After Cherokee Trail’s 1600-meter relay team came within four-tenths of the school record in the Stutler Twilight on April 29, the quartet — Kaelan Kombo, Kahari Wilbon, Beck Gutjahr and Peyton Sommers — petitioned coach Chris Faust for one more shot at the mark in the Centennial League championships last weekend.
It would be the final chance for that particular foursome to run it, seeing as Sommers, the Cougars’ star, will be placed on a different relay at the state meet.
So Faust agreed to the request — and upped the ante.
“I told them, ‘Forget the school record guys. If you run what you’re capable of, you can go get the state record,’” Faust said. “They were clearly gunning for it. But they might’ve even shocked themselves.”
Cherokee Trail turned in a state record 3 minutes, 13.02 seconds, pushing the Cougars to the Centennial League championship. That blazing mark roasted the previous record — Rangeview’s time of 3:14.72 from 2012 — by over 1.5 seconds.
“I knew they could run fast,” Faust said. “I had no idea they could run that fast. They had unbelievable splits.”
Sommers, who enters Thursday’s state meet at Jeffco Stadium as one of the Class 5A sprinters to watch, ran the fastest 100 meters in the state this year with his 10.50 at the Centennial League championships. He also has the best legal mark in the 200 (21.19) in the state, and the second-best time in the 400 (47.97) behind defending 5A champion Ace Malone of Castle View.
The sophomore, who also stars at receiver for the Cougars football team, said breaking the 1600 relay record was a “surreal” boost of momentum on the penultimate weekend of the season.
“Coming down the last 100 as the anchor, and seeing the clock, I was calculating it in my head,” Sommers said. “I knew I had to run about a 14-second 100 to get it and as I was running I thought, ‘Wow, we really might break it.’ The last 30 (meters), I swear I almost fell. My legs have never felt like that.”
The idea behind placing Sommers — who is central to the Cougars’ title hopes this weekend — on a different relay at state is that Faust believes the Cougars could still win the title in the 1600 relay without him, while Sommers boosts either the 400 or 800 relays.
Faust has Colorado State commit Reuben Holness, who was on the Cougars’ 1600 relay title team last year, to plug in for Sommers. The Cougars are seeking their sixth title overall in the event in Faust’s 20-year tenure as the boys coach (he’s also in his 11th season as the girls coach).
“Sommers is definitely one of the best runners we’ve ever had, and one of the best runners in the state,” Faust said. “But realistically, if we’re trying to win the whole thing, putting him somewhere else makes more sense. We could still run 3:16, 3:17 (with Holness) and that’s a very good time.”
Cherokee Trail is aiming for its third boys track title to go along with crowns in 2007 and ’13. If Sommers performs up to his times, the Cougars will be a favorite.
“My biggest goal is to help this team win state, and individually, I want to sweep the sprints,” Sommers said. “We can do it. Everyone’s peaking and PRing at the right time.”
On the girls side, the Cougars are without star sprinter Symone Adams, as the Indiana commit is sidelined with a hamstring injury. That leaves sophomore Kaeli Powe as the CT’s featured female athlete, as Powe leads the state in long jump and will also be in the mix in triple jump and 100-meter hurdles.
The state meet runs Thursday through Saturday at Jeffco Stadium in Lakewood. The Class 5A boys 1600 relay final, the second-to-last event of the entire meet, is scheduled for Saturday at 5:25 p.m.
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