LAKEWOOD – The Cheyenne Mountain girls’ 4×100 relay keeps getting faster.

On Saturday, the Indians’ sprinters teamed for a third consecutive Class 4A win in the event and set a program record with their 48.72-second finish.

“That was amazing to finish it off,” senior Ashlyn Ventimiglia said. “That was awesome. I’m really proud of our team.”

The Indians bested Niwot, the eventual team champions, by nearly half a second, but the program record was in question with Ventimiglia feeling under the weather.

“I was feeling awful after,” Ventimiglia said. “So we were all really nervous to see how we did.”

There were few nerves when it came to another win in the event, however.

“We knew we had it in the bag,” Ventimiglia said. “We just had to finally do it.”

Ventimiglia, the anchor who’s heading to run at Montana State, was joined by classmates Ava David and Gabrielle Hyatt and freshman Zatee Jones.

“Everything was perfectly together,” Ventimiglia said.

Harrison’s McCallister takes gold

Ereana McCallister leaned across the finish line and immediately looked at the video screen at Jeffco Stadium.

When her name flashed onto the screen in first, the senior skipped around the finish line before flexing muscles to her cheering section in the stands.

She had won the 4A 100-meter dash in 12.37 – giving Harrison its only gold medal of the weekend.

McCallister was the top seed heading into the finals with a 12.44 qualifying time. Her season best was 12.2.

McCallister also took fourth in a stacked 200 race, finishing in 25.41.

Canon City’s Brendan Young takes gold in triple jump, sets two school records

Brendan Young entered the weekend the top-ranked jumper in the long and the triple, but despite the high expectations, the senior UCCS commit had no idea what was in store.

Young broke the Canon City school record in the triple jump with a leap of 47-11, more than seven inches farther than his personal best, on the way to his second gold medal of the weekend.

Young later helped his 4×100 relay team (Raymond Cammel, Harrison Pilafas and Noah Vidmar) break a school record. The team finished third behind Pueblo East and Skyline in 42.62 – just .23 seconds behind champion East.

Young also placed fourth in the high jump, in which he entered as the 10 seed. He cleared 6-3, an inch higher than his season best.

Elizabeth makes statement on final day of state track

Elizabeth seniors Ashten Loeks and Mason Anthony climbed on top of the state podium just 12 minutes apart, sweeping the Class 3A 300 hurdles.

Loeks claimed gold first, finishing in 43.63, more than three seconds ahead of her season best. Just minutes later Anthony placed first in 38.67, his second gold of the weekend. Anthony also took silver in the 300 hurdles in 14.39.

His efforts helped the Elizabeth boys’ team to a third-place finish.

“There’s a sense of urgency this year to make one last impression on Elizabeth. We are one of the really big classes that came in and that gave our team some hope that we really helped Elizabeth become Elizabeth,” Loeks said. “We are a cute little town in a field somewhere, so with it being the last one we really wanted to make one last effort to help people remember our name.”

Loeks and Anthony are both signed to compete at UCCS next season.

Jasmine Charles places second, breaks school record in 100m hurdles

Liberty’s Jasmine Charles placed second in the girls’ 5A 100-meter hurdles on Saturday, breaking a school record with a finish in 14.43.

The senior took silver despite injuring her ankle earlier in the week.

“It was hard coming in because I was taking a lot of ibuprofen and icing it to make sure it was okay for the races,” Charles said. “I’ve always had ankle issues ever since I was young because I grew so fast, so it’s just kind of something I’m used to. I just try to make the best of it.”

Charles said she had a growth spurt entering middle school, and stood taller than everyone – including the boys.

“It was a little awkward for a while, but I grew into it,” Charles said.

Charles also qualified for the state meet in the 300 hurdles, but her injury kept her from making the finals. She ran a 46.43 in the prelim race. Her season best entering was 44.79.

Pine Creek thrower crushes season best, places second in discus throw

When Pine Creek junior Rece Rowan released the discus on his final attempt in his flight, the crowd knew it was special.

The disc flew 179 feet, a season-best for Rowan by more than 13 feet.

His efforts helped him to a silver medal in the 5A discus throw, and his second podium finish of the weekend. Rowan placed third in the shot put on Thursday with a throw of 54-0.25 – which he saved for the very last throw of the finals.

Spartan relays place second despite moving pieces

Doherty did not have the luxury of a consistent lineup in the 4×100 relay this season, yet when it came to its final race of the season, only one team finished faster.

Brandon Deas, Andrew Martinez, Isaiah Escalante and Jaden Martinez teamed to run a 42.67, roughly two-tenths of a second behind winning Valor Christian, the eventual team champions.

“I think I can live with that,” Jaden Martinez said. “All the hard work and dedication we went through this season, we know it was a tough competition going in. We just said ‘As long as we leave it all out there, we’ll be happy.’”

Jaden Martinez ran the anchor leg Saturday, but that wasn’t the case throughout the season. Brian Mosley ran the fourth leg for a stretch of the season before an injury just prior to the Colorado Springs Metro League meet ended his season.

Jaden Martinez and Escalante figure to be joined by two new teammates on the relay next year.

“I’m happy where we’re at, man,” Jaden Martinez said, “Just gotta work harder and move on.”

Maal makes most of last 1,600 at St. Mary’s

St. Mary’s senior Adam Maal was in foreign territory when he lined up for the 2A 1,600-meter race Saturday.

Maal only ran the races twice before the final day of the state meet, one of which came in his first meet of the season.

“I qualified from my first meet in March,” Maal said. “Then I just sat in the top 18 rankings, kept dropping, dropping, dropping, but I stayed in.”

It wasn’t a matter of Maal belonging in the state field, as evidenced by his third-place finish Saturday, but he opted to focus on the 800.

Maal came into the race with a plan to run with Lyons’ Isaac Roberts but had to adjust.

“He was going a little too hard,” the Pirate senior said. “The last 300 meters, I just had to kick and go.”

Maal picked off a couple others down the stretch for a result he can be proud of in his final prep race.

“I’m extremely happy,” he said. “I knew I was just going to have fun with this race and try to PR, and I did, so I’m really happy.”

Titans come up just short

For the first time since 2011, The Classical Academy girls’ track and field team is looking up at a competitor.

Lutheran edged the Titans 109-106 for the top spot in 3A. The team title was decided in the final race, the 4×400 relay. TCA entered five points behind and placed second, three second backs of Alamosa.

Lutheran, however, finished fourth to hold off the Titans.