3A Boys Track & Field: Coal Ridge Comes Away With Program’s First Team Title

LAKEWOOD – A year ago, the Titans of Coal Ridge nearly pulled off an incredible feat.

They scored 93 points as a girls team and only finished 11 away from clinching a state championship over The Classical Academy.

This year, during the Class 3A State Track and Field Championships, Coal Ridge finished the job.

Their boys pulled away for the team crown by racking up 86 points. It was the first men’s track title for the program and its second overall in the sport for the school (won girls in 2021).

“The Classical Academy always is the team to beat in 3A,” head coach Ben Kirk said. “Harrison came down in 3A with their sprint speed. We knew they were going to be tough. I felt like Denver West this year was a new one that kind of popped up that was like, wow, they’re doing very well. I felt it was going to be between us four.”

The Classical Academy was the three-time defending champion, but it finished second with 67 points. Harrison had 65 points and Denver West had 56.

And so, to overcome the other contenders, Coal Ridge needed some astonishing performances.

They certainly found it with Aiden Huey, Marcus Munoz, and Clayton Terrell sweeping the top three places, in that order, in triple jump.

Munoz saw his teammate Alex Huey take away his triple jump crown, after winning the event in 2025, but had a remarkable long jump performance with a 3A state meet record leap of 23 feet, 2.75 inches on Saturday.

“That guy is incredible,” Kirk said of Munoz. “Last year, the night before the triple jump, he told me he was going to win it. I was like, alright man, let’s go get it. He never makes claims like that. He’s a super quiet kid.”

As a sophomore, he already won gold. But, this year he called his shot again.

“This morning, he told me ‘coach I’m going to break the state record in the long jump today,’ Kirk said. “And then to go do it, just unbelievable.”

Munoz and his teammates had the preparation, from excellent coaching, and the confidence they needed to come in clutch the final day of the state meet.

Super sophomore Clayton Terrell was fourth in long jump for the Titans, while Huey was fifth.

In total, the Titans piled up 46 points in just the triple jump and the long jump.

Kai Oesterle chipped in seven points in the 300 hurdles for Coal Ridge by finishing third. On top of that, Jayden Emery was eighth in shot put. Huey was third in 110 hurdles, and sixth in pole vault, while Oesterle was fifth in 110 hurdles.

If that wasn’t enough, Coal Ridge was the state runner-up to Harrison in the 4×100 relay and they earned sixth in the 4×200 relay. They were even seventh in the 4×800 relay.

The Titans had a remarkable meet and it pushed them to the top. During the season, they knew could win a state championship but it wasn’t on their mind often.

“We didn’t talk about it too much,” Munoz said. “We knew that we could do it, but we didn’t bring it up until this week.”

After two days of competition though, Coal Ridge held a 36-29 lead on The Classical Academy. The team truly began to realize they might take down the longtime Colorado Springs powerhouse.

“I’m just very blessed with the group of guys we have, the coaches we have,” Kirk said. “We’ve been gunning for this for awhile, so it was super cool to see them do it. I think we broke six school records this year. So it took six school record-breakers to make this happen.”

The Denver West Cowboys also have sensational track athletes this year and their 110-meter hurdler Tiden Silver-Colbert (14.22) nipped Kent Denver’s Solomon Morrell (14.23) for the state title. A couple of hours later, the West senior swept the hurdles with a 38.39 in the 300.

Ernest Fields of West also impressed by finishing as the runner-up in the 100 (10.76), 200 (21.77), and 400 (47.89). The Cowboys were also the runner-up to Strasburg in the 4×400 relay by 0.17 seconds.

Bayfield’s Ayden Casillas (10.74) earned the 100 crown, while Harrison burner Thiago Roberts (47.63) surged in the final 50 meters to catch Fields and win the 400 championship.

Roberts, who will run for the Colorado Buffaloes, also won the 200 in 21.49.

Jackson Edwards lifted The Classical Academy to a very brief lead by conquering all competitors in the shot put with a throw of 51’3.25.

In one of the final events of the day, Frontier Academy’s Matthew Hayden pulled away in the 1600 with a time of 4:22.15. Resurrection Christian sophomore Lincoln Fagerlin was the runner-up in 4:25.12.