4x800m Relay (Left to Right) Evan Keppy, Thierry Asare, Brady Hoffman, Jonas Cummings
The Eaglecrest Raptors started off their 2024 Season in style on Saturday, March 9th in the Aurora City Meet at Legacy Stadium. Overall, the team finished with 22 top-3 finishes in the meet, and won 7 events. The boys and girls teams totaled a combined 298.2 points, which is the most they have ever scored at this meet. Both the boys and girls finished second overall in the team score rankings, with the girls getting edged out by Cherry Creek, and the boys duking it out in an epic battle with defending state champion Cherokee Trail, which came down to the last events of the day.
On the girls side, the Raptors were paced by the strength of our field events and sprint relays. The Raptor ladies continued their 2+ year undefeated streak in the 4x200m Relay, with Malanya Gaines, Tatum Gratrix, Zenobia Witt, and Jaylynn Wilson bringing home first place in a Colorado-leading time of 1:45.58. Gaines, Witt, and Wilson with Senior Rachel Carlsen closed the meet with a convincing win in the 4x400m Relay, with a time of 4:06.93, which was good for Colorado #2 in Week 1. Ellie Shaw led the ladies distance crew with a huge anchor leg in the 4x800m Relay, pulling her team to a 3rd place finish and capped it off with a 6th place finish in the open 800m (2:32.0). The meet began with the young team of Daniella Lloyd (F), Amari Pickett (So), DeAjah Aggers (F), and Eliana Santos (So) bringing the Raptors a 3rd place finish in the Sprint Medley Relay. Aggers and Pickett with Freshmen Janae Wilson and Sophomore Giannah Bighorn took 3rd place in the 4x100m Relay as well.
In the open events, our Seniors led the way. Anaya Ewing took 5th place in both the 100m and 400m dashes, displaying her toughness and versatility. Speaking of versatility, Rachel Carlsen took 5th in the 100m Hurdles, 2nd in the 300m Hurdles, and 8th in the Long Jump before coming out of the blocks in the 4x400 at the end of the day. The ladies totaled a whopping 20 points in the Triple Jump, with PR’s from Aubrey Fritz (5th), Sophie Raimer (3rd), and McKenna George (2nd). George turned in an MVP-type performance, adding a 3rd place finish in the discus and winning the Shot Put in addition to her huge jump in the Triple. Raimer also took 5th in the Pole Vault in her Raptor debut, with a PR jump of 8-0. Three of the four Raptor ladies in the 200m dash turned in PR’s (Gratrix, Cam, & Pickett), and all four of the 1600m runners had the best race of their careers (Little, Gesualdo, McQuaid, & Jorgensen).
All-time EHS program top-10’s for the ladies in week 1 were Sophie Raimer in the Pole Vault (7th, 8-0), and McKenna George in the Triple Jump (5th, 34-6.5).
The Ladies Athlete of the Week was McKenna George.
Colorado #1 4x200m Relay (L-R) Tatum Gratrix, Zenobia Witt, Malanya Gaines, Jalynn Wilson
The boys came out with something to prove in Week 1, seemingly tired of being out shadowed by their female counterparts and cross-town rivals over the past two seasons. If this was the case, they made their point. The boys finished no less than 2nd place in all the relays, winning both the 4x800 and 4x100 in Colorado #1 times. Thierry Asare, Brady Hoffman, Evan Keppy, and Jonas Cummings started off the meet in the 4x800 by beating 2nd place Cherokee Trail by 7 seconds. The 4x100 team of Noah Brown, Burke Withycombe, Jeffrey Poku, and EJ Hill overpowered the rest of the field by nearly 2 seconds, as Brown effectively ended the race on the first leg with his 10.17 split in his Raptor Track debut.
The Raptor Boys Hurdle crew combined for 33 points, paced by a breakout performance from Senior Peter Ames, who took 5th in the 110’s and out-leaned the top hurdler from Grandview to win the 300’s in a huge PR of 42.08. All four Raptor boys scored points in the 110’s, with Wynton Zhang, Adam Dymond, and Jacob Dymond finishing 6th, 7th, and 9th, respectively. Zhang (4th) and J. Dymond (6th) scored points in the 300’s as well.
Cole Camp took 4th place in a stacked field of 1600m runners, running a new PR of 4:38.96, and followed it up later in the day with a 2nd place finish in the 3200m (10:14.03).
In the open sprints, the 100m boys got it started with three PR’s (Brown, Jackson, Ross), and two point scorers. Noah Brown, a Junior who is splitting the Spring season between Baseball and Track, took 2nd in the meet with a Colorado #2 time of 10.89. Senior Cory Jackson’s 11.24 was good for 7th, which he followed up with another PR of 23.08 in the 200m to take 5th. The boys went to work in the open 400m, with Junior Eric Hill taking 6th (53.33), Sophomore Bryson States taking 3rd (51.47), and Junior Xavier Waldron finishing 2nd (50.20), all PR’s.
In the Throws, the boys PR’d in 7 of our 8 entries. Sophomore Thomas Lechuga led the way in the Shot, taking 7th with a throw of 40-2.5. Senior Parker Roche was the top Raptor in the Discus, tossing 115-11 and finishing 6th.
The boys scored a total of 30 points in the jumps, led by Junior Thierry Asare’s win in the Long Jump (21-6, CO #4), and 3rd place leap in the Triple (40-11). Bezalel Tizazu bettered his PR in the Triple Jump, going 42-7 and finishing in 2nd Place. States took 6th in the event, with a PR of 40-2.
All-time EHS program top-10’s for the boys in Week 1 were Noah Brown in the 100m (4th, 10.89), Xavier Waldron in the 400m (6th, 50.20), Cole Camp in the 1600m (5th, 4:38.96), Peter Ames in the 300m Hurdles (9th, 42.08), Thierry Asare in the Long Jump (5th, 21-6), Bezalel Tizazu in the Triple Jump (9th, 42-7), Kallen Warley and Jacob Dymond in the Pole Vault (10th, 7-0), and Brown, Withycombe, Poku, & Hill in the 4x100m Relay (8th, 42.41).
The Boys Athlete of the Week was Thierry Asare.
Colorado #1 Boys 4x100m Relay (L-R) Jeff Poku, Burke Withycombe, Noah Brown, EJ Hill
The Raptors Varsity team will be back in action on Saturday, March 16th at the Thunderridge Invitational at Echo Park Stadium.
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