From Quinn Sullivan’s opening leg, it was clear.

Niwot intended to not only break the Colorado 4×800 state record of 7 minutes, 43.92 seconds— the Cougars wanted to obliterate it.

“The main goal was to win that leg,” Sullivan shared. “You’ve got Jay McDonald from Summit in there, so you had to go fast to win that leg. That was the goal.”

Sullivan opened with a 1:51.37 first leg, while Ryder Keeton countered with a 1:52.72, and it was the Niwot show from there.

Halfway through, Niwot held a solid lead at 3:43 — considerably under the state record pace of 3:51 and change.

They literally could’ve afforded their final two legs to run 2:00 each.

But that’s not their style.

Corven Peterson, who was “subbed in” at the last minute, ran a 1:57.45 to keep them well under record pace, while Rocco Culpepper brought it home with a 1:55.

“We were trying to run fast,” Culepper said. “(The record) was in the back of our mind, but it wasn’t the main purpose of why we came out here to race our hardest.”

Niwot crossed the finish line in 7:37.24 for a Colorado state record, 4A state meet record, and a US No. 2 in the event.

And it wasn’t even noon yet.

The first day of the 2026 Colorado state track and field meet provided plenty of fireworks.

Here are the highlights:

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Heritage’s Emry Schwalm claimed the first title of the 2026 state meet with a furious final 300 of the Class 5A 3,200. The Heritage senior kicked hard to win in 10:26, which was three seconds ahead of Cherokee Trail freshman Madison Lange, who crossed second in 10:29.

(Bobby Reyes)

Like the girls race, the boys 5A 3,200 came down to the final lap — and the final meters.

Jackson Ferguson made a race of it. The Golden sophomore kicked just before the bell. Ferguson held a sizable lead heading into the backstretch, but Mountain Vista junior and defending state champ Ben Adams would not be denied a repeat.

Adams turned on the jets in the final 150 meters and caught Ferguson 40 meters before the finish line, clocking 9:10.

Ferguson took second in 9:11, just ahead of ThunderRidge’s Ben Lee, who took third in 9:13.

Adams’ final lap was a blistering 58.57 seconds, while Ferguson’s was 59.77.

While the sun was blazing overhead, burning plenty of foreheads, Adams provided plenty of burns on the track as well.

The Mountain Vista junior came back just over an hour later to anchor Mountain Vista’s 4×800 to a 5A state title, once again kicking from behind to win.

Half-a-dozen teams were still in this race with a lap to go, but once again, Adams would not be denied crossing the line first.

Mountain Vista won the race in 7:50.88, just ahead of Northfield’s 7:51.13, Fort Collins’ 7:51.32, and Broomfield’s 7:51.94.

Six squads race 7:52 or faster.

For the girls, ThunderRidge stormed back from behind to win the race in 9:13, just ahead of Boulder’s 9:18

In 4A, the Niwot girls made it a Cougar sweep of the event, clocking a state-leading 9:11.62 to defend their title.

In the boys 5A long jump, Eaglecrest’s Cameron Bell sent everyone’s anxiety to the brim after fouling on his first two attempts.

It’s of note that he ran the 110 Hurdle prelims, then immediately ran to the long jump, where he jumped three consecutive times since everyone in Round 2 had already competed.

Fortunately for Bell, his third jump was clean, and he sailed into the final, where he won the event with a mark of 24 feet.

In the girls 4A high jump, Roosevelt’s Braelyn Bailey reset the record books, clearing a 4A state meet record of 5-10.

As dominant as Bailey was in the high jump, so was Lewis-Palmer’s Reese Douglas, who won the 4A shot put state title with a toss of 40-10.

For the boys, Palmer Ridge’s Nathan Moller sailed over 6-10 to win the 4A state title in the high jump.

In the girls 3A, Delaney Reuter got redemption.

The Eaton junior replicated last year’s domination in the 3,200; only this year, there was no disqualification.
Reuter torched the field for a 34-second victory, clocking 10:41.

Likewise, Manitou Springs’ Mackinzy Wall conquered all-comers in the discus, tossing a 3A state meet record of 147-09, winning the event by over 25 feet.

Meanwhile, The Classical Academy girls ran away with the state title in the 4×800, clocking a season best of 9:31.

Day 2 of the 2026 Colorado track and field championships launches off the starting line at 8:20 a.m. with the girls 4A 3,200 finals.