4A Girls Track and Field: More Individual Titles Captured on Day 2 of State Meet

LAKEWOOD – Cheyenne Mountain senior Lauren Raley trusts her finishing kick and on Friday it carried her to a state title.

Raley used a strong finish to secure the first state of her career in the Class 4A girls 800-meter run on the second day of the state track and field meet at Jefferson County Stadium.

“It feels amazing,” she said. “That was definitely a goal coming into this race, but definitely a dream come true (to win).”

Niwot star Addison Ritzenhein won the 3,200 meters, while her teammates won the 800-meter relay. Bradie Menegatti of Pueblo West won the long jump and Longmont took the title in the 800-meter sprint medley relay.

Raley was the top seed coming into Friday, but she sat back with the pack for the first 650 meters. She was in third place when she made a move and grabbed the lead going into the final curve. Raley finished with a personal-best time of 2 minutes, 10.49 seconds to outlast Silver Creek’s Cloe Roth (2:12.81).

“Usually I know I have a kick at the end, so I knew as long as I was in the right position, I could make full use of that,” Raley said. “Trying to take the curve was definitely part of my strategy. … Overall, I felt pretty good throughout the race but in the end, it just came down to adrenaline for sure.”

Her only concern going into the finish line was getting too excited.

“It felt great,” she said. “I didn’t want to celebrate too early, but I could feel that state championship was close. I was just really excited for that.”

Raley helped Cheyenne Mountain to seventh in the 3,200-meter relay on Thursday and has five state medals to her credit with two events still to go.

“I would like to do a huge shout out to my coaches and teammates and all the work they’ve put in this season and all the dedication,” Raley said.

A sophomore, Ritzenhein won the 3,200 meters for the second year in a row, cruising to victory in 10 minutes, 29.54 seconds. Payton Meineke of Riverdale Ridge was second, in 10:40.73. Niwot had four of the top six finishers.

“It was so special,” she said of repeating as champion. “It was an amazing thing, especially being out there with my teammates, that’s very important to me. Setting myself up for the weekend, it gave me a lot of confidence and I can’t wait to race the mile and see what I can do there.”

Ritzenhein also helped the Cougars win the 3,200-meter relay on Thursday and she finished third in the 800 on Friday, despite not prioritizing that event.

“It’s actually a funny story; I forgot to text my coach back and tell him what I wanted to do,” she said of why she was in the 800m. “So he just entered me in everything I qualified for. We agreed that would be a good little switchup to get some speed in.

“I don’t really race the 800 much but yeah, just kind of a little switch of things. So I’m very proud, I’m very happy.”

In the long jump, Menegatti claimed her second championship of the weekend, as the junior also won the triple jump on Thursday. She also has two second-place and two third-place medals in her career.

Throughout the finals, Menegatti was sitting in second place, but exploded for a jump of 19 feet, 3.25 inches on her last attempt of the day. Sarah McGarry of Montrose was second with a leap of 18 feet. Prior to the last round, Menegatti’s best jump of the day was 17-11.5.

Longmont won the 800 sprint medley relay in 1 minute, 48.66 seconds, holding off second-place Mullen, which finished in 1:49.07. Makenna Smith, Jordan Johnson, Ella Pears and Terra Brubaker teamed up to lead Longmont to the victory.

The Niwot group of Eliana Henriques, Simocea Esquibel, Kate Schmidthuber and Reese Kasper teamed up to win the 800-meter relay in 1:40.67. Pueblo West was second, in 1:42.36.

Through nine of 19 events, Niwot is well on its way to a fifth consecutive team title. The Cougars have 79 points, with Pueblo West in second, with 40.