4 Western Slope storylines to follow heading into the 2024 Colorado high school state track and field meet

Eagle County will be well represented at the 2024 Colorado High School state track and field championships this weekend.

Four relays and six individuals from Battle Mountain — including defending 3200-meter state champion Will Brunner — as well as five relays and six individuals from Eagle Valley qualified for the three-day event, which begins on Thursday at Jeffco Stadium in Lakewood. All races will be livestreamed on the NFHS Network Thursday through Saturday.

Below are four Western Slope-related storylines to follow going into the 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A and 5A meets.

No. 1: Revved up for relays

Much has been said regarding the Eagle Valley boys’ depth. Unfortunately, only three athletes made the 18-person individual cut in their respective specialties — Cooper Filmore (3200-meters), Armando Fuentes (800-meters) and Kevin Hasley (300-meter hurdles). That means guys who were just on the outside looking in, like 2023 Western Slope athlete of the year Kaden Kraft as well as both Blair brothers, will be fresh for sprint and distance relays.

The Devils 4×800-meter relay team arrives in Lakewood as the No. 4 seed. If everyone shows up healthy — and Kraft busts out a big personal best — they are certainly talented enough to dip under 8:00, a time which would likely guarantee at least a bronze medal. No. 1 Cheyenne Mountain (7:57.81) and perennial power Niwot (8:01.81) will be the teams to key off of. Meanwhile, the Devils’ 4×100 team shaved off 0.95 seconds at the Windjammer Invitational last Saturday, moving up from 26th to 11th in the statewide rankings.

Support Local Journalism

Donate

On the girls side, Battle Mountain’s sprint medley is fresh off lowering its program record at the Western Slope League meet. The Huskies come into the event with the fourth-best time, but have one of the most formidable anchors in Presley Smith and are benefiting from Kiki Hancock continuing to round into form coming off an ACL injury this fall.

Even if they’re not in the running for the win, the last event of the weekend presents a fun dual between Eagle Valley and Battle Mountain’s 4×400 teams: the Huskies and Devils are separated by just 0.03 seconds.

No. 2: Field fun

It should be interesting to see if Kenzie Cosper can continue her record-setting season in Saturday’s pole vault. The Eagle Valley junior’s 10-10 mark is seventh best, but an off day could easily push her out of the top-10. Her teammate Allie Braun is also right on the cusp of an all-state slot in the high jump, where she comes in with the eight-best mark at 5-1.

Battle Mountain senior Cooper Skidmore snuck into the final spot of the shot put, but the Husky will likely be more focused on doing damage in the discus, where he’s seeded fourth.

No. 3: I believe I can fly

De Beque’s Scottie Vines, Jr. used to consider himself a hooper first and a high jumper second.

“But that sophomore year, when he was consistently hitting 6-foot-6, and we were expecting it every week, I was like, ‘Scotty, this is not normal. This isn’t what other high school kids are doing. You are special at this. This is your thing,'” De Beque athletic director and track and field coach Melissa Rigsby told CHSAA media in April.

This year, the top seeded 1A high jumper has soared to a completely new level, breaking Matt Hemingway’s 33-year-old state record of 7-04 in March. Hemingway, who went from little Buena Vista High School to winning the 2004 Olympic silver medal, reached out to Vines — who attends a school with an enrollment of just 39 kids — to take him under his wing a couple years ago.

“It been a dream of mine to help him break it,” Hemingway stated on social media after Vines’ record-setting jump in March. “Dreams come true and I’m so proud of him! There is more to come for him.”

Vines Jr.’s 7-04.25 leap is not only higher than any mark ever posted at the any of the state’s collegiate track and field programs, it also qualified him for the U.S. Olympic Trials this June in Eugene, Oregon.

No. 4: The Last Dance

Continuing with the Air Jordan theme, it’s appropriate to close this preview mentioning the last dance of Porter Middaugh and Will Brunner. Battle Mountain’s dynamic distance duo will compete in their final prep races this weekend.

That means one more chance for Middaugh — who owns the school record for the 3200 (his 8:41.05 is also the second-best 3200 time by any Colorado prep athlete) and 800-meter (1:55.60) runs — to claim an elusive state championship. He finished second and fourth in the last two cross-country state meets, the latter of which was won by Brunner. Brunner, whose personal bests aren’t too shabby either — (8:59, 4:13.80 and 1:55.69 for 3200, 1600 and 800, respectively) — returns as the defending 3200-meter champion. The future Harvard runner is the top seed in both the 1600 and 3200.