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The Niwot girls track and field team turned in another superb performance at last week’s Lyons Invitational, capturing seven event titles on their way to a fifth straight team win.

Junior Mary Gillett nabbed two wins on the day, setting a meet record in the 400-meter run with a time of 57.16 seconds and posting another meet record in the long jump (16 feet, 17 inches). Senior Alexis Carroll’s sub-15 time of 14.96 in the event’s 100-meter hurdles was good for both first and the meet’s new mark , while junior teammate Mackenzie Fidelak set the bar in the 300-meter hurdles, at 45.06. Carroll also set a new meet record in the triple jump, going 36’-6”. Finally, the Cougars 4x800 relay team set a meet record at 9:47.51, besting last year’s time of 10:10.32 by more than 22 seconds.

For Coach Maurice Henriques, the results at Lyons are just par for the course for the Niwot girls in 2017. “We’ve been pretty good on the girls side,” he said, in an early candidate for understatement of the year. “Obviously, Mary Gillett is having a phenomenal season, and it was awesome to get Mackenzie Fidelak back at the top of her game.”

In the distance runs, senior Jenna McCaffrey racked up two more top-three finishes, placing third in the 800-meter run (2:24.97) and second in the 1,600-meter run (5:25.15). Her senior teammate Claire Gillett was fourth in the 800m (2:26.10), while senior Courtney Smoljan was 37th in the 1,600m (6:34.14) and 13th in the 3,200m (13:50.44). In the throwing events, senior Rachel Oliver was 14th in the discus (92’-0”) and 13th in the shot put (29’-4”).

“I am surprised by our young kids,” said Henriques of the emergence of several underclassmen as a force on the varsity roster. “Our younger kids are running pretty well, and we’re excited to see them develop and how much they can help us down the road.”

Freshman Elise Gillett was fifth in the 100m hurdles (17.60) and eighth in the 300m hurdles (51.82), while freshman Samrawit Dishon set personal bests in the 800m (2:36.07), which was good 12th overall, and 1,600m (6:03.98, good for 25th). Sophomore Maggie Smith placed seventh in the 800-meter run (2:31.37), and her 10th-grade teammate Kayla Nowlin was eighth in the 400m (1:04.62).

In the boys events, Niwot was somewhat hampered by low participation due to the school holiday week.

“We had two different teams at Lyons,” explained Henriques. “Most of our girls stayed around for spring break, but most of our guys were gone.”

Nevertheless, the boys tallied 33 team points on the day, finishing seventh out of 23 in the team standings. Junior Oskar Wells finally broke the two-minute mark in the 800-meter run, setting a personal record (PR) with a 1:59.77 finish that was good for second place overall. Sophomore Nolan Johan, meanwhile, nabbed fourth place and a PR in the 300m hurdles (43.21), and 12th in the 110m hurdles (17.71).

Elsewhere, junior Kenny Lang was sixth in the 3,200-meter run, finishing in 10:17.69, and junior Max Towlen took third in the discus, with a distance of 127’-9”. Senior Jason Fetters had two top ten finishes on the day, taking ninth in both the 110m-hurdles (17.53) and triple jump (36’-9”).

Henriques said the boys team is progressing as anticipated, and will be a force to contend with in April. “We should have everybody back, and I think we’ll make a pretty big statement at the Boulder meet.” The Boulder County meet will be held this year at Everly-Montgomery Field on April 15.

Overall, the coach was pleased with how his team has come together this season, and credits his loyalty campaign with building some of that chemistry.

“It’s just cool how much of a family we are,” he said. “The kids talk about what loyalty means to them, and everytime I look up, I see someone in one of our loyalty shirts.”

Henriques also singled out his assistants for praise, saying, “I think we have one of the best coaching staffs in the state, and it’s showing.”

Up next for the Cougars is the Thunderhawk Twilight meet at Prairie View High School on April 4 and the Mullen Invite on April 8.

Lyons HS, March 30

BOYS (Niwot Results)

Team Scores — 1. Lutheran, 109; 2. Vista Ridge, 104; 3. Rock Canyon, 96; 4. Loveland, 59; 5. Longmont, 57; 6. Thompson Valley, 33.50; 7. Niwot, 33 ; 8. Skyline, 27; 9. Arvada West, 26; 9. Erie, 26; 11. Monarch, 24.50 ; 12. Wiggins, 18; 13. Mead, 16; 13. Frontier Academy, 16; 15. Jefferson Academy, 13; 16. Lyons, 10; 17. Boulder, 9; 18. The Classical Academy, 8; 19. Heritage Christian Academy, 6.50; 20. Dayspring Christian Academy, 4; 21. Westminster, 3; 22. Palmer Ridge, 2; 23. Ridge View Academy, 0.50

100m — 16. Alex Herman, 11.80; 25. Jeremy Hollingsworth, 11.91; 33. Dylan Campbell, 12.17.

