Rainsberger, Willis shatter state track records at Longmont Invite
LYONS — A snow-filled and blustery March has done its best to delay the track and field season in Colorado.
While a number of meets have been canceled or postponed, the Longmont Invitational, always one of the most stacked invites of the season, was merely pushed from Saturday to Monday and moved from Longmont to Lyons.
With the meet on — in the snow-capped foothills at a venue with magnificent views — many of the state’s top individuals and teams competed like it. In fact, there were two all-classification Colorado records broken.
Air Academy senior Katie Rainsberger, the University of Oregon recruit with an effortless stride, was competing in her first outdoor meet of the season. Just two weeks ago, she shattered the all-time Colorado record in the mile while winning the New Balance Nationals Indoor meet in 4:36.61, the third-fastest time ever by an American high school girl.
On Monday, the records kept on coming as Rainsberger set a new standard in the 1,600-meter run as her 4:44.31 took down Cherry Creek senior Jordyn Colter’s all-classification best, which was set at state last season (4:46.22). Then, Rainsberger shattered the meet record in the 800 with a time of 2:11.80, winning by five seconds over Chantae Steele (2:16.84), a freshman from The Classical Academy.
Rainsberger, the Nike Cross Country National Champion in the fall, has traveled around the country for competitions during her career for the Kadets, but said it was special running in front of a Colorado crowd again.
“I think this one is definitely special in that it was in my home state,” she said. “Every lap people were cheering and the announcer was pushing me on. Having all these people in Colorado supporting me made it all that more special.”
Rainsberger, who also ran a leg on the winning 4×400 relay (4:06.07, top time in 4A), said she trained through this meet with a hard workout just a couple of days ago. Her time in the 1,600 seemed to catch even her a bit off-guard this early in the season.
“I was actually running it more as a workout,” she said. “I am at the point in my season where I’m fit, but I’m not race sharp. I wanted to come out here today and get some state qualifiers. I trained through this meet. It’s really exciting to see where I’m at, but I think there’s more.”
As for the other Colorado record broken on Monday, Andrea Willis, a senior for The Classical Academy and a two-time defending state champion in the pole vault (4A in 2015, 3A in 2014), inched past a 2008 record set by Elizabeth Stover of Longmont (13-4.0) by going 13-4.25. Willis owns another record of her own as her 13-7.25 at the Air Force Indoor Open on February 6 was the best-ever indoors by a Colorado girl.
“It means a lot,” Willis, a University of Kansas recruit, said excitedly. “When I started vaulting my sophomore year, my coach said I could someday maybe break the state record. I didn’t think that was possible, but last year I started jumping a little higher. I wasn’t 100 percent last year. I had some back issues. I wanted to jump it last year.
“I landed on the mat and I was like, ‘Wow, I’m now the state record holder.’ It’s one of the best feelings ever.”
On a day with almost no wind and temperatures in the 50s, a number of other Longmont Invite records were broken.
Alex Miller of The Classical Academy (110 hurdles, 14.63), Caleb Ojennes of Palmer Ridge (200, 21.63), Paul Roberts of Lyons (3,200, 9:18) and Gift Chinda of Thompson Valley (triple jump, 46-7.25) all set new standards for a meet that was the state’s most competitive event thus far this spring.
The Classical Academy girls also broke the meet record in the 4×200 relay with a time of 1:43.51.
As for team results, the Loveland girls racked up 108 points in winning a 23-team meet. They won six girls events on the day (200, 300 hurdles, triple jump, long jump, 4×800 relay, 800 sprint medley relay).
The Classical Academy was the girls team runner-up with 67, and the Titans won the boys team crown with 103.5 points. Mountain View was second with 71.
