EAGLES REWRITE THE RECORD BOOKS

EVAC Shatters Fifteen School Records, 

Wins Three Individual State Titles, 

and Places Third in Both Team Standings at the 

2026 CAA State Track & Field Championships 

Glendale Community College • Glendale, Arizona • May 7 & 9, 2026 

GLENDALE, Ariz. — The 2026 CAA State Track & Field Championships will go down as the most accomplished meet in EVAC history. Across two sessions at Glendale Community College, the Eagles shattered fifteen school records, won three individual state titles, earned medals in thirteen individual or relay events, and placed third in both the boys’ and girls’ team standings — a performance that touched every corner of the roster. 

The 4x400m Relay Teams the 2026 CAA State Championships. 

(Photo courtesy of Emma Abril)

Cambria Botma swept the girls hurdles and set the CAA State Record for the 100m hurdles. Keith Miller won gold in the 300m hurdles and broke his own record in the 110m hurdles. Ryken Brown earned a silver medal with a record-breaking 800m run. Evangeline Miller stood on the podium three times in distance events. Cason Brown, Landen Marker, Lilyana Ortman, and Carter Smith set new EVAC marks in the field events and narrowly missed podium finishes (★ marks below denote a CAA State Record). 

Medals at a Glance 

Cambria Botma	Girls 100m Hurdles	1st — Gold	16.00 ★
Cambria Botma	Girls 300m Hurdles	1st — Gold	48.84
Keith Miller	Boys 300m Hurdles	1st — Gold	43.01
Girls 4x400 Relay Team	Grzybowski/Abril/Eaton/Botma	1st — Gold	4:24.27
Girls 4x800 Relay Team	Gryzbowski/Fender/Schweitzer/Miller	1st — Gold	11:25.54
Ryken Brown	Boys 800m	2nd — Silver	2:09.31
Girls 4x100 Relay Team	Gryzbowski/Botma/Quiroz/Eaton	2nd — Silver	52.93
Rebekah Jensen	Girls 300m Hurdles	3rd — Bronze	56.45
Keith Miller	Boys 110m Hurdles	3rd — Bronze	17.05
Evangeline Miller	Girls 800m	3rd — Bronze	2:41.92
Evangeline Miller	Girls 1600m	3rd — Bronze	5:59.88
Evangeline Miller	Girls 3200m	3rd — Bronze	13:32.91
Boys 4x400 Relay Team	Ortman/McAvoy/Gehl/Brown	3rd — Bronze	3:39.48

Complete School Records Set — 2026 CAA State Championships Fifteen school records across both sessions. ★ = also a CAA State Record.

Event	Previous Record Holder	Previous Record	New Record Holder	New Record
Boys 100m	Micah Henderson	11.76	Micah Henderson	11.57
Boys 200m	Micah Henderson	24.18	Micah Henderson	23.76
Boys 800m	Ryken Brown	2:11.36	Ryken Brown	2:09.31
Boys 1600m	Paul Maurer	5:10.82	Keith Miller	5:06.25
Boys 110m H	Keith Miller	17.53	Keith Miller	17.05
Boys 300m H	Keith Miller	44.16	Keith Miller	43.01
Boys Triple  Jump	Cason Brown	36' 7.5"	Cason Brown	38' 3.5"
Boys 4x800m	2026 Relay Team	9:14.44	E. Brown / C. Brown / H. Gehl / M. Jensen	9:11.22

Boys Javelin	Landen Marker	113' 5"	Landen Marker	122' 8"
Boys Long  Jump	Ian Porter	19' 2"	Carter Smith	19' 9"
Girls 100m H	Cambria Botma	16.92	Cambria Botma	16.00 ★
Girls 300m H	Cambria Botma	49.36	Cambria Botma	48.84
Girls 4x800m	2025 Relay Team	11:27.41	Grzybowski / J. Fender / Schweitzer / E. Miller	11:25.54
Girls 4x400m	2025 Relay Team	4:26.27	Grzybowski / Abril / Eaton / Botma	4:24.27
Girls Triple  Jump	Lilyana Ortman	28' 2"	Lilyana Ortman	30' 1.25"

SATURDAY, MAY 9 — FINALS SESSION 

Botma Sweeps the Hurdles — Two State Titles, One All-Time CAA Record 

Junior Cambria Botma was the athlete of the meet. She won the girls 100-meter hurdles in 16.00 seconds (+1.7 m/s) — a school record, and the fastest time in CAA history — then returned to claim the girls 300-meter hurdles in 48.84, another school record. Both events scored ten points apiece for EVAC. Botma is an all-state selection and still has one season of eligibility remaining. 

Miller Adds Bronze, Breaks His Own Record Again 

Keith Miller closed his extraordinary two-day meet with gold in the 300-meter hurdles, running 43.01 — bettering his Thursday qualifying mark of 43.96 and his previous school record of 44.16. He also broke the school record in the in the 110-meter hurdles final, running 17.05 and capturing the bronze medal. 

