4A Girls Track and Field: 26-Year-Old High Jump Record Falls on Day 2

LAKEWOOD – Over the years, there have been numerous athletes attempt to take down the Class 4A state meet record in the girls high jump.

Until Friday, all of them had come up short. But, with the Jefferson County Stadium crowd cheering her on, Roosevelt’s Braelyn Bailey not only won another title, but set a record at the state track and field championships.

Bailey’s leap of 5 feet, 9 inches topped the previous 4A state meet record of 5-8.25 set by Skyline’s Jill Fadenrecht in 1999.

“I was basically saying to myself, ‘This is it. Give it your all,’” Bailey said. “Everyone was watching, clapping for me, and my heart was racing. I just went over, everybody started cheering, the bar was on, and it was just so amazing.”

A junior who won the 4A title a year ago after placing second in 2023, Bailey smiled when asked if it felt like the best jump she’s ever had.

“Yes, 100 percent!” she said.

A group of five athletes cleared 5-3, with Windsor’s Reyleigh Hess securing second place with a tie-breaker for fewest missed attempts.

This day belonged to Bailey, though, as she cruised through 5-3, 5-5 and 5-7 before fairly easily clearing 5-9.

“Yeah, it’s amazing,” said Bailey, who will compete in the triple jump and 400-meter relay on Saturday. “Having the pressure of being a defending state champion is just … I don’t even know; it’s just there. … I attempted (the record) last year and barely came short of it, but making it this year is just so amazing.

“It’s so exciting. I honestly can’t even put it into words. I’m just so excited. Everybody cheers me on. It’s honestly just a great environment. I love it so much.”

Grand Junction Central’s Sage Siegrist wasn’t exactly disappointed with a fourth-place finish in the 800-meter run a year ago, but it absolutely fueled her for this year. On Friday, the junior surged to the state title in the 800.

“I thought that I could have done better (in 2024), because I got passed right at the end, and so I had, like, a little bit of rage piled up inside me for this season,” Siegrist said. “I think that definitely was a factor, knowing I’m going to train hard this year. This year is going to be my year.”

It certainly was, as she finished in a personal-best time of 2 minutes, 11.96 seconds. Timnath’s Natalie Washburn, a two-time champion in Class 2A, was second, in 2:13.54.

“I could hear some people coming up on me once the bell lap started,” Siegrist said. “As soon as I got to the 300 I was like, ‘All right, turn it on. This is your last moment to shine. This is where it matters.’ So I just unhooked the trailer and just decided to go.”

On Thursday night, Siegrist had a “really bad headache” and was worried, but woke up feeling great Friday.

“Today I just felt really springy, really energetic,” she said. “I knew today was my day.”

Niwot added to its list of titles, taking the 4×200-meter relay. The Cougars have won five of eight events so far as they aim for a sixth-consecutive team title. They are favored to win several more events on Saturday.

After setting a 4A state meet record in the 4x200m relay prelims on Thursday (1:38.78), the Cougars were just off that time Friday (1:38.86), but edged Windsor (1:38.90) for the title.

“It’s so exciting, especially because it’s most of our senior years,” Niwot senior Kate Schmidthuber said. “Ending on a really good bang. We knew that Windsor is super competitive, and they’ve had times that are so close to us, so we knew coming into this that it was going to be a fight.”

Windsor had a strong kick at the end to nearly overtake Niwot, but the Cougars’ anchor runner, Reese Kasper, held on. Eliana Henriques and Sammie Holliday also ran for Niwot.

“I know our anchor, she fights so hard,” Schmidthuber said. “That girl works so hard, so I knew that she’d get us to that line.

“Our team fought really hard and I think that’s why we’re so excited, because we put so much work in the last four years for some of us, two years for (Holliday). Especially this season, it has been so much work and seeing that show is so great.”

Through eight events, Niwot has 68 points to lead second-place Air Academy (46) in what has become a two-team battle for the crown. Roosevelt is third, with 28 points.