LAKEWOOD — To ignite one of Colorado’s all-time track and field dynasties, Tim Daggett became Herb Brooks.
Two decades ago, Daggett was at the beginning of his tenure as The Classical Academy’s head track and field coach. It was long before the Titans became an irrefutable force every May at the Colorado state meet at Jeffco Stadium. Their 22 combined state championships between the girls and boys teams are second all-time, only to Fountain-Fort Carson and Mullen.
The night before the 2006 state meet — which sparked a five-peat by the Titans girls, and featured freshmen boys on that team which would go on to capture TCA’s first title on that side in ’09 — Daggett memorized Brooks’ speech as seen in the 2004 movie “Miracle.” In the film, Kurt Russell delivers before Team USA’s upset of the Soviet Union on the way to the 1980 Olympic gold medal.
But Daggett’s rendition of the speech to his team during a dinner at his house was track-and-field-themed, and he incorporated references to TCA and its rivals into his delivery.
“To be 100% honest, at the time I didn’t know where (the speech) came from,” recalled , a senior on that ’06 team and longtime TCA assistant coach, with a laugh. “But even though I didn’t know in the moment it was from ‘Miracle,’ that moment showed us all how much (Daggett) cared. How much he truly believed. And when I look back, that was the seed that planted something truly special.”
TCA extended its state record with a 14th girls title on Saturday at Jeffco Stadium, cruising to the crown by 47 points. The Titan boys, which three-peated from 2023-25 to push their championship tally to eight, finished runner-up to Coal Ridge.
Strong pipeline, big numbers
This weekend’s performance has become routine for TCA, that is also a force in cross-country. The Titans’ 27 combined titles in that sport (17 girls, 10 boys) are second in Colorado history, only to Lake County.
Cross-country’s success and the crossover between athletes in that fall sport and spring’s track and field helped jump-start the latter’s rise in relevance.
“At the beginning, cross country was definitely a little bit ahead of track,” Daggett explained. “There’s no question that distance has been a huge boon for the track team. But we couldn’t start to win titles without some help (in other events) — when I could finally start to fill in some sprint relays and other spots. But we actually won a couple of titles early on without any field event points.”
TCA’s cross-country team was long led by , who, like Daggett, built his dynasty from scratch. Before retiring in 2021, he led TCA to 21 cross-country titles and was a longtime distance coach for Daggett’s track teams. The two coaches became best friends, and when Versaw retired, Daggett found another close buddy in Matt Norton, who stepped into Versaw’s roles on both teams.
With those three leading the charge, running has become a popular pursuit at TCA. The Titans’ high school — TCA also features three elementary schools and a junior high across multiple campuses — has 636 students this school year, according to . Of those, 140 kids competed in track and field this year, meaning 22% of the school is in Daggett’s program.
“Imagine if Cherry Creek had a fifth of their kids out for track,” Matt Norton said with a laugh. “It would be a small army (of about 828 kids).”
To maintain those participation numbers annually, Daggett recruits the hallways of TCA. He pitches a motto that “the best athletes in the school meet on the track,” and with himself, Norton, and Hanenburg, all teachers at the school, they have the time and opportunity to convince any kid who will listen.
That sales pitch is essential to keeping TCA’s talent pipeline stocked. Unlike dynasties in other CHSAA sports that are fueled by the combination of open enrollment by ninth graders, move-ins to the district ahead of high school, or transfers, the vast majority of TCA’s athletes have been at the school since kindergarten because Versaw explains, “the wait list is enormous to get into TCA.”
“We often have the best football players, the best volleyball players, the best basketball players, and the best guys soccer players all on the track team,” Daggett added. “They tend to gravitate to us as a second sport, sometimes as a third sport. And from there, we work to develop them.”
A youth track-and-field pipeline has also proved critical.
TCA molds young prospects through the which goes through sixth grade. After that, TCA’s junior high track and field program is helmed by Michael Pollard, whom Norton says “gets a jillion kids out and tries them in a bunch of different events.”
“Our kids have been exposed to running and competing in track for a long time by people who care and do it lovingly and do it appropriately so that by the time they get to high school, we can take the next logical step and give them a real structured training plan and a lot of experience on how to race and how to compete,” Norton said. “The kids benefit from that quite a bit.”
A new challenge in Class 4A
Throughout TCA’s unstoppable run, Daggett has found the perfect blend of intensity, community and individualized attention.
“Early on, Tim had a reputation that he would never smile,” Versaw said with a laugh. “I mean, he did smile occasionally. But despite that, the kids realized that Tim was totally invested in their success. Even though kids kidded that they would go to other coaches if they needed a smile at a particular moment, when Tim saw kids investing to become better, they had no bigger advocate than him.
“… He has the same intensity now, but it has softened over the years. He does show those emotions more, and (the intensity) has become more transparent, more worn on the sleeve.”
Through that seriousness, Daggett knows how to remind his athletes for whom they are training.
In a sport where personal records are guideposts, he is sure to remind the Titans that their solo efforts are all for the greater prosperity of the program. A couple of times a week, usually at the beginning of practice, Daggett filters across his various event groups and poses a single question: Who do you run for? Who do you jump for? Who do you hurdle for? Who do you vault for? Who do you throw for?
“And each time, all the kids all say back to him, ‘Each other,'” Hanenburg says. “He also reminds the kids that selfish athletes celebrate alone. That anytime anyone accomplishes something during a meet, it’s because we’ve all worked together and everyone has a piece in what we’re doing.”
Daggett goes to great lengths to ensure the future of his program. TCA’s JV athletes also feel that inclusion. He makes sure every athlete in the program has at least one event to compete in, down to the most unskilled kid on JV. And while he goes out of his way to nurture the Titan underclassmen, he also makes a point to see that his seniors have a proper send-off each season.
That moment occurred earlier this week, on Tuesday, when Daggett completed his annual ritual of greeting every senior athlete as they walked off the TCA track for the final time of their high school careers. For the girls’ captain, sprinter Whitney Meister, that gesture was all the more important considering the senior didn’t achieve the times she was hoping for this spring after injury issues slowed her progress.
“That moment just off the edge of the track just builds on the person he is and the coach he is,” Meister explained. “He takes time for each of us and shows that he cares, and is with us every step of the way. Even with the big picture always in mind (of chasing team titles), to have his encouragement and him by my side was really special.
“It really helps me realize it’s more than a sport. It’s more than your performance. Your times and your marks, even in a great program like ours, do not define you. Obviously, he’s there for me as an athlete, but he cares more about who I am and who I’ve become.”
Now, the question is what TCA track and field will become in its next chapter.
Because of a play-up rule that will go into effect for the next two-year cycle beginning in 2026-27, TCA will be required to move up to Class 4A. This is because both the girls and boys have won championships three out of the last four years, and in the most recent season (this one), both teams finished in the top four.
TCA previously proved it could be competitive in 4A, when the girls won the state title in 2016 in that classification and the boys were state runner-up the year before that.
“We’ll continue to be good in 4A, but the more important thing to us is, I think a lot of people view TCA in a really positive light in terms of the impact we’ve made in track and cross-country,” Norton said. “We try to be good stewards of the sport and be good friends to our competitors. … (With all that said), I don’t know of anybody else that’s had the run that TCA has had.”
