Student Athlete of the Week Kye Toothaker

Following a busy yet fruitful start to his summer, Kye Toothaker's two weeks of down time is now complete as his junior cross country season at Niwot High School looms not far in the future.

His time away was certainly well-deserved, though, after he competed in both the CHSAA track and field state championships and the Nike Outdoor Nationals in June. Results-wise, Toothaker helped Niwot win the Class 4A 800-meter relay - along with Rocco Culpepper, Ryder Keeton and Carlos Kipkorir - before taking 18th in the 800-meter.

"State was amazing, especially that first day winning the 4x800 and setting the tone," said Toothaker, the Cougars' anchor. "We're all really grateful for that."

With Niwot finishing third in the team standings only one point behind Northfield and two behind Lutheran, Toothaker added that he enjoyed every minute of the state championship drama. "It was super cool to compete in probably one of the most competitive team-title (battles) in Colorado history."

Toothaker then experienced a different type of drama while running the 1-mile at the Nike Outdoor Nationals in Eugene, Oregon. Competing for REAL Training, a club team led by Niwot head track coach Maurice Henriques, Toothaker was witness to a fight between two runners that occurred during the second lap. While both of the offending runners were disqualified, Toothaker admitted that he and others were shaken up for the remainder of the race.

"I was right behind them," Toothaker said. "It was just kind of shocking and made everybody run a bit more timid after that."

Toothaker finished the race in 53rd place with a time of 4 minutes, 30.05 seconds. But considering what transpired, he likely won't put much weight toward that result.

On the day prior, he ran his signature 800-meter and was considerably more pleased with his 30th-place time of 1:58.24.

"Going into it, I was excited because it was definitely a heat that I felt like I could compete in - not necessarily one that would be a very, very fast time, but one that I could really try to win the heat in," he said. "We ended up going out slower than I think anybody had thought, so it wasn't necessarily the type of race to run super fast. But then we had a really fast last lap, which was good. I was pretty happy with it just in terms of competing in the heat, and it was the second-fastest time I've run."

Growing up, Toothaker learned how to balance academics and athletics from his older sister, Carly, a 2022 Niwot High grad who played both soccer and basketball.

"It lends itself to a competitive (environment) around the house," the younger Toothaker said. "It was always fun to see her and how she managed being a student and an athlete. That really helped me figure out how to manage it all - she did band and I did band. It was almost like a mentor in helping me figure out how to do all of the high school things."

With his junior year on deck, Toothaker hopes to become more of a mentor himself to Niwot's younger athletes. He shared his belief that teams thrive the most when upperclassmen put energy into building relationships with freshmen and sophomores.

When asked about his goals this fall in cross country, Toothaker's team-first mindset surfaced once again.

"Our main goal is to win state and get top three at NXR (Nike Cross Regionals)," he said. "I'm not really focusing on individual goals as much besides making that top seven and trying to contribute to that (state) team. We definitely feel like we're in a spot right now where we could really compete on a national level."