Second annual Niwot Invitational a memorable day for Cougars track and field stars

For Kingston Staton, competing on his home track at the second annual Niwot Invitational generated an interesting mix of emotions.

While he certainly felt some pressure wanting to represent the Cougars well, the junior hurdler also gained confidence from the meet being held on familiar grounds. Staton had rounded each of those four bends countless times at practice, but was now tasked with proving his talents in front of a larger audience.

Particularly in the 300-meter hurdles, the home star shined bright on Saturday, March 30, with a third-place finish at 41.10 seconds.

"I feel good about that result," Staton said. "Recently, I've been a lot in my head, so I've been trying to work on that a lot. Today, I was nervous. I started out, though, and I didn't run scared. I kept my steps, I did what I wanted to do."

Staton, who hopes to lower his 300 time to 39 seconds, also took 10th in the 110 hurdles and 44th in the long jump.

Other Niwot High School track and field athletes cherished the experience of playing host, too. Senior Chloe Mitchell shared that she enjoyed watching her teammates unite throughout a rather large undertaking. Over 25 schools sent athletes, including Pueblo South, Cheyenne Central (Wyoming), and The Classical Academy (Colorado Springs).

"It's really cool seeing the team come together at these meets," Mitchell said. "Even people that aren't running in this meet are here and supporting, working the disc (discus), working the hurdles and stuff."

Junior Reese Kasper, a newcomer to the Niwot track program, added that it was a unique experience watching her home school welcome teams from across the state.

"It's definitely weird," Kasper said. "Coming down here, usually for practice, it's empty. The track seems a lot bigger. Coming here and seeing all the tents and stuff, made it seem different, but I like it."

For the second straight year, the Niwot girls defended their home track with a meet-best 108 points. Individual first-place finishes came courtesy of standout sophomore Addison Ritzenhein (1,600-meter), Kasper (300 hurdles), and Jade West (shot put). Mitchell also contributed six points with a third-place discus throw of 113 feet, 6 inches.

"This year, we've kind of focused on the team aspect," Mitchell said. "Instead of splitting up into like field and hurdles and jumps and sprints, it's very team-oriented. I think that's a very good culture here at Niwot and it's shown off this season."

Niwot's 800 sprint medley girls relay team placed first as well with a time of 1:49.42.

On the boys' side, Niwot placed eighth out of 27 teams. Top finishes included junior James Anthony in the 800 (third), sophomore Joshua Archuleta in the 400 (fifth), freshman Quinn Sullivan in the 1,600 (sixth), and junior Evan Kear in the 3,200 (sixth).

Niwot is next scheduled to compete in the Legend Titan Track Clash in Parker on Saturday, April 6.