For Cheyenne Mountain’s Colt Sessions and Niwot’s Elise Cranny, the April 19 Mullen Runners Roost Track and Field Invitational was indeed special.
Sessions was a three-event winner, Cranny in two, in what has to be one of the most interesting meets of the season. 
There were no team scores kept. But what also made the meet so interesting and fun for the competitors and coaches is that medals to the top three place winners were award in each of the 117 races and field events.
The special events were the ‘Relay Invite Events.’ These were the last in the competitive field where the individual athletes and relay teams were seeded the highest in their events. And, as would be expected, the competition was outstanding.
Sessions took home a Gold Medal in each of his three events, high jump, long jump and triple jump. Cranny also won one of her specialties, the 800 and anchored Niwot to first in the Sprint Medley Relay. To make the day even better, they were named the Outstanding Performers in the 17th annual meet. 
Session joined an elite field of high jumpers and he was able to clear 7-feet for the win. He then had the bar raised to 7-2, came close on a couple of his final three leaps, but had to settle for the 7-0. He next won the Triple Jump with a 45-foot, 4-inch effort. In the Long Jump, he won with a mark of 21 feet and3 and three-fourths inches.
“This certainly was a first for me,” said Session after his final high jump attempt. “It’s just a thrill to get over seven feet and I just couldn’t be more happy at this time with my effort. I was blessed today and certainly pushed by some outstanding completion.
“This is only my second meet of the season as I’m overcoming some injury,” Session said. “What makes it all the more fun is that I’ve also won a steak dinner. Wow! I’m feeling confident as we still have a lot of good completion left this season.”
Sessions defeated Dee Lee of Vista Ridge in the Long Jump and Triple jump. Dee leaped 20 feet 5 and-a-half inches in the Long Jump, then 43 feet and 7 and-a-half inches in the Triple. Gavin Lamp of Fairview as second in the high jump going out at 6 feet 6 inches.
There is little doubt who’s going to be the winner when Cranny takes to the track. A state champion in cross-country she is confident and steady. She won the 800 this time out in a meet record, 2 minutes 8 seconds, then anchored Niwot to the meets best time in the Sprint Medley Relay.
Cranny was joined in her winning relay effort by Amber Liu, Ashley Herring and Lauren Sharpe as Niwot turned in a blistering 1:49.79.
“This is really a good meet and exciting to be in,” Cranny said. “There is so much good competition when all the classes are here. I like to get stressed with this caliber of completion and it pushes me so much harder. And, it’s this type of competition that makes all of us so much better.” 
Jordan Colter of Cherry Creek and Claire Green of Monarch followed Cranny to the finish line in the 800. Colter ran 2:11.89 and her lean at the finish edge Green’s 2:11.96.
“We’re so pleased to compete against Elise,” Colter said. “I just love the girls and she makes all of us compete all the harder. She is such a talent and also a good friend.”
Added Green, “I was certainly nervous when we took the track and super excited to see how we would finish. It was a fine field, but we know who is going to be favored. I do think Elise brings out the best in all of us.”
The girls 200 Invite final only had three finalists, much to the surprise of the trio. The victor was Cherokee Trails Shayna Yon, who was followed closely by George Washington’s Dior Hall and Cherry Creek’s Ashley Miller.
It was a blink-of-an-eye finish as Yon got the win with a time of :24.37, Hall in :24.54 and Miller, :24.97.
“We’re all in the same club and we push hard,” Yon said. “This certainly is a day to help us get ready for state and today was a lot of fun.”
“It was like a race at practice for our club,” said Hall. “But this is competition for our school and we just want to come out as hard as we can. It was interesting that only three of us were in this final.”
Added Miller, “It was like practice, but certainly a little more at stake for the three of us. It was funny to think about, at first, but we were right there at the finish.”
The final in the boys 200 was also a leaner. This time it was Arvada West’s Casey Lewis, who clocked 21.81 seconds, with Cherry Creek’s Stanford Cooper leaning in with a 21.99 and Broomfield’s Jordan Xiong at 22 flat.
“This is great,” Lewis said. “My best so far had been 22.8 and I was definitely pushed all the way. The key on a day like this is certainly the competition.”
