet announcer Mark Roberts, a Niwot High grad and long-time track and field coach at Lyons, read a tribute to Navarro, which was reprinted in the program, then thanked his family for appearing on his behalf.

“We miss Mr. Navarro,” Roberts said. “We appreciate his family being here to represent him as our Honorary Referee this year, and just know that he is in our thoughts and prayers…a gentleman I really enjoyed interacting with these past few years at all the meets he showed up to.”

At the Mullen Invitational on April 7, long-time Niwot head track coach Maurice Henriques spoke about Navarro’s lasting impact on the Niwot and Longmont communities, both on and off the field. As a probation officer in Boulder County by day, Henriques often had a chance to interact with Navarro in the courtroom, and saw first-hand the attorney’s service on behalf of Hispanic defendants and causes. He also recalled Navarro’s incomparable dedication to the school’s athletes, noting a time the photographer travelled to New Mexico to photograph Niwot runners in a national meet.

“Ed was such a Niwot supporter,” Henriques said. “He gave so much time. We’re always making sure the kids know about Ed, because he was a selfless human being. Even to his last days he was still out there taking pictures.”

Aside from Navarro’s glaring absence, it was business as usual for the Niwot girls at the 2018 BoCo Championships. With wins in eight of the meet’s nineteen events, Niwot outscored its closest opponent by nearly 90 points to capture a ninth consecutive team title, and fifth meet title so far this season. Niwot had a top-10 finisher in every event but one, and won four out of five relays.

Senior Mary Gillett paced the Cougars with three individual wins on the day, including the 400M, where her season-best mark of 55.46 seconds was not only a meet record, but also the second fastest in Colorado so far in 2018. She also took first in the 200M (25.17, another season-best), as well as the 100M (12.47). Her season-best long jump of 17 feet 6.5 inches was good for second place, behind Mia Manson of Monarch (17’-11.75”). The Stanford-bound Gillett was also one of two recipients of the Bruce Tashiro Memorial Scholarship, awarded annually since 1995 to one senior boy and one senior girl in honor of the 30-year St. Vrain Valley teacher and track coach.

Gillett’s senior teammates Mackenzie Fidelak and Sophie Grant also had notable performances for the Cougars at Centaurus. Breaking her previous personal-best by five inches, Grant took sixth in the triple-jump with a mark of 34’-1”. She also took fifth overall in the 100M hurdles (16.81). Fidelak took first in the 100M hurdles (16.02), second in the 300M hurdles (45.19), and fourth in the long-jump (17’1.5”).

Elsewhere, freshman Taylor James shaved nearly four seconds off her time from the Mullen Invitational to take second overall in the 800M (2:16.29). She also ran the third leg of the first-place 4x400M relay (4:00.85), and took second overall in the high-jump (5’5”). Junior Kayla Nowlin ran on each of the four first-place relay teams, while freshman Margot Diasabeygunawardena, and sophomores Kelia Portis and Julea Trank ran on two apiece.

The Niwot boys finished fifth overall for the second straight year, thanks to strong finishes by a contingent of seniors. Alex Herman was third overall in the 200M, with a season-best mark of 22.43, and sixth overall in the 400M (52.34). He was also on the first-place 4x400M (3:28.11) relay, with Emrick Wells, Cruz Culpepper and Oskar Wells. The elder Wells was also on the winning 4X800M relay (8:07.87), and took fourth overall in the 800M (2:01.03). Byron Holmes posted top-10 finishes in the 100M (11.63), 200M (23.19), and 400M (52.65), while Max Towlen took fourth overall in discus (127’1”), and Cam Carlson was third overall in the high-jump (5’11”).

Up next for the Cougar varsity squad is the Dakota Ridge Invitational on April 21 at Jeffco Stadium.

4/14—Boulder County Championships, Centaurus High School

GIRLS (Winner, plus Niwot results)

Team scores — 1. Niwot 170, Broomfield 82, Monarch 81, Longmont 71, Boulder 64.5, Mead 59, Silver Creek 41.5, Lyons 35, Erie 30, Fairview 29, Skyline 25, Frederick 22, Peak to Peak 18, Centaurus 13.

