Niwot track and field embarks on bid to defend state titles

The 2022 track and field season officially got underway for Niwot on March 12 at the annual RE-1J meet between St. Vrain Valley district schools. This year the action was out at Mead High, and, as has been the case for many years, the Cougars turned in another dominating performance. While that's come to be expected by 12th-year head coach Maurice Henriques, the season opener still held a few pleasant surprises, he said.

"I'm just really impressed with the young kids. We have a lot of new faces, and a lot of freshmen, and I thought the kids competed well. It was a good first meet."

Although the team results were not available at press time, the Niwot girls almost certainly took first overall, with first or second place finishes in 13 of 19 events, including all five relays. Leading the Cougars was defending Class 4A hurdles champion Kimora Northrup, a third-year veteran. Predictably, she took first in both the 100- and 300-meter hurdles, falling just short of meet records in each. She was also a member of the winning 4x100m and 800m sprint medley teams.

Also picking up wins for the Niwot girls was Princeton-bound senior Stella Vieth in the 100-meter dash, with a time of 12.87 seconds. Class 4A cross country champion Eva Klingbeil took first in the 1600m (4:56.39), more than 16 seconds faster than second-place finisher Olivia Alessandrini, also of Niwot. Elsewhere, Arabella Chen picked up a win in pole vault with a vault of 8-feet, 8-inches.

Among the new faces that caught Henriques' eye was freshman Jade West, who took second overall in shotput, an event that has proved elusive for the Niwot girls. In a field of much older competitors, she posted a throw of 30'-9.5", just six inches shorter than the winner. In the discus competition, West finished in 13th, but another Niwot competitor, sophomore Chloe Mitchell, finished fourth overall, with a throw of 78'-8". She also took third in shotput (29'-8") behind West.

"We're going to have scoring in the girls throws," Henriques marveled about their success. "It's exciting."

Another notable newcomer for the girls has a familiar last name. Ninth-grader Eliana Henriques made her Niwot debut at Mead, finishing third overall in the 400m with a time of 1:01.47.

"When I first got here, she was four years old," Henriques said of coaching his daughter. "I just like that she's developed a passion for running, and she wants to do better. I don't necessarily want to coach her. There are plenty of coaches here for that. I just want to be dad. ...I'm also excited because I'm going to see my wife more at meets."

For the boys, the team competition was definitely closer, but the Cougars continued to push the pace in distance events, and, like the girls, also gained ground in field events. The boys team also held its share of surprises for Henriques, though the biggest wasn't from a newcomer. Junior Eric Walker, a third-year veteran, took first overall in 110m hurdles and triple jump, smashing his previous personal bests in each.

"He's had a great turnaround," Henriques said. "He committed to the indoor [track] season, and I had a conversation with him. I told him if he didn't want to do track anymore at the end of it, I wouldn't bother him anymore. But after the RE-1J, he told me that indoor really paid off. And that's what you want to hear from kids. Now he sees the success, and now he's going to contribute."

Elsewhere for Niwot, junior Ben Classen finished second overall in the 100m and 400m dashes, while freshman Gavin Engtrakul took second in the 1600m, followed by fellow Niwot ninth-grader Kye Toothaker in third. In the throwing events, senior Bryce Nemec took fourth in shotput, followed by sophomore Ben Rauschkolb in sixth and junior Kevin Chen in seventh. Chen and Nemec also finished 7th and 8th respectively in discus.