The boys 800 was a leaner, as well between juniors William Mayhew of Cheyenne Mountain (1:53.73) and Daniel Book of Cherry Creek (1:54.24). And, just off a bit more was freshman Isaac Green of Monarch (1:56.73).
“These guys are awesome to compete against,” Mayhew said. “You just have to be confident in yourself and go hard. I was hurting at the end and I just had to try and hold it.”
Monarch freshman Holly Bent is showing that she is going to be one tough competitor for her career. She edged her senior teammate, Ashley Litoff, at the finish line, clocking 11:34.75 to Litoff’s 11:37.22. Their efforts were 15 seconds better than third-place finisher, sophomore Maggie Moline of Centaurus (11:52.58).
“We still have to be faster, though,” Bent said. “This is only the second time that I’ve run the two-mile and Ashley certainly pushed me.”
Added Litoff, “It was not the times we had hoped for. We started fast and it caught up with us. Still, a pretty good day.”
Indeed, it was a pretty good day for everyone. Besides, they were able to beat the snow.
MULLEN RUNNERS ROOST
TOP INDIVIDUAL AND RELAY PERFORMANCES 
BOYS
100 – Jordan Xiong, Broomfield, :10.88. 200 – Casey Lewis, Arvada West, :21.81. 400 – Stanford Cooper, Cherry Creek, :49.28. 800 – William Mayhew, Cheyenne Mountain, 1:53.73. 1,600 – Liam Meirow, Summit, 4:15.88. 3,200 – Daniel Alvarez-Chao, Broomfield, 9:58.42. 110 hurdles – Evan Malin, Palmer Ridge, :15.06. 300 hurdles – Jonathan Roy, Classical Academy, :38.99. High jump – Colt Sessions, Cheyenne Mountain, 7-0.  Long jump – Colt Sessions, Cheyenne Mountain, 21-2 ¾. Triple jump – Colt Sessions, Cheyenne Mountain, 45-4. Pole vault – Andrew Barlow, Monarch, 14-0. Discus – Grayson Weber, Cheyenne Mountain, 151-0. Shot Put – Blake Jacobs, ThunderRidge, 50-4 ½. 4X100 relay – Falcon (Cameron Grause, Matt Bastian, IsaiahFields, Kalen Ballage), :43.30. 4X200 relay – Palmer Ridge (Marcus Garrison, Logan Malone, Caleb Ojennes, Cole Pappas), 1:28.83. 4X400 relay – Palmer Ridge, 3:22.13. 4X800 relay – Palmer Ridge, 8:19.54.
GIRLS
100 – Shayna Yon, Cherokee Trail, :11.91. 200 – Shayna Yon, Cherokee Trail, :24.37. 400 – Kamryn Hart, ThunderRidge, :55.52. 800 – Elise Cranny, Niwot, 2:08.67. 1,600 – Jordyn Colter, Cherry Creek, 5:01.84. 3,200 – Holly Bent, Monarch, 11:34.75. 100 hurdles – Ashley Miller, Cherry Creek, :13.87. 300 hurdles – Ashley Miller, Cherry Creek, :43.88. High jump – Joscelyn Wind, Mountain View, 5-4. Long jump – Stephanie Bess, Arvada West, 17-7. Triple jump – Maya Ries, Denver East, 36-6. Pole Vault – Heather Waite, Loveland, 11-6. Discus – Hannah Carr, Classical Academy, 128-5. Shot Put – Hannah Carr, Classical Academy, 38-8. 4X100 relay – Loveland (Rae McCloughan, Karli Wilson, Celine Packham, Taylor Buschy), :49.18. 4X200 relay – Cherokee Trail (Symonne Holland, Haley Rogers, Daisha Stanley, Amazing Armstrong), 1:43.4. 4X400 relay – Thompson Valley (Kendra Larson, Kelsi Schuetz, Emily Leidig, Megan Irvine), 3:55.12. 4X800 relay – Loveland (Taylor Buschy, Kristina Ritschard, Ashlyn Brent, Katy East), 9:52.77. Sprint Medley – Niwot (Amber Liu, Ashley Herring, Lauren Sharpe, Elise Cranny), 1:49.79.