Wins all around for Niwot track

It was a busy weekend for Niwot High School's track and field team, with athletes split between two meets in two different states. While a handful of runners headed west for one of the biggest meets in the country at Arcadia High School in California, most of the team stayed close to home and dominated the Boulder County Championships at Longmont High School.

At the Boulder County Championships, the Cougars proved once again why theirs is one of the top programs around. Both the boys and girls teams took first overall, finishing ahead of Erie High School and everyone else in the field.

The girls put together a long list of standout performances. Senior Reese Kasper had a huge day, winning both the 100 and 300 meter hurdles and taking second in the 100 meter dash. She capped it off by anchoring the winning 4x400 meter relay team with fellow senior Eliana Henriques, junior Addison Ritzenhein, and sophomore Sammie Holliday.

Ritzenhein added two more wins of her own, cruising to first in the 1600 meters by nearly 15 seconds, then edging out the competition in the 800 meters by just under half a second. Niwot packed the top of the 800 as sophomore Elsza Bergen finished fifth, senior Hayden Flynn took sixth with a personal record, and junior Avy Beltran followed in seventh.

In the field events, senior Jade West made it clear she is on another level in the shot put. She threw 43 feet, 7 inches, winning the event by over six feet. She also grabbed fifth in the discus. Sophomore Mahlya Blanks and senior Jiselle Sales rounded out a strong throwing crew with top-ten finishes in both events.

Henriques had a field day in the jumps, too. She won the triple jump with a personal record of 35 feet and took first in the long jump at 17 feet. Sophomore Stella Priest added a third-place finish in the long jump and fourth in the triple jump, while freshman Sienna Wood also placed in the top ten in the triple jump.

The Cougar girls also held their own in the relays. The 4x200 meter group of senior Kate Schmidthuber, freshman Jocelyn Peterson, Holliday, and Henriques grabbed second, and the 4x100 meter team, consisting of Schmidthuber, Priest, Peterson, and senior Simocea Esquibel, placed third. The 4x800 meter squad, with seniors Eleanor Ottem and Alena Kasanicky along with sophomore Eloise Boyd and Flynn, came in fourth.

On the boys' side, Niwot's distance group led the charge. Sophomore Quinn Sullivan won the 1600 meters and finished second in the 800. Seniors Keegan Geldean and Evan Kear went first and second in the 3200 meters, while senior Gavin Engtrakul and junior Rocco Culpepper chipped in top-five finishes in the 800 and 1600. Sophomore Garrett Sherrard and junior Nate Thompson also helped the Cougars pile on points in the longer events.

The spring relays also looked sharp. The 4x200 team of senior Weston Domich and juniors Kingston Staton, Townes Bernstein, and Joshua Archuleta won with a fast 1:28.83. Staton added a second place in the 300-meter hurdles and helped out in the jumps, while Domich won both the long jump and the triple jump with marks of 21 feet, 10 inches and 45 feet, 4.5 inches, respectively.

Other notable performances included sophomore Jaydan Martinez in the sprints, seniors Lincoln Brewer and James Anthony in the 400 meter dash, and freshman Corven Peterson in both hurdle races.

Freshman Isaiah Richart brought home a special win in the Unified 100-meter dash, taking first with a time of 13.36, finishing nearly eight-tenths of a second ahead of second place.

Meanwhile, in California, a smaller group of Cougars took on some of the nation's best at the Arcadia Invitational. Sophomore Elise Hagen ran a strong race in the seeded 3200 meters, finishing sixth in 10:33.78. Junior Anna Prok followed in 11th with a 10:38.37 mark, and also competed in the 800, taking 14th with a time of 2:19.49.

Junior Ryder Keeton led the way in the rated 3200, placing sixth with a fast 9:00.06. Junior Gabriel Marshall ran 9:17.73 in the same race and finished 33rd. Junior Hunter Robbie clocked 9:03.15 in the seeded section and placed 25th overall.

Niwot will be back in action Thursday, April 17, at the Centaurus Twilight meet at Centaurus High School, then again Saturday, April 19, at the Dakota Ridge Invitational at Dakota Ridge High School.