The Broomfield Shootout saw many state-leading performances Saturday.
While spring break might mean just that, a break, for most high schoolers around the state, track and field athletes from around Colorado descended on the Broomfield Classic last Saturday to take advantage of an uncharacteristically calm day for a Colorado March. Not so uncharacteristic however, are the blazing fast times this meet is known for producing, and Saturday was no exception.
Many of the aforementioned fast times came from the middle distance and distance side of things. Broomfield's Madison Mooney is one such runner, and this year, she's on a mission with some big personal and team goals for the year.
"I really want to win State in the 800," the University of Wisconsin-bound Mooney explained of the title that has narrowly eluded her for the duration of high school, last year coming up second only to Lauren Gregory, who has now graduated.
"I've gotten second, I've gotten third, and I've gotten fourth, this year I want to win. And our girls 4x800 also wants to win the gold."
Mooney, who considers herself to be an even stronger miler, showed that she's anything but talk, as she took an aggressive early lead from the gun of the girls 800, solo-ing to a 2:11.60, 10 seconds ahead of Niwot's Taylor James in 2:21.
"I thought I might be racing the clock, and I wanted to take advantage of there being no wind, I haven't PR'ed in over a year I just wanted to beat the clock and see how fast I could go."
Niwot's Cruz Culpepper dominated the boy's 800 in similar fashion, running a personal best 1:56.22 over second place Denver South's Henok Berhane in 2-flat.
"I planned on just hanging in second until 200 to go, then kicking for the win," Culpepper explained, a plan that he executed to perfection.
Rampart's Sadio Fenner, a strong cross country and middle-distance runner for the Rams, who also excels in the rarely-contested steeplechase, took the win in the boy's mile with a 4:27. In second was Centaurus'
John O'Malley and George Washington's Charlie Welch who finished neck-in-neck with 4:30.46 and 4:30.82, respectively.
"I was pretty anxious coming in," Fenner explained, "I came out here ready to run a fast time. Knowing that I would probably be solo-ing it was a little tough, but my coach just kept telling me the whole time that there were people behind me, but there weren't."
The girl's mile was won in a smartly-executed effort by Battle Mountain's Naomi Harding, who patiently moved up throughout the duration of the race, to finish with a strong final quarter to clock 5:11.
The elite race of the girls' two mile saw a new face to the Colorado High School track scene, as freshman
Taylor Whitfield of Valor Christian executed a well planned race, with a bounding, energetic stride befitting a middle distance runner, to finish with a blistering kick and energy to spare, to top the field with her 11:03, besting Broomfield's Katelyn Mitchem's 11:09.
"I was supposed to hang around in second through fifth and work together for most of the race, then kick hard toward the end," Whitfield explained of her race tactic. It worked, and she came away with a win and a personal best.
In the boy's two mile, Michael Mooney took the field in a fashion similar to his sister Madison, flying solo for the final kilometer of the race to finish in 9:20 flat.
"I was supposed to hang back until about 900 to go, and by then I still felt great so I just went for it," said Mooney, who will be attending the Arcadia Invitational in two weeks with a number of his Broomfield teammates, in the hopes of breaking nine minutes.
Dakota Ridge's Austin Vancil took second, nine seconds behind Mooney.
Dropping down in distance, Zion Wagoner, also of Denver East, clocked 49.92 over 400 meters, with Glenwood Springs Gavin Olson in second in 50.19.
Also hailing from Denver East, Kyairra Reigh won the girl's 400 in dominant fashion with 55.01.
Reigh also won the 200 in 24.69, ahead of Denver East's Syanne Algee's 24.89. Algee earlier won the 100 meter dash as well, in 12.17.
Denver East's Zion Wagoner won the boys 400 with a time of 49.92 over Glenwood's Gavin Olson in 50.19.
In the boys 200, Kenny Greene of Cherokee Trail and Kyle Scofield of Dakota Ridge clocked close finishes in 23.59 and 23.87 respectively.
Denver Souths Ibro Soumah won the 100 meters in 10.99, with teammate AlHassan ElAmin in second with 11.01.
In the girls 100 meter hurdles, Cherokee Trails Jaiden Paris clocked 14.39 for the win. While Niwot's Mackenzie Fidelak won the 300 meter hurdles in 46.02. On the boys side, Ian Gray, also of Cherokee Trail, won in 15.14 for the 100 meter hurdles, his teammate Dillon Andrews ran 38.82 to win the 300 meter hurdles.
The Denver East boys had a quite the day in the relays, winning the 4x100 meter relay in 42.92, the 4x200 meter relay in 1:29.67, and the 4x400 in 3:28.10. The Rangeview boys took the win in the 4x800 in 8:22.
Cherokee Trail and Denver East battled it out in the girls 4x100 meter relays and 4x200 meters, with Cherokee Trail taking the win over East in 46.97 in the 4x100, with East topping Cherokee Trail in the 4x200 in 1:44.46.
The Niwot girls won the 4x400 meters, squeaking just below the 4:00 barrier, to clock 3:59.74.
Palmer Ridge won the girls 4x800 in 9:44.64.