LAKEWOOD – The last few years, Kya Piel has dominated the Class 1A 3,200-meter race, winning back-to-back state titles in 2023 and 2024.

With Piel out due to injury this spring, it was someone else’s turn to step up and take over. During the Colorado state championships on Thursday at Jefferson County Stadium, that someone else was Piel’s Merino teammate Brooklyn Sutter, who finished the 1A 3,200-meter race in 12 minutes, 30.87 seconds to win and keep the Merino streak alive.

“The two-mile is definitely the hardest for me. It’s a long way,” said Sutter, who is the defending champion in the 1,600m. “But it was really fun and really good competition. The last lap is my favorite and I just get to go push myself as hard as I can. It was different without Kya. It’s been great to train with her and run with her the last few years. It was also a little bit freeing because I’m not competing against my best friend and I can kind of just go out and do my thing.”

Multiple knee surgeries have continually prevented Caliche’ Ryann Svoboda from competing in her favorite sports throughout the recent years. But now that she’s healthy, the junior is making the most of the time she has.

On Thursday, Svoboda took to the shot put circle and threw 40 feet, 1.75 inches to claim her first state title.

“Last year, I came up third and I was hoping I could do it this year, so that’s great,” Svoboda said. “I worked on it all year and I’m glad it worked out. I had a lot of help from a lot of different coaches, who were super awesome and it just clicked all together at the end. I haven’t been able to compete in a lot of sports these last few years, so it’s awesome just to be able to compete.”

In the 1A girls long jump, Idalia’s Krista Wieser won the title with a mark of 16-11.