4A Boys Track and Field: First Time Champions Highlight Day 2 of State Meet

LAKEWOOD – Preston Wysocki is usually a pretty busy young man at track meets.

The Discovery Canyon senior competes in a lot of events, but on Friday, he shined in his best one, winning the Class 4A title in the high jump at the state track and field championships at Jefferson County Stadium.

“High jump is my favorite event,” he said. “I do a lot of events, and high jump is my favorite, so coming here and doing the best here is a good feeling.”

Wysocki matched his season-best with a leap of 6 feet, 5 inches to take the crown. Six competitors were just behind him at 6-3, with Lewis-Palmer’s Joseph Kitonsa officially placing second because of fewer missed attempts throughout the competition.

“I’ve won meets before, but winning state, it feels different,” said Wysocki, who placed ninth a year ago at state. “It feels good.”

Wysocki said he felt he could have topped 6-5, but his weekend has also included the open 100 meters and the 400-meter relay. He’ll run in both finals for the Thunder on Saturday.

“I’ve had other events the last few days, so I wonder if I was on a fresh body, maybe I could have (topped 6-5) but I’m happy with how I placed,” he said, adding that he’s looking forward to adding more to his trophy case on Saturday. “The more medals the merrier. It’s always good.”

In the shot put, Palmer Ridge junior Owen Twesme also became a first-time champion. He posted a personal-record throw of 55 feet, 7.25 inches on his sixth and final attempt to rally for the win. Discovery Canyon’s Jude Suhajda was second, at 54-8.

“It feels great,” Twesme said. “Just the feeling of having the entire crowd around here just to cheer you on and get that good throw, to finally PR after four weeks, it’s an amazing feeling.

“The previous throw was (54-6.25), so I had big adrenaline boost from that, got the clap going and launched it.”

Twesme, who was 12th at state a year ago, had a previous best of 52-7.5, but said he’s been hitting 55 feet in practice.

“Lots of practice – over and over and over, just hundreds of throws weekly, more than that,” he said. “Just hammering drills every day. I knew I could do it and I finally got it out there.”

Although he missed the podium last year, Twesme said it was a confidence boost to place 12th as a sophomore and it fueled him for this year. He said he’s much stronger with better technique this year.

“Last year, I was super nervous going in and even here during the prelims, I was nervous going in,” he said. “Once you get to those finals and get those nerves out, it’s really good to not have those.”

Mullen broke a drought in relays, claiming the 800-meter relay title with a time of 1 minute, 26.90 seconds. The Mustangs cruised to the title ahead of Standley Lake (1:28.71) and Lutheran (1:28.74), which had a tight battle for second. Mullen topped it’s previous season-best time of 1:26.99.

“We were just fired up,” said Joshua Gross, who ran the anchor leg. “We knew we could win. We knew we had it in us. We put in the work.”

Gross teamed with Amare Kyle, Sonny Donati and Kevin Lewis to deliver Mullen’s first state title in any relay since 2018.

“It was unbelievable, and we’re not done this weekend,” Gross said.

Niwot junior Rocco Culpepper added to his impressive list of state titles in his career, taking the 800 meters for the second year in a row. It wasn’t easy, as his time of 1 minute, 54.51 seconds barely edged his teammate, Quinn Sullivan (1:54.88), who was second. They were shoulder-to-shoulder to the finish.

“I don’t think we talked about (going 1-2), but I think that was definitely in our minds,” said Culpepper, who came in seeded second to Sullivan. “The whole field is very, very strong, but I knew that, especially in the race, I thought it was going to come down to us kicking it out.”

Culpepper claimed his seventh state title on the track, including helping the Cougars to a 3,200-meter relay championship on Thursday.

“I think it’s pretty awesome,” he said. “And I think that it’s definitely an impactful one, knowing that I can just bounce back off a hard season last (cross country) season, and just come back and readjust and come win a state title.”

Just as important to Culpepper is that the 800 results boosted Niwot’s chances for a team title. Through nine events, the Cougars have a 51-35 lead on second-place Thompson Valley in the team standings.

“Every one of these races you’re also always thinking, ‘What can I contribute to the team?’” he said. “So getting a 1-2 placement like that is really awesome.”