LAKEWOOD – Drew Morton took a tumble while trying to help The Classical Academy’s boys to the team title before the Titans came up short.

The Class 3A state race came down to the final event, the 4×400 relay. Resurrection Christian started the event seeded first and four points behind TCA. The Cougars ran true to their seed and jumped the Titans, who finished sixth, to win the team title with 73 points to TCA’s 71.

Morton’s busy Saturday included the finals of the 100-, 200- and 400-meter races before he anchored the 4×400. He helped the Titans hold off Resurrection Christian until the final event by placing seventh in the 100, fourth in the 200 and won the 400. His 50.01 in the 400 bested Basalt’s Rulbe Alvarado by a hundredth of a second and included a tumble across the finish line.

“Senior year, just give it everything until there’s nothing left,” Morton said of his mindset. “I don’t say I budget (energy), I just say put it all out there.”

TCA’s second-place finish was the best among area teams, alongside the Banning Lewis Prep Academy girls. The Titans’ girls placed fifth with 51 points, well behind victorious Coal Ridge’s 111. No other Pikes Peak region team placed in the top 10 of 3A.

Niwot swept the 4A team titles, while Cheyenne Mountain’s boys placed third. Mesa Ridge (sixth), Palmer Ridge (eighth) and Discovery Canyon (ninth) finished in the top 10 of the 4A boys’ standings. Palmer Ridge (fourth), Air Academy (sixth), Discovery Canyon (seventh) and Sand Creek (eighth) packed the girls’ top 10 behind Niwot’s dominant 183-point showing.

The Fountain-Fort Carson boys were the only area 5A team to crack the top 10 in 5A, finishing sixth. Grandview won the boys’ title, while Valor Christian’s girls were the champions in the state’s largest classification.

Peyton’s girls finished in seventh, behind BLPA, in 2A. The BLPA boys edged St. Mary’s 35-32 for sixth place in 2A. Yuma’s boys and Cedaredge’s girls finished as the 2A team champions.

Heritage Christian swept the 1A team titles, while Evangelical Christian finished seventh in the boys’ standings and ninth in the girls.

Freshman phenom Bethany Michalak wins 4A 1,600

When Air Academy freshman Bethany Michalak saw the storm clouds roll in Saturday afternoon, she knew she’d be in her element for what was sure to be a competitive race for the 4A 1,600 championship.

By the time the race began the track glistened from a mid-afternoon storm, and runners were being pelted with fat, cold raindrops as they made their way around.

“I actually love the rain,” Michalak said. “It’s my favorite weather to run in. It’s just a fun experience, so it felt great.”

Michalak was seeded third entering the mile race, behind two runners from the perennial powerhouse Niwot, Mia Prok and Lucca Fulkerson, and kept in pace with the top group through 1,200 meters before making her move.

“I knew all these Niwot girls had insane kicks and I don’t have that in the last 100, so I knew if I wanted to have any chance of winning I had to make my move in the last 400 and then kick,” Michalak said.

Michalak moved to the front of the pack and had a modest gap in front of the field heading into the final 200, but Niwot freshman Mia Prok began to kick around the final curve. With about five meters left, Michalak raised her hands in celebration as she approached the finish line, unaware that Prok was closing in at her right shoulder.

Michalak crossed the finish line in 4:55.01 with Prok on her heels in 4:55.08.

“I knew that it could be a big possibility for any of them to come up, so I had to give it all my guts,” Michalak said. “I knew someone was coming up behind me but I didn’t know she was right there, but I’m just glad she didn’t catch me.”

The intense finish sets up another three years of top-notch distance running with the first- and second-placers finishing their freshman season. Michalak won the 4A cross country title in the fall, and is considered one of the fastest girls’ runners nationally in the class of 2024.

Jahzara Davis improves from sophomore bronze to senior gold

After a third-place finish in the 100 hurdles as a sophomore, Sand Creek’s Jahzara Davis was itching to get back to the state meet for another chance at state gold.

Then COVID struck.

But Davis achieved her goal of more than two years with a win in the 4A 100 hurdles in 14.62, narrowly edging Niwot’s Kimora Northrup, who clocked in at 14.7.

