4A Boys Track and Field: Northfield Captures First-Ever State Championship
LAKEWOOD – Saturday was an historic day for the Northfield track and field program.
During the Colorado track and field state championships at Jefferson County Stadium, the Northfield boys track team racked up 72 team points to win the team title. It was the program’s first-ever boys team title.
“I think after losing by a point last year, that’s something that’s been on our mind all year and something we wanted to come out and not have that happen again,” Northfield co-head coach Joey Bender said. “So we talked about how, if we want to do new things, we have to get out of our comfort zone and do things we’ve never done before. So, we trained hard, stayed focused and it just feels great.”
Added co-head coach Wayne Vaden, “From the very beginning, we’ve had a ton of athletes. Our goal was to stay healthy and keep the team together. We were pretty good at doing that. One thing that really hurt us, though, was the weather because we didn’t get to have the multiple meets. So, we didn’t know how good we were going to be and whether or not we could run the times. But it was beautiful that this weekend we had very, very great weather. Best weekend so far this spring.”
Northfield’s Karamoko Sacko set a 4A state meet record, Colorado prep record and new 2024 US No. 5 time of 13.43 seconds in the 4A boys 110 hurdles.
“It means a lot,” Sacko said. “That’s what I was gunning for since I hit 13.6. Going under 13.6 was my benchmark the whole time and now that I did it, it feels amazing. I’m relieved. It’s finally done. I did what I wanted to.”
Niwot and Montrose tied for second place in the team competition with 66 points.
There were a number of other exceptional individual performances on Saturday as well.
In the 4A boys 100-meter dash, Windsor senior Mikey Munn’s time of 10.58 seconds was the fastest. Later in the day, he took first in 400 with a time of 47.96 seconds and then added a third title with a 21.33-second victory in the 200.
Montrose senior Trevor Hill won the 4A discus with a mark of 181 feet, 7 inches.
Grand Junction Central’s Cooper Vanmaurer won the 4A boys pole vault title, clearing 15 feet, 9 inches.
Longmont’s Teagan Malcom ran 38.38 to win the 300 hurdles.
In the 1,600-meter run, Niwot’s Rocco Culpepper won with a time of 4:17.23.
Lutheran – Cole Johnson, Jaymison Wichmann, Mason Kelley and Joseph Ciccio – won the gold with a time of 41.79 in the 400-meter relay.
In the 1,600-meter relay, Pueblo West – Bruce Hobbs, Luke Ware, Royce Thomas-Quintana and Gavin Lockett – won gold with a time of 3:19.87.
