Track & Field: Grandview girls win Class 5A state championship with plenty of points to spare

LAKEWOOD | The points came early and often for the Grandview girls track team at the Class 5A state track meet and piled up all the way to the final event Sunday.

By the time the abbreviated two-day meet concluded at Jefferson County Stadium, the Wolves had accrued more points than any other girls team in at least the past decade and cruised to the first state track championship in program history.

Loaded with some of the school’s best multi-sport athletes, coach John Reyes’ team won five events in all — capped by a victory in the meet-closing 4×400 meter relay from the team of seniors Michaela Onyenwere and Kennede Brown, sophomore Kaitlyn Mercer and freshman Lily Williams — on their way to 120 points and a 37-point cushion over last season’s state champion, Fort Collins.

Grandview got off to such a good start on the opening day of the meet — it scored 70 points with help from state titles from senior Brie Oakley in the 3,200 meters, junior Kylee Harr in the high jump and Harr, Williams, Jordyn Moore and Kameryn Brown in the 800 sprint medley relay — that it would have tied with Fort Collins with just points from the opening event of the day.

Mercer and Oakley countered a win in the 800 meters by the Lambkins’ Lauren Gregory with finishes of third and sixth, respectively, to put the Wolves at 83 points.

Onyenwere battled through a hamstring injury to finished second in the 100 meters, Williams turned in a runner-up finish in the 400 meter and Oakley battled Gregory down to the end again in the 1,600 meters before settling for another second place for more big points.

In all, 10 Grandview athletes made it onto the medal podium four times during the meet — four times apiece for Oakley, Onyenwere and Williams — to help the Wolves more than double their sixth-place total of 53 points from last season.

Junior-dominated Cherokee Trail finished third for the second straight season on the strength of continued dominance in the 4×100 meter relay.

Junior Taylor Watson ran a leg on a championship-winning relay for the third straight season as she combined with fellow juniors Jaiden Paris Chian DeLoach and Sydnee Larkin to put the Cougars across the finish line ahead of Arria Minor-led Denver East.

Larkin won an individual state title the day before in the 5A girls triple jump, her second straight in the event.

Sophomore Dawnielle Lewis had a lot to do with Rangeview’s 12th-place team finish, as she was at least part of all the points scored by the Raiders.

Lewis finished second in the 200 meters and third in the 100, ran a leg on the third-place 800 medley relay team and also contributed to Rangeview’s 4×100 relay team that took fifth.

Junior Julyah Wilson was similarly important to Overland’s point total of 14, as she scored individually — ninth in the 200 meters — and combined with Jaivion Lattimore, Shye’teyana Davis and Krista Rhodes on both the third-place 4×100 and fifth-place 4×200 relays.

The second place finish of the 800 sprint medley relay team of Maleia Stewart, Tatiana Dixon, Fanta Toure and Mariah Gordon racked up nine of the 12 points scored by Eaglecrest. Gordon collected the rest with her sixth-place showing in the 400 meters.

Sophomore pole vault Choying O’Brien’s fifth-place finish — with a school record mark — highlighted Smoky Hill’s nine-point effort, while junior Sierra Arceneaux picked up both of Hinkley’s points via her eighth-place finish in the 200 meters.

Claire Hummel captured ninth place in the 400 meters for Regis Jesuit’s lone point.

Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Aurora Prep Sentinel

2017 CLASS 5A STATE TRACK MEET RESULTS, GIRLS