“This year being my last year it was now or never, so it was kind of like tunnel vision,” Davis said.

Davis said she was nervous setting in her blocks with legs shaking as she waited for the starting pistol and stumbled. But the senior reset in time for her first hurdle.

“I got my feet under myself and just zoned in at the end,” she said. “I felt it in my body. I knew I had it.”

Later, Davis took third in the 100 dash in 12.54 behind Discovery Canyon’s Myai Dantzler, second in 12.44. Davis also placed fourth in the long jump Thursday.

Widefield’s Derek Allen brings home gold, silver in individual events

Coming out of the blocks in the 300 hurdles, Widefield junior Derek Allen remains patient. Through the first 200, Allen sizes up his competition and waits to make his move.

And Saturday his strategy worked perfectly as he claimed the 4A 300 hurdle championship, edging Mountain View’s Bennett Feldenkirchen by 0.13 seconds.

“Towards the curve I start to push and see who is really in the lead and catch up and try to finish it off,” said Allen, who clocked 38.73 for a personal best. “I really just wanted to show how fast I can run, I’m just really glad to be here.”

Allen placed second in the 110 hurdles behind Discovery Canyon’s Brian Rose with a15.03.

Discovery Canyon junior Brian Rose wins 110 hurdles

Top-seeded Brian Rose stepped off the track Thursday after his 4A 110 hurdles prelim knowing he had a lot left in the tank after running the third-fastest prelim time. And with a seasonlong goal of running under 15 seconds, Rose knew he had one more chance to get it done.

Saturday he did that, and more.

Rose won the 110 hurdles championship with a  14.75, checking off two of his boxes on the final day.

“My prelims didn’t go as planned but I chose to just shove it aside and do my best today and it worked,” Rose said.

He had a 0.28 second gap ahead of second-place finisher Derek Allen of Widefield, a comfortable win for Rose.

“When I started pulling ahead there in the race, my endings keep getting faster and faster so at that point I finally had it,” Rose said. “So crossing that finish line was like walking into heaven.”

Rose placed third in the 300 hurdles with a 40.14.

Another Ciccarelli leaps to 3A gold

Woodland Park’s Ciccarellis and success in the Class 3A boys’ high jump have become synonymous at the state meet over the last few years.

Skye Ciccarelli won the 2018 and 2019 high jumps by clearing 6 feet, 4 inches and 6-6 in back-to-back years. Younger brother Sonny picked up where Skye left off, taking the event with a successful 6-8 jump.

“I didn’t really feel pressure until I kind of screw up at 6-2,” Sonny said after his first state meet.

He needed his third, and final, attempt to clear 6-2 and beat Bennett’s Caden Church, who cleared 6-3, for the title. Sonny tried to match his season-best jump of 6-9 but couldn’t quite get his steps right.

“For some reason, the bar looked kind of farther from my plant than usual, so that kind of threw me off,” he said. “Apparently, that was my right plant, so it was all mental.”

Sonny figures to have a chance to match Skye’s two championships next season, but he seems more concerned with extending his mark closer to seven feet.

“Hopefully, I can PR,” he said. “That’s my goal.”

St. Mary’s sophomore Turpin takes heavy legs to long jump title

Hannah Turpin’s best jump of the season would have blown away the field in the Class 2A girls’ long jump, but she didn’t need it.

After entering the state meet with a season best of 18-0.25, Turpin took first by leaping 16-11.75. A slick runway due to afternoon showers and tired legs after running prelims and finals in the 100 and 200 didn’t help.

“Considering the weather and dead legs from running finals, I’m not upset about it,” Turpin said of her mark.

The Classical Academy’s Drew Morton won the 3A 400 with a time of 50.01, beating second-place Ruble Alvarado by .01 seconds on the final day of the 2021 State Track & Field Championships at Jeffco Stadium in Lakewood. (Lindsey Smith, The Gazette)

The Classical Academy boys’ track & field team placed second in the 3A team race at the 2021 State Track & Field Championships at Jeffco Stadium in Lakewood. (Lindsey Smith, The Gazette)

The TCA boys’ track & field team placed second in Class 3A at the 2021 State Track & Field Championships. (Lindsey Smith, The Gazette)