Riley Stewart's 2021 could be summed up in one word: Flawless.
But there are quite a few themes emerging in these final "Top Stories."
And one of them is: Records Are Meant To Be Broken.
Stewart gets Part I of this mini-series.
The Cherry Creek senior still has a track season ahead of her, but she's already run herself into the conversation of Greatest Ever.
In 2021 alone she swept all the distance events, winning state titles in the 800, 1,600, 3,200, and the 5k.
Let's back-track nearly 10 months...
Stewart hinted at her big year when she ran a 4:51.31 indoor mile at the adidas Indoor Nationals hosted by Champion Speed in Virginia in late February.
She showed us early that she was ready to roll once the outdoor season came.
And that, she did.
A month later she dropped a 10:27 2-mile personal best at the NSAF USA Meet of Champions in South Carolina, and doubled back for a 4:54 in the mile.
And this was all before Colorado's outdoor season launched off the starting line.
The wheels really got rolling when she dropped a 2:10.89 at the Lion Classic Invitational back in Colorado in early June.
At the time, it was a nearly five-second PR for the then-Cherry Creek junior. Prior to the result, she was mostly known as a distance-runner, but now she added a bit of mid-distance turnover to her resume.
And it would clearly help her as she doubled the distance...
A week-and-a-half later Stewart officially ran herself into the record books. She torched a Colorado 1,600 state record of 4:44.13 at the Stutler Twilight.
She already had multiple state titles to her name (and she'd add quite a few more in the coming weeks,) but now she etched her name into the record books for good.
A week later she chopped off two more seconds off her 800 PR, running 2:08.22 at the Centennial League Varsity Championships, setting the stage for perhaps the most dominating quadruple at the Colorado State Track & Field Championships.
Excerpt From: Wild Finishes At The Colorado State T&F Champs: The 5A Recap
"Stewart won the 800 in 2:09.60. Maelynn Higgins and Cameron McConnell gave chase into the final 200, but Stewart would not be denied. Higgins finished second in 2:10.38, while McConnell shared the same second, finishing third in 2:10.83.
In her third race of the meet Stewart ran off into her own world, chasing the shadow of her own state record. The Cherry Creek junior finished just off her PR, but claimed her third state title of the meet, running 4:45.96 - that's a new 5A state meet record. McConnell finished second in 4:53.29, a hundredth-of-a-second ahead of Pomona's Emma Stutzman, who finished third in 4:53.30.
A day earlier Stewart battled Stutzman over eight laps in the 3,200 final. Stewart surged late to win the event in a state-leading 10:31.45 PR, while Stutzman ran a PR of 10:39.18 to finish second."
That's a sweep of the distance events...
Add that Stewart anchored Cherry Creek's 4x800 state-winning squad, bringing her tally to 40 points.
A week later Stewart headed to Seattle, Wa. for the Brooks Invitational, and blazed her fastest full-mile yet - a 4:40.66 runner-up finish.
And then Stewart meticulously pieced together the most dominating cross country season of her high school career.
It's ironic to write the words "her slowest 5k was 17:55, and it was her opener." But that's the truth. From there Stewart only got faster.
In late September she ran a then-PR of 16:43 at the Nike Portland XC - her first Sub-17 clocking. And yet, it was just a prelude to what we'd see two weeks later.
Stewart torched the field - and Lauren Gregory's previous course record - at the Pat Amato Classic, running 16:56 - her first Colorado Sub-17 clocking.
Three weeks later she stormed away with her third-consecutive cross country 5A state title.
Excerpt From: Colorado 5A State Cross Country Recap: Shockers Galore
"From the opening mile it was clear that Riley Stewart was on a business trip.
The Cherry Creek senior raced on with one intention in mind: making it a three-peat.
And that she did.
Stewart clipped off miles right around 5:35 pace, shedding all competition by the time she took that right into Penrose.
The most-dominate 5A runner in recent history picked up her sixth state title, as she torched the field in the fastest time of the day - a 17:20 clocking - to claim the 5A state championship.
"It's an amazing feeling," she explained. "It's such a great way to end my high school career, coming through Norris-Penrose with people back in here. All the energy was back."
While most could see Stewart's victory coming before she even toed the starting line, the real question was who would take second."
READ MORE: Colorado 5A State Cross Country Recap: Shockers Galore
Her collection of State-bling grew once more...
A little over a month later Stewart toed the line with the best in country at the Garmin RunningLane Championships, and once again torched her PR, running 16:28 to finish third.
That marked her fourth time breaking 17 minutes during the 2021 season...
Not. Done. Yet.
A week after running her PR, she once again raced the best, and this time finished fifth at Eastbay Nationals, running 17:30.
Another impressive stat - Stewart was undefeated in Colorado during the 2021 year.
To Sum Up Stewart's 2021:
Five state titles (800, 1,600, 3,200, 4x800, and 5k)
One 5A state meet record (1,600)
One All-Classification Colorado state record (1,600)
And again, 2021 was such a historic year in Colorado...
State records were falling like flies, and Stewart is likely to rewrite a few more this spring.