Miller’s full weekend at state: two hurdles school records broken twice, a school-record 1600m, and two podium appearances. The first-team all state selection is a sophomore with two seasons remaining. 

Evangeline Miller: Three Podium Finishes in Distance Events 

Senior Evangeline Miller was quietly one of EVAC’s most valuable athletes on Saturday, finishing third in each of the three distance events she entered — the 800m, the 1600m, and the 3200m. Three bronze medals in a single session is a remarkable display of endurance and competitive depth. Miller has completed her EVAC career and will be missed. 

Cason Brown Sets School Record in Triple Jump

Junior Cason Brown launched a school-record triple jump of 38 feet, 3.5 inches (11.67m, +1.5 m/s) on Saturday, establishing a new program standard in the event. 

Boys 4x800 Relay Sets School Record 

The boys 4x800-meter relay team of Emerson Brown, Cason Brown, Jackson Gehl, and Matthew Jensen ran 9:11.22 to set a new EVAC school record in the event, adding to the program’s growing relay tradition. 

Girls 4x400 Relay Wins State Title and Sets School Record 

The EVAC girls 4x400-meter relay team capped the meet with a state championship. Mary-Beth Grzybowski, Emma Abril, Pearl Eaton, and Cambria Botma ran 4:24.27 to win the event and set a new school record — Botma’s third gold medal of the weekend, and the program’s third relay school record of the meet. 

THURSDAY, MAY 7 — PRELIMS & EARLY FINALS 

Sprints: Henderson, Marker, and Brown Redefine the Record Books 

Junior Micah Henderson had already owned the EVAC school record in the 100-meter dash — and then he broke it. Henderson ran 11.57 seconds (11.564 FAT, +2.1 m/s), slicing more than two-tenths off his previous best of 11.76. Senior Landen Marker (11.70) and fellow junior Ryken Brown (11.76) ran the second- and third-fastest 100-meter times in school history in that same heat. Despite these record-setting performances, no EVAC athletes advanced to Saturday’s final — Henderson’s time of 11.564 was one-thousandth of a second behind the ninth-place qualifying mark. 

Henderson also broke his own school record in the 200-meter prelims, posting a 23.76 (+1.1 m/s) — four-tenths faster than his previous best of 24.18. 

Brown Earns Silver Medal with Record 800m Run 

Ryken Brown delivered the defining performance of his career in the 800-meter final, crossing the line in 2:09.31 — more than two full seconds faster than his previous school record of 2:11.36 — to claim the silver medal.

Ryken Brown finishing his silver-medal 800m run at the 2026 CAA State Championships. 

(Photo: AthleticLIVE / Wingfoot Finish) 

Miller Sets Three Records in a Single Night 

Before Saturday’s bronze medal, Miller had already made history on Thursday — running 17.11 in the 110-meter hurdles prelims (breaking his record of 17.53), 43.96 in the 300-meter hurdles prelims (breaking his record of 44.16), and 5:06.25 in the 1600-meter final (breaking the school record of 5:10.82 held by graduated senior Paul Maurer). All three in one evening. 

Field Events: Marker, Smith, and Ortman 

Senior Landen Marker paired a school-record 100m heat with a javelin throw of 122 feet, 8 inches (37.38m) — shattering his own record of 113 feet, 5 inches by more than nine feet. Senior Carter Smith set the long jump school record at 19 feet, 9 inches (6.01m), surpassing Ian Porter’s previous mark of 19 feet, 2 inches. Junior Lilyana Ortman broke her own triple jump school record of 28 feet, 2 inches with a leap of 30 feet, 1.25 inches (9.17m, +1.4 m/s) — a nearly two-foot improvement. 

Girls 4x800 Relay Claims Gold and the School Record 

Mary Grzybowski, Janie Fender, Gracelyn Schweitzer, and Evangeline Miller ran 11:25.54 to win the girls 4x800-meter relay and edge the previous school record of 11:27.41. The legs were a model of balance: Grzybowski, Fender, and Miller split 2:43.97, 2:43.64, and 2:44.87 respectively. 

A Program Defined By Its Moment 

Fifteen school records. Three individual state championships. Eleven podium finishes. Third place in both team standings. Across two nights in Glendale, EVAC produced the most decorated state meet performance in program history.

With Cambria Botma, Ryken Brown, Keith Miller, Cason Brown, and Lilyana Ortman all returning for at least one more season, the Eagles have every reason to believe the best is still ahead. 

Full results: results.wingfootfinish.com/meets/71839. 

About EVAC Athletics 

East Valley Athletes for Christ (EVAC) is an association of homeschool families dedicated to exemplifying Christ while participating in athletic competition. Based in Gilbert, Arizona, EVAC competes in the Canyon Athletic Association (CAA) and fields more than 37 teams across a wide range of sports, serving nearly 300 student-athletes in grades K–12. Learn more at evacsports.org. 

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