200m — 10. Jeremy Hollingsworth, 23.92; 64. Jarrett Noterman, 28.73.

400m — 44. Andre Worrell, 1:01.82; 54. Grant Darmour, 1:06.78; 55. Andrew Greve, 1:10.32.

800m — 2. Oskar Wells, 1:59.77; 11. Benjamin Bi, 2:08.61.

1,600m — 18. Benjamin Bi, 4:54.64.

3,200m — 6. Kenny Lang, 10:17.69.

110 hurdles — 9. Jason Fetters, 17.53; 12. Nolan Johan, 17.71; 15. Nicholas Grant, 18.24.

300 hurdles — 4. Nolan Johan, 43.21; 15. Nicholas Grant, 45.22; 16. Jason Fetters, 45.25.

4x100— 5. Niwot, 45.66.

4x200 — 5. Niwot A, 1:34.20.

4x400 — 6. Niwot A, 3:37.99.

Long jump — 18. Kyle Reeves, 17-9.

Triple jump — 9. Jason Fetters, 36-9.5.

Discus — 3. Max Towlen, 127-9; 11. Isaiah Shurtleff, 115-4.

GIRLS (Niwot Results.

Team Scores — 1. Niwot, 131.50; 2. Loveland, 95; 3. Vista Ridge, 59.75; 4. Rock Canyon, 57; 5. Lutheran, 46.75; 6. Air Academy, 37; 7. Thompson Valley, 29; 8. Lyons, 28; 9. Erie, 26.25 ; 10. Mead, 26; 11. Faith Christian Academy, 25; 12. Boulder, 23.50; 13. Arvada West, 23; 14. Wiggins, 21; 14. Frontier Academy, 21; 16. Monarch, 18.50; 17. Longmont, 18; 18. Dakota Ridge, 13; 19. Jefferson Academy, 12; 20. The Classical Academy, 6.75; 21. Heritage Christian Academy, 6.50 ; 22. Dayspring Christian Academy, 5.50; 23. Skyline, 5; 24. Palmer Ridge, 2;

100m — 30. Kelia Portis, 14.06; 31. Elise Gillett, 14.10; 35. Kayla Nowlin, 14.14.

200m — 2. Mackenzie Fidelak, 26.46; 28. Kelia Portis, 29.40; 33. Haley Noterman, 29.90.

400m — 1. Mary Gillett, 57.16*; 8. Kayla Nowlin, 1:04.62; 24. Kelia Portis, 1:07.71.

800m — 3. Jenna McCaffrey, 2:24.97; 4. Claire Gillett, 2:26.10; 7. Maggie Smith, 2:31.37.

1,600m — 2. Jenna McCaffrey, 5:25.15; 12.Samrawit Dishon, 6:03.98; 37. Courtney Smoljan, 6:34.14.

3,200m — 13. Courtney Smoljan, 13:50.44.

100 hurdles — 1. Alexis Carroll, 14.96*; 3. Mackenzie Fidelak, 15.79; 5. Elise Gillett, 17.60.

300 hurdles — 1. Mackenzie Fidelak, 45.06*; 7. Alexis Carroll, 51.20; 8. Elise Gillett, 51.82.

4x100 relay — 1. Niwot A, 50.81.

4x200 relay — 6. Niwot A, 1:52.43.

800 Sprint medley — 5. Niwot A, 2:01.36.

4x400 relay — 5. Niwot A, 4:20.21.

4x800 relay — 1. Niwot A, 9:47.61*.

High jump — 18. Erin Carroll, 4-4

Long jump — 1. Mary Gillett 16-7*; 15. Haley Noterman, 12-1.

Photo by Ed Navarro Niwot’s Mary Gillett was the top scorer at the Lyons Invite.

Triple jump — 1. Alexis Carroll, 36-6*; 13. Haley Noterman, 28-10.5.

Pole Vault — 3. Erin Carroll, 7-4; 7. Carolyn Qiu, 6-4.

Discus — 14. Rachel Oliver, 92-0; 29. Sophie Storz, 75-5.

Shot put — 13. Rachel Oliver, 29-4; 18. Sophie Storz, 19-8.5.

*Meet record