5A girls track and field: Valor Christian has enough to take fourth state title in six years

Valor Christian and Grandview came into the final event of the Class 5A girls state track meet with the shine of a the state championship trophy on the line.

The Eagles and Wolves were locked in the top two team spots through 18 of the 19 events and both were qualified for the meet-closing 4×400 meter relay at Jefferson County Stadium.

Valor Christian had a two-point edge going into the race and just needed to hold position to bring home the state title, but did more than that as the team of seniors Peyton Holmes and Jocelyn Millican, junior Jordan Blankenship and freshman Ellie Londo won the title with the Wolves in fifth.

It was the only win of the final day for the Eagles, but they also captured the 800 meter sprint medley relay team of Holmes, Londo plus junior Madi Proctor and sophomore Josie Krekeler on Friday and also had win on the opening day in the high jump from junior Farrah Eike to hep them on the way to 84 points. It was enough for coach Markus Miller’s team (which scored in 13 of 19 events to far exceed last season’s ninth-place finish) to overcome the 77 put up by junior Gabriella Cunningham and the Wolves, who were trying to send retiring coach John Reyes out in style with another title to match the one from 2017.

Grandview put the pressure on with its performance on the final day, which was led by Cunningham, who came away with three gold medals on the day along with a fourth place finish in her fourth event.

Cunningham opened the day with a victory in the 100 meter hurdles in which she dropped a time of 13.78 seconds to hold off Vista PEAK’s Kendall McCoy (14.48), while she also topped McCoy in the 300 hurdles with a time of 42.71 seconds to McCoy’s 43.34.

“Just felt like celebrating two championships in one day,” said Cunningham, who threw up two fingers in the air as she crossed the finish line to signify her second title. “I used last year (when she was runner-up to now-graduated Fabiola Belibi in the 100 hurdles and third in the 300) as fuel and I put the work in to make sure that didn’t happen again.”

Cunningham then teamed up with Leiava Holliman, Mikaya Singleton and McKenzie Droughns to capture gold in the 4×100 meter relay.

Pomona’s Emma Stutzman put to rest memories of some past disappointments at state track with an incredibly memorable final performance.

She used her outstanding kick to power her way victory in the 1,600 meter run with a time that shattered the Colorado prep and state meet records, which were both held by former Cherry Creek star Riley Stewart. Stutzman — who had a cathartic win in the 3,200 meter run Friday — finished in a time of 4 minutes, 39.94 seconds, which put her atop Stewart’s all-classification state mark of 4:44.13 set in 2021, the same year she ran 4:45.96 for the 5A state meet record.

“The past few years at state, I’ve been disappointed, like I did my best, but I’m not happy with how that came out to be,” the Northern Arizona recruit said. “This is exactly what I wanted.”

She got it by following her race plan, which was to let somebody else do the work at the front end of the pack and then dominate the back half of the race.
That lead runner turned out to be Air Academy’s Bethany Michalak, who also finished in a time of 4:42.65 that came in easily under Stewart’s old marks.

“I didn’t expect to run that time at all,” Michalak said. “I was pretty tired going into this, so I was just trying to stay strong, but this time blew my mind. The opportunity to race with Emma is super special. She’s so competitive and so tough, so I know any time I race her it’s going to be fast. She has that crazy kick, but I’m really happy about it.”

Mountain Vista’s Rachel Bair had an outstanding final day, as she won the 100 and 400 and also took a shot at taking the 200, but was denied by Erie’s Myla Wilkes.

Bair dropped a time of 11.82 seconds to win the 100 meters and she clocked a 56.05 to win the 400, holding off Valor Christian’s Holmes (12.12) and Chatfield’s Aspen Webb (56.42), respectively.

“I’m just really excited and happy that all the work I put in paid off on the biggest stage in the state,” she said.

Her attempt to win a third title came up short with the performance of Wilkes, who coupled Friday’s long jump state championship with the 200 title with a time of 24.18 seconds to Bair’s 24.78.

In field events, Fairview’s Olivia Kosanovich captured the 5A girls pole vault championship with a successful clearing of 12 feet, 10 inches, while Cherry Creek’s Addison Edwards came away with gold in the discus with a throw of 126 feet, 7 inches.