Two years ago, Zona Welling was a middle school soccer player. Now, she is the fastest girl in Colorado.
Welling, a sophomore from Heritage, won both the Class 5A 100- and 200-meter dashes Saturday in the CHSAA state track and field championships at Jeffco Stadium.
She held off Fossil Ridge junior Addyson Smith in a photo finish in the 100. Welling’s time, 11.75 seconds, was a new personal best and the fastest time in the state this season. Valor Christian junior Ellie Londo, who won this race a year ago, finished behind the lead duo but was disqualified.
“I honestly didn’t know who won. It was so close,” Welling said. “I wasn’t sure if I leaned enough, or if she leaned more, or what was going on. Looking up and seeing my name, it felt pretty good. I love racing here.”
Welling caught the running bug before the start of her freshman year. But she was DQ’d last year because of a false start.
The incredible finish to her sophomore season continued in the 200, when she again held off Smith with a personal best time of 23.96 seconds.
“I don’t think it’s fully hit me yet,” Welling said. “This is everything I wanted and more this year. I’m just feeling great right now.”
The girls hurdles crème de la crème. A year after the graduation of Grandview elite hurdler Gabriella Cunningham left a void in the event, Ponderosa senior Payton Becker and Fountain-Fort Carson junior Alexa Queen left no doubt about who the top girls hurdlers in Class 5A are.
Becker, a Wyoming commit, won the 5A 100-meter hurdles in 13.79 seconds, edging Queen, who came in at a personal record 13.99. Then Queen, who remains uncommitted but has the talent to run in college, got Becker back in the 300. Queen ran 41.66 and Becker ran 41.73, both of those marks being PRs. Queen took an early lead in the 300, and Becker closed the gap at the end but couldn’t catch up.
The two hurdlers hugged in a moment of mutual respect following the 300 hurdles.
“I messed up the first half of the (300) race, because I psyched myself out on the first couple hurdles, stuttered and lost a lot of momentum,” Becker said. “The back part of the race, I was playing catch up, but I’m proud of myself for how hard I fought.”
Queen said, “not winning in the 100 hurdles motivated me to come back and get (the 300).”
“This is my last race today, and I was going to empty the tank,” Queen said. “I knew it was going to hurt no matter what when I finished, so I might as well be proud of myself afterwards.”
In the Class 4A 300-meter race, Niwot senior Reese Casper set the standard for Colorado this year with a 41.35 to win the title by over a second over runner-up Reagan Falletta of Pueblo East. The Kansas State commit also won the 4A 100-meter hurdles in 14.22.
Another triple sweep for 1A star: Even when she can’t stop winning, Roxy Unruh finds some nits to pick.
Unruh, a junior from Cheyenne Wells, romped through the girls Class 1A 100, 200 and 400 meters finals Saturday. She set a new 1A meet record in the 200 and 400, breaking … her marks from last year.
But there was that pesky 100.
“There’s always something you can always improve on, right?” Unruh said. “I was really proud of my start. It was beautiful, honestly. But I was so happy with my start, I forgot my second zone of acceleration.”
Still, Unruh is now a three-time state champion in the 100 and 400, with two more individual titles in the 200. And she’s got another year to continue collecting medals and continue to improve her record-setting times.
“This year, I got a lot better mentally, not even the conditioning,” Unruh said. “Once you learn how to run the races the right way, it is life-changing.”
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