Payton Mathelier sat motionless in her blocks.

It’s that moment when the world ceases to spin.

And then — explode.

The Mountain Vista junior shot out of the blocks like the nonexistent bullet in the starter’s gun.

She pushed the pedal all the way to the floor, accelerating faster than a Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170 and raged around the top of the track in a furious sprint.

She just may have left some tire marks at the start.

Mathelier made up the stagger on the field within the first 120 meters of the 400 at the Dakota Ridge Invitational.

Then it was a vast ocean of white-lined synthetic red rubber in front of her.

Down the backstretch, she gave the appearance of effortlessly gliding over the track as if on a pair of ’90s roller skates and the Mountain Vista junior raced on, unchallenged.

She pumped her arms and popped off her toes while her tight braided ponytail drifted in her wake.

Mathelier dipped her head at the finish line to stop the clock at 55.18 seconds.

She slowed for the first time in just under a minute to a walk before hunching over.

Seconds passed in what felt like minutes — that’s how much she won by.

The Mountain Vista junior had just demolished the field by over four-seconds.

Four seconds in the 400 is a race of your own.

As the rest of the field staggered in, Mathelier nonchalantly walked off the track as if she had just bowled a strike.

It was just another day at the red oval office for Colorado’s fastest quarter-miler.

Last month Mathelier torched a state-leading, personal best of 54.53 in her first attempt at the distance this season at the Niwot Invitational.

The time has stood against many challengers over the last four weeks, but it remains a Colorado No. 1.

The Mountain Vista junior has already put together an impressive season, winning every 200 and 400 she’s competed in.

Now she heads into the final four weeks of the season as a favorite to claim the Class 5A 400 state title and compete for the 200.

As a sophomore, she finished sixth in the 400 at the 2025 state track and field meet, running 56.19.

Clearly, she’s already made a massive leap.
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Among the many highlights coming out of the Dakota Ridge Invitational are Mountain Vista’s Claire Guiberson, who ran away from a solid girls field in the first event of the day — the 3,200.

Guiberson ran a season-best of 10 minutes, 55.30 seconds, which moved her up to the No. 8 spot in 5A.

Cutting the distance in half, Arapahoe sophomore Maeve Vancik took a tight victory in the 1,600, clocking 5:03.73, which was just ahead of Heritage senior Caroline Fender, who was a stride back in 5:04.46.

In the 800 Heritage’s Emery Schwalm went way down in distance to battle for two laps, clocking 2:16.68 for the win over Arapahoe’s Vancik, who clocked 2:18 for a solid double.

In the field Air Academy’s Jayla Ray leapt to a 4A No. 1 of 18 feet, 6 inches in the long jump. The mark was also a personal best for Ray.

Heritage junior Liam Folk made a massive leap in the 1,600, clocking a meet record and 7-second personal best of 4:15.86 for the win.

The time moves Folk up all the way from a 5A No. 10, all the way to the No. 2 spot.

Adding to the impressiveness of the feat is the fact that Folk did not qualify for the 2025 state meet.

And now he’s the second-ranked runner in the event.
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Run Around The Country

Bryan Clay Invitational (California): History was made (for the second consecutive week) as Northfield sophomore Abdinasir Hassan ran the fastest 5,000 ever run by a Coloradan, clocking 13:52 in an open field. The time is a US No. 1, and ranks No. 9 All-Time in the event among high schoolers. What makes Hassan’s performance all the more impressive is the fact that he’s just a sophomore.

Hassan’s time surpassed Parker Wolfe’s 14:06 from the 2021 Texas Distance Festival.

Cherry Creek Twilight: KIPP Northeast’s Madina Ibrahim ran a CO No. 2 of 43.15 in the 300 Hurdles, which was just ahead of Alexandria Horton’s CO No. 5 of 44.20.

Randall Hess RoughRider Invitational: Riverdale Ridge’s Payton Meineke soloed a 10:46 to win the 3,200, while the 400 was an epic battle between 800 star Madeline Clark, Addyson Smith, Kalyanna Flores, and Lily Wale. Clark took the win in 56.08, just ahead of Smith’s 56.09.Flores and Wale clocked 57.23, and 57.37.