1A Boys Track and Field: Haxtun Claims First State Title Since 1976

LAKEWOOD – Aside from the last 200 meters of the 400-meter dash, when he ran out of gas, Haxtun’s Ryland Wolff could not have asked for a better Saturday.

And that disappointing finish in the 400 couldn’t dampen his spirits.

At the state track and field championships at Jefferson County Stadium, the senior won the Class 1A 100 meters, 200 meters and helped the Bulldogs to a title in the 400-meter relay. He also finished second in the 400.

It all added up to Haxtun winning just the third boys team title in school history, the first since 1976.

“It’s just fun to do it with your brothers,” Wolff said. “Come out, run, have a great day. It’s a beautiful day out. Just to be able to do it with your brothers, it’s a different type of fun.”

Wolff, of course, was happy to win two individual titles, but didn’t hesitate when asked about the best part of the day.

“Absolutely with the team (title),” he said. “We’re one big brotherhood and it’s just so much fun doing it with them. I would trade all my medals just to do it again.”

Haxtun finished with 77.5 points, winning by nine points over second-place Kim/Branson (68.5). Plateau Valley was third, with 58 points.

The Bulldogs secured the title with the 400-meter relay win. Wolff teamed with Grant Statz, Zach Statz and Colin Cone to set a 1A state meet record time of 43.37 seconds. Eads was second (45.27).

In the 100, Wolff set a state meet record with a time of 11.04 seconds. Zach Statz was second, in 11.34. In the 200, Wolff had a time of 22.8 seconds to outlast second-place Kaeden Gebauer of Briggsdale (23.01).

“I just prayed to God, and I was like, ‘God, please let me run to the best of my abilities today,’” Wolff said. “He blessed me with the abilities that he did and it’s just an honor to be able to do it.”

Mikel Bennett of Genoa-Hugo upset Wolff’s bid for three individual titles by taking first in the 400 meters. Bennett came in as the second seed and posted a winning time of 50.44 that was nearly two seconds faster than his seed time (52.22). Wolff’s time was 51.01.

Springfield’s Parker Arbuthnot completed his sophomore season in style, cruising to the title in the 1,600 meters. He had a strong sprint during the last 200 meters to finish in 4:39.40, more than 11 seconds ahead of second-place Aidan Sherman from Merino (4:50.62).

Arbuthnot also won the 3,200 meters on Thursday and the 800 on Friday. He also helped the Longhorns place third in 1,600-meter relay on Saturday.

“It’s pretty exciting, but honestly, I look at it like God’s given me these abilities and I feel like it’s my responsibility to glorify Him in those,” he said of his big weekend. “Honestly, it’s great and all and it’s really nice to see hard work pay off, but also in the end everything’s gonna fade away; there’s only one thing left. So if this helps me to live the life that I’m supposed to, then yeah, it feels great.”

In the 110-meter hurdles, McClave sophomore Tuff Kelly posted a blistering PR of 15.40 seconds to win his first state title. Kelly knocked off Anderson Weathers of Lone Star, who was second (15.45) for the second year in a row. Defending champion Dallas Calzonetti of South Baca was fourth (16.11).

Weathers came back later in the day to win the 300-meter hurdles. The junior was also second in the 300 last year, but this year posted a PR of 41.90 to edge Kolter Cranson of Kim/Branson (41.94).

In the 1600-meter relay, Cranson helped Kim/Branson take the title in a time of 3:34.25. Cranson teamed with Acoya Bartlett, Will Doherty and David Gamez for the victory. Idalia was second, in 3:38.37.

Swink sophomore Javin Summers capped an exceptional week by taking the state title in the long jump on Saturday morning. Summers had a winning leap of 21 feet, 0.25 inches to top second-place David Gamez of Kim/Branson, who went 20-2.5. On Friday, Summers won the triple jump and placed second in the high jump.

Springfield’s Jett Konkel claimed his first state title in the shot put, posting a personal-best throw of 48 feet, 7.5 inches. The junior, who was third in the discus on Thursday, came in as the favorite in the shot put after placing sixth a year ago. Plateau Valley’s Jackson Bevan, who won the discus, was second in the shot put, at 46-4.25.