Summit High School’s track and field team arrived to compete in the final day of the Colorado state track and field championships at Jeffco Stadium in Lakewood on Saturday, May 16, hoping to maintain momentum from the previous day.

Kayla Broecker stepped to the starting line of the 1,600 for her third race of the weekend as one of four freshman girls who had qualified, head coach Mike Hagen wrote in an email. Broecker started strong and finished the first 400 meters in a fast 73.5 seconds to slot into the ninth position. Broecker moved up into seventh position on her second lap and held it through the third lap. She closed in another very fast 73 seconds on the last lap to pass two more runners, outleaning a Niwot athlete at the line, to earn fifth place in a new personal record time of 5:02.60. 

Broecker ran two seconds faster than her previous best, was the first freshman finisher and placed eight positions higher than expected based on her seed, according to Hagen.

Less than 24 hours after his state championship victory and state record in the 800m race, Jay McDonald was the first seed in the 1,600. The 4A 1,600m race was highly anticipated, with all of the top finishers from the previous 3,200m and 800m races converging in the most competitive distance race of the entire state championship, Hagen wrote.

Even qualifying for the state 1,600m championship required an exceedingly fast time of 4:14.65, with Tyler Blair from Eagle Valley, the last to gain entry. Prerace favorites included Summit’s Jay McDonald, Niwot’s Quinn Sullivan and Rocco Culpepper and Coronado’s Oliver Horton, according to Hagen.

The race started similarly to the previous day’s 3,200, with the fast finishers willing for it to be a slow start and a tactical race. Carson Smith from Air Academy, not a prerace favorite, led the first lap in a rather leisurely 62.5 seconds. The pace slowed further on the second lap, completed in 65 seconds. McDonald reached the halfway point in ninth place 2:08.97 — perhaps a bit further back than he would have liked after being a little bit boxed in at times. 

McDonald made a move on the third lap to get into a better position and increased the pace with a 63‑second lap, moving all the way up into first place. With one lap to go, McDonald, Horton, Sullivan and Culpepper were at the front. It was going to be a ferocious final 400 meters, Hagen wrote.

McDonald held the lead until 200 meters to go when he was overtaken by Culpepper. Culpepper gained a lead of about 5 meters, but McDonald closed it down on the finishing stretch with a blistering last lap of 56.39 seconds. Culpepper, who is renowned for his finishing kick, was even faster, with a 55.91‑second last lap, holding off McDonald by a quarter of a second. 

The fans had not caught their breath before the girls 4A 400 final athletes walked up to their starting blocks. Leah Noble started on the outside in lane nine, having earned her spot in the finals with a ninth‑place finish in the preliminary round on Thursday.

Noble ran aggressively and held off her closest competitor in lane eight, as well as the 8th seed in lane one. As she entered the final straightaway, Noble briefly moved into seventh position before locking up slightly and finishing in ninth place, a few tenths of a second off her personal best. 

The Summit boys finished the meet 11th out of 64 teams, with 24 points — one point behind mountain rival Eagle Valley. The girls placed 22nd with 12 points.