LAKEWOOD -- The Cherokee Trail boys extended their reign to three straight seasons over Class 5A, but the Cougars did it in a much different way this season.

Sprints and special relays had been the Cougars’ calling card on their way to the last two 5A state titles, while field events rose to prominence this time to keep the streak going for coach Chris Faust’s team.

The state championship from senior Taylor Waters in the pole vault — combined with teammate Sawyer Carr’s sixth place — pushed Cherokee Trail atop the standings with one event left and the 4x400 meter relay team of seniors Nick Hoffsetz, Nurudeen Diallo and Peyton Sommers and junior Dylan Smith put the finishing touches on the title with a rousing victory.

“This was the toughest one and the most gratifying of all because it was in doubt the entire time,” said Faust, who has guided the program to five state titles all-time. “We didn’t come in as favorites and at one point, we thought, ‘well, maybe we can get second.’ But I told them to forget seed and just go do what they are capable of doing and see what happens. They all performed out of their minds today.” 

Cherokee Trail won last season’s title by a whopping 53 points, but it was a much tougher task this season due to graduation and with a nagging hamstring injury for Sommers, a four-event winner last season who was limited to just two events this time. The Penn State signee took gold in both of the finals he ran, however, as he gutted out a win in the 400 meters (the third straight of his career in the event) and then ran the anchor leg of the 4x400, which topped Eaglecrest by nearly two seconds.

Waters was the other individual state champion for the Cougars, as he cleared a personal best height of 16 feet, 9 inches, and had the attention of the crowd as he took three attempts at 17 feet. Carr finished in a tie for sixth place to give the team enough points to vault into the lead.

“I knew we were trying to score a bunch of points knowing we were going to be down an event on the track and so the 13 points we got really helped out,” Waters said. “This year we’ve got great triple jumpers, great long jumpers and pole vaulters, so our field is outstanding this year.”

Cherokee Trail finished with 72.5 points, followed by Centennial League rival Eaglecrest with 65 and Mountain Vista with 60.

Eaglecrest’s bid for the state championship came up just short, but coach Chris Carhart’s team got a big performances on the final day from junior Cameron Bell in the hurdle events in addition to the championship in the 4x100 meter relay.

Bell grabbed second in the 110 meter hurdles and third in the 300 hurdles for a big individual boost for the Raptors, while the team of Quincy Carter, Burke Withycombe, Bryson States and anchor Eric Hill Jr. outlasted the field to win the 4x100.

Mountain Vista finished five points behind Eaglecrest in third with help from another strong finish from sophomore Benjamin Adams and senior Benjamin Anderson in the 1,600. The Golden Eagles had to settle for second and third, however, as ThunderRidge junior Ben Lee took control and surged to win the title to go with the 800 crown he won on Friday.

With Sommers limited to just the 400 meters, that opened up the field of titles in the sprints, and Chaparral senior Wilkins Perschina took advantage as he claimed both the 100 and 200 meters.

He clocked a time of 10.53 seconds to win the 100 and finished the 200 in 21.02, while Brighton’s Ryan Elsen and Vista Ridge’s Carson Tapia rounded out the top three in both events in a different order.

“Winning the 100 was just motivation to win the other,” said Perschina, who was the 200 meter runner-up to Sommers last season. “This was always the goal, but I broke my ankle at the beginning of my senior year, so coming back from that to run and improve from last year and break all the school records was huge. …I really wish Peyton could run, but there was still a lot of talent.”

Loveland junior Jackson Conroy opened the day with a victory in the 110 meter hurdles — finishing just in front of Bell and Regis Jesuit’s Charlie Dutmer — while the 300 meter hurdles later went to Prairie View senior Francis Ojibwa. Ojibwa put nearly a half-second margin between himself and Northfield junior Elian Oliva, while Bell captured third.

In the field events, Overland senior Jarrius Ward won the discus competition for the second straight season.

He was unable to surpass the Colorado state meet record of 203 feet, 5 inches, he recorded in 2024, but his throw of 182 feet, 5 inches, was plenty to put him in front of Loveland’s Ashton Daly (163-6) and Northfield’s Lucas Lawson (153-1).

“I feel great,” Ward said. “Sadly I didn’t get to break the records I wanted to, but I’m definitely happy. Everybody supported me along the way and I’m definitely proud.”