4A Girls Track and Field: Niwot Wins Four Events on Day 1

LAKEWOOD – Certainly, as a defending champion, there was some pressure on Roosevelt senior Taegan Olson on Thursday at the state track and field championships.

However, she couldn’t have asked for better conditions, or a better finish to her career.

Olson set a personal record to win the Class 4A girls pole vault title for the second year in a row at Jefferson County Stadium, vaulting 13 feet, 1.5 inches.

“There was a little bit of pressure just to come in and defend it,” said Olson, whose previous best was 13-feet. “It is a lot of pressure, but I was super excited to jump. We had the perfect weather, a tail wind, so it was good.”

Olson easily won the title, as Palmer’s Sylvie Harrison was runner-up (with a 12-foot vault) for the second year in a row.

The Kansas State-bound Olson was third in 2022 and second in 2023 before winning her back-to-back titles. Her winning vault on Thursday is the eighth-best vault in Colorado prep history.

“That jump (of 13-1.5), I’ve been looking for for a while,” she said. “I attempted it at the last two meets that I had, so I was happy to finally get it. I think I came in with the energy for it. I was running fast, had a tailwind and just had everyone supporting me, too. It was awesome.

“I am very happy with (my career), going out with the PR.”

Of the five titles won on Thursday in 4A girls, four were repeat champs. In addition to Olson, Niwot had three repeat champions: Addy Ritzenhein (3,200 meters), Jade West (discus) and the 3,200-meter relay.

Ritzenhein, a junior, got her weekend off to a great start, as she won the 3,200 meters in 10 minutes, 27.80 seconds. It was her third-consecutive win in the 3,200m.

“Pressure is definitely there,” she said of defending her title. “I think I’ve learned to kind of deal with it, honestly. In a kind of special way I kind of like to think of it as a privilege. Being out here with my teammates and such amazing competitors, it’s so fun to be out here, so it kind of alleviates that pressure a little bit.”

Later on Thursday, she helped the Cougars win the 3,200-meter relay for the fifth year in a row. It was the eighth career state title for Ritzenhein, including a pair of cross country championships. She will also run the 800m and 1,600m this weekend.

In the 3,200 relay, Ritzenhein teamed with Anna Prok, Elise Hagen and Elsza Burgen to post a time of 9:18.74. Air Academy was second, in 9:26.81.

West came in as the fourth seed in the discus, but had her best throw of the season, at 133 feet, 7 inches to repeat as champion. That was nearly nine feet better than her previous best this season. Hadyn Bunnell of Grand Junction was second, at 132-11.

“It’s been such a rough season, and there’s been so many ups and downs and so many different swarms of emotions,” said West, a senior who will go for a third straight shot put title on Saturday. “Being able to get it done when it mattered most meant so much to me and doing it for my team.

“I was going to state really, really nervous, but after I had a good warm up, I knew if I just stayed in it mentally, I’d be okay.”

In the long jump, Niwot’s Eliana Henriques won her first state title. The senior had a personal-best leap of 18 feet, 3 inches to edge Pueblo East sophomore Reagan Falletta (17-10).

“It’s super exciting, especially because I tore my ACL my sophomore year, so then last year when I was long jumping at state, I had to long jump off of my non-dominant side,” said Henriques, who nonetheless was third in 2024. “Now being able to come back, jump off my dominant side and then win, it just really means a lot.”

It means even more because she is the daughter of Niwot head coach Maurice Henriques, who has led the Cougars to eight state titles since 2013 (plus two titles for the boys).

“He was super proud,” Eliana said. “I think secretly he was trying to seem not nervous, but I think he’s just really excited and happy for me.

“It’s super special for me, because we share the same passion, and it’s just super special to be able to share in the win. I’m really glad I was able to help out our team.”

With four event titles on Thursday, Niwot is well on its way to a sixth-consecutive team title, leading second-place Air Academy 49-30.

During the prelims of the 800-meter relay, Eliana Henriques and Niwot set a new 4A state meet record, posting a time of 1 minute, 38.78 seconds. The Cougars beat the record of 1:39.49 set by a different group of Niwot runners in 2021.