Eaglecrest created drama on the final day of the Class 5A girls state track meet as it put itself in position to win the team title based on the result of the final race.

The Raptors ultimately finished behind Mountain Vista as runner-up and several of the key pieces that put first-year coach Chazz Burney’s team in that contending position appear on the 2026 Aurora Sentinel All-Aurora Girls Track Team, which is based primarily on the state meet performance as well as the regular season when necessary.

Cherokee Trail (which had a state champion in freshman Madison Lange), Grandview, Overland, Regis Jesuit and Vista PEAK Prep also have representation.

Eaglecrest’s near-championship mix included a blend of firepower and athletes who exceeded their expectations coming into the state meet.

Junior Zenobia Witt had won five state championships in her first two state meets with the Raptors, but because of injury, there remained some doubt (even in her mind) that she would be able to return for this season’s culminating competition. She was able to get back into shape in the final weeks and got the marks needed to make it to state, where she looked like her old self.

Witt extended her reign in the 5A girls long jump — her favorite event — to three consecutive seasons when she recorded a top effort of 19 feet, 3 1/4 inches, that won the competition handily. It wasn’t enough to surpass the 20-foot mark she had surpassed during indoor competition at a New Balance national meet, but gave her more than a foot of clearance over runner-up Taylor Spier of Columbine. Witt challenged to win a second state title in the 100 meter hurdles, but was unable to knock off favored Amber Calender of Northfield, who bested her by 0.37 of a second. Witt ran 13.64 to Calender’s 13.37.

Junior Jenna Winn had a breakout season in distance running for Eaglecrest, which included an outstanding performance in the 800 meters. Winn was unable to catch Riverdale Ridge’s Payton Meineke for the state title, but her surge from the outside resulted in a runner-up finish in a time of 2:10.67.

Winn also contributed to two placing relays, as she ran on the fourth-place 4×400 relay team with fellow junior Malanya Gaines plus sophomores Rhyan Gadlin and Jenna Hallman, while she combined with fellow juniors Gaines and Mia Silva and Hallman for sixth place in the 4×800 relay.

Individually, Gadlin claimed the All-Aurora spot in the 300 meter hurdles with a third-place finish. She ran a time of 43.65 seconds in the final to move up a place from prelims and come in only behind Fountain-Fort Carson’s Alexa Queen and Valor Christian’s Ruby Snyder.

Senior Haley Brinkman contributed valuable points to Eaglecrest’s cause in the shot put when she qualified for state late in the season and ended up sixth with a throw of 35-9 3/4.

Witt’s decision not to compete in the triple jump (in lieu of the 300 hurdles) left the event open and nobody from an Aurora-area program made it to state. Eaglecrest senior Naia Williams had the area’s top effort with a 33 4-1/4 that came at the Broomfield Shootout.

The only other state championship for an Aurora area girls athlete besides Witt at the state meet came from Lange, who had an outstanding debut for Cherokee Trail, which placed third as a team.

A three-event placer, Lange saved her best result for last, when she outlasted a field that included multiple state champions in other events to take the 1,600 meter crown. Lange finished with a time of 4:52.32 to defeat Emry Schwalm of Heritage, who had been the only runner to top her in the 3,200 by 0.10 of a second.

Coach Chris Faust’s Cougars earned both sprint freestyle relay positions (4×100 and 4×200) with teams that both included junior Tayah Burton, sophomore Des’rae Burke and freshman Maiya Watson. The trio combined with senior Maliah Watson for a third place finish in the 4×100, while they ran with sophomore Afua Adu Clinton on a 4×200 team that placed fourth. It was the first time a non-Eaglecrest team took the All-Aurora spot in the event since the 2021 season as the Raptors had won four straight state titles.

All 11 of Overland’s points came courtesy of junior sprinter Lezlee Napier, who posted the top finish locally in the 100 and 200 meters. One of three Aurora area finalists in the 200, Napier ran a 24.35 to place fourth, while her 12.10 in the 100 was good enough for fifth place.

Similarly, sophomore Alexis Fischer earned all of Grandview’s eight points, which included seven from a third-place finish in the 400 meters. Fischer ran 54.84 in a highly competitive race to lead city competitors.

Vista PEAK Prep athletes fill two All-Aurora spots in seniors Tajah Eugene (high jump) and Justice Ray (shot put). Eugene came in as the top seed in the event and ultimately finished with the same top height (5 feet, 5 inches) as six other competitors, but she ended up in a tie for fifth due to two misses at 5-5 after she cleared her first three heights on the first try.

Ray was the area’s only state qualifier in the discus and she just missed the medal podium with a top throw of 33-1 1/4.

Regis Jesuit’s All-Aurora representative is junior McKenzie Budman in the pole vault. The area had no state qualifiers in the event, but Budman’s clear of 9 feet, 8 inches, at the Liberty Bell Invite led locals.

Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at [email protected]. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports

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