4A Girls Track & Field: Roosevelt’s Braelyn Bailey Sets New High Jump Record

LAKEWOOD — As Roosevelt’s Braelyn Bailey wound up for her 5-foot, 10-inch attempt in the Class 4A girls high jump on Thursday, she led the crowd at Jeffco Stadium in the slow clap.

She bounced up to raucous cheers, absolutely beaming, after she successfully cleared the bar. That mark handed her the 4A meet record, beating her own height of 5–9 from a year earlier.

That performance also earned her the gold by six inches, even though she missed her final attempt at 6 feet by just a hair.

“I just felt so much adrenaline from all the fans,” Bailey said. “My coaches, my teammates are just hyping me up. I got to my mark and I just felt so confident in myself. Knowing what I just did at 5–10, I knew that I could do it. Everyone was clapping and I had so much adrenaline and I am so grateful. Even attempting a 6-foot bar, I never would have thought I would have ever done that in my life, let alone in high school.”

She achieved the impressive feat with a bandage wrapped around her upper leg and hip, and said all of that came after an ankle injury she suffered during volleyball season. All of it, she said, hinged on having a positive mindset throughout her entire process.

“I just muscled through it and came in and did what needed to be done,” she said. “I had to take last week easy and kind of just rest it, knowing that that would be the best for today, and I’m really glad that I did that. Not much changed about (my approach) though.”

Niwot, who else?
As Niwot’s Addison Ritzenhein neared the finish line as part of the anchor for the 4×800-meter relay championships, she was a woman all alone. No one came close to touching the Cougars’ team, which won by more than 13 seconds over Air Academy.

Elise Hagen started things out, admitting her handoff was a little too close for comfort alongside her competitors, but Elsza Bergen and Scarlett Parks were able to widen the gap with each passing lap.

“We really just wanted to go out there and run for each other and do our best, get points on the board to win a state championship,” Hagen said through a scream-strained voice. “I got nervous because we kind of went out slow the first lap. I handed off (the baton) and we were all kind of close. I was like, ‘We just need to pull through and make a gap so it can be an easy win.’”

If the Cougars follow suit with the past six state meets dating back to 2019 (minus the COVID year), that gold could be the first of many on their way to a seventh-straight team crown.

Such is life among the Niwot girls crowd.

“I just think that it’s our amazing culture and energy we bring,” Hagen said. “We all just want each other to do our best and we’re always cheering for each other. I think it’s just really special to have the team camaraderie.”

Going the Distance
The last time that Lewis-Palmer’s Reese Douglas graced the state championships in shot put, she settled for third place with a best throw of 36 feet, 8 inches. That seemed like a distant memory on Thursday.

By morning’s end, the senior not only won the event in convincing fashion — by about three and a half feet — but she blew last year’s finish out of the water. The winning mark was 40–10, and she wasted no time throwing the shot there.

“It was actually my first throw that was the best, and then I had a couple that were decent,” Douglas explained. “I actually scratched two of them. Going into finals ranked first, I was able to calm down a bit.”

She hit three personal records as the spring wore on, all by about six inches, before reaching her acme in the championships. What a way to go off to college.

“There was a lot of off-season work, a ton of weight lifting — more weight lifting than I would like to admit — and then just really focusing on the specifics of form,” she said.

Injury bug? No matter
The last time that Palmer’s Skylar Angelidis came to Jeffco Stadium, she had to watch the triple jump from afar. Last year, she hurt her knee right before the championships.

She made up for that and more in Thursday’s triple jump finals, when she won on her final jump at 38 feet, 6.25 inches. That injury bug still bit her, when she sprained her ankle with three games left in soccer season, but she wasn’t about to let that rob her of another chance to compete.

“I was seeded at second, and my strategy was just to hit the board aggressively and give it my all,” Angelidis said. “Coming into this, I had an injury a few weeks ago, so I took some time off to heal that. I didn’t really have much practice before state.

“I was super nervous, but I think the excitement just took over once I started jumping. My first jump wasn’t too great, so then I knew I had to turn it on. It just took off from there and went great.”

Team Scores
Following one day of competition, Roosevelt leads the way with 21 points, while Niwot sits second at 19 points. Grand Junction Central is third with 16, and is followed by Mountin View in fourth (12 points) and Timnath in fifth (11.5).