100m — 1. Mary Gillett, 12.47; 8. Julea Trank, 13.44

200m — 1. Mary Gillett, 25.17; 7. Erika Timbang, 27.00

400m — 1. Mary Gillett, 55.46; 5. Erika Timbang, 1:00.85; 7. Margot Diasabeygunawardena, 1:01.10

800m — 1. Madison Mooney, Broomfield, 2:12.32; 2. Taylor James, 2:16.29; 8. Maggie Smith, 2:24.29

1600m — 1. Katelyn Mitchem, Broomfield, 5:07.49; 5. Maggie Smith, 5:20.61

3,200m — 1. Sophia Maeda, Mead, 11:29.19; 3 Joelle McDonald, 11:42.20; 10. Mallory Finley, 12:32.17

100 hurdles 1. Mackenzie Fidelak, 16.02; 4. Elise Gillett, 16.64; 5. Sophia Grant, 16.81;

300 hurdles — 1. Abbey Glynn, Mead, 44.60; 2. Mackenzie Fidelak, 45.19; 5. Kelia Portis, 48.52;

4x100 relay — 1. Niwot (Timbang, Trank, Nowlin, Portis), 50.68

4x200 relay — 1. Niwot (Portis, Diasabeygunawardena, Trank, Nowlin), 1:46.37

4x400 relay — 1. Niwot (Nowlin, Diasabeygunawardena, James, Smith), 4:00.85

4x800 relay — 1. Peak to Peak (Shults, Bradfield, McConnell, Howard), 9:26.27; 2. Niwot (James, Dishon, Fulkerson, Smith) 9:38.98

800 Sprint Medley — 1. Niwot (E. Gillett, Trank, Nowlin, Timbang), 1:53.63

High jump — 1. Mia Manson, Monarch, 17-11.75; 2. Mary Gillett, 17-6.5; 4. Mackenzie Fidelak, 17-1.5;

Pole Vault — 1. Mia Manson, 11-4; 7. Erin Carroll 9-4

Long jump — 1. Rylee Anderson, Silver Creek, 5-7; 2. Taylor James, 5-5

Triple jump — Lily Margolis, Boulder, 34-10.5; 6. Sophia Grant, 34-1; 7. Kelia Portis, 34-0; 9. Margot Diasabeygunawardena, 33-1;

Shot put — 1. Joy Fifita, Broomfield, 34-11.5 7. Megan Herring, 30-9;

Discus — 1. Kaitlyn Bridge, Longmont, 110-3; 24. Madison Schoeder, 67-11

BOYS (Winner, plus Niwot results)

Team scores — 1. Mead 97, Broomfield 95, Monarch 79.5, Longmont 68, Niwot 67.5, Silver Creek 66, Fairview 61, Centaurus 54.5, Lyons 31, Skyline 28, Boulder 22, Erie 20, Frederick 7, Peak to Peak 5.5.

100m — 1. Jake Wachter, Mead, 11.39; 4. Byron Holmes, 11.63

200m — 1. Jake Wachter, Mead, 22.27; 3. Alex Herman, 22.43. 8. Byron Holmes, 23.19; 9. Emrick Wells, 23.31

400m — 1. Max Carter-Kemp, Fairview, 49.65; 6. Alex Herman, 52.34; 9. Byron Holmes, 52.65

800m — 1. James Lee, Silver Creek, 1:53.97; 4. Oskar Wells, 2:01.03

1600m — 1. Michael Mooney, Broomfield, 4:23.71; 5. Ares Reading, 4:36.89; 8. Ethan Steiner, 4:44.38

3,200m — 1. Isaac Roberts, Lyons, 9:50.25; 4. Jack Volf, 10:04.46; 7. Benjamin Bi, 10:18.41; 9. Kenny Lang, 10:24.81

100 hurdles 1. Mitchell Gorman, Broomfield, 15.72; 16. Jensen Douillard, 18.13

300 hurdles — 1. Mitchell Gorman, Broomfield, 39.98; 10. Jensen Douillard, 42.91;

4x100 relay — 1. Mead (Ryan LaVanchy, Nathan Bailey, Riley Martin, Jake Wachter), 44.07; 9. Niwot, 48.06

4x200 relay — 1. Broomfield (Robert Ortega, Caden Peters, Mitchell Gorman, Kaleb Foreman), 1:31.64; 5. Niwot, 1:34.17

4x400 relay — 1. Niwot (Emrick Wells, Alex Herman, Cruz Culpepper, Oskar Wells), 3:28.11

4x800 relay — 1. Niwot (Kamran Elahi, Benjamin Bi, Oskar Wells, Cruz Culpepper), 8:07.87

High jump — 1. Eddie Kurjak, Longmont, 6-03; t3. Cameron Carlson, 5-11

Pole Vault — 1. Max Manson, Monarch, 16-0; t12. Rayan Elahi, 10-4

Long jump — 1. Asher Sugianto, Centaurus, 21-1; 13. Milo Ostwald, 19-0.5

Triple jump — 1. Trent Dykema, Silver Creek, 43-3.75; 12. Daniel Thomas, 37-6

Shot put — 1. Jaxon Bennett, Mead, 49-3; 8. Max Towlen, 40-4;

Discus — 1. Sam Dirkes, Silver Creek, 152-0; 4. Max Towlen, 127-1