LAKEWOOD — Waiting for his shot at national record, Scottie Vines sat upright with his knees to his chest, trying to shield his long frame from the sun with a small, purple umbrella.
There wasn’t much doubt who was going to win the Class 1A high jump Saturday during the Colorado state track and field championships. The De Beque senior was the runaway favorite. Barring a disaster, Vines was going to walk away with gold.
When there were four competitors left at 5 feet, 11 inches, he started stretching. His highlighter yellow shoes came on at 6-2, when his final remaining opponent cleared the bar. That opponent didn’t make it past 6-3.
Vines started at 6-8, where officials used a step ladder to set the bar, and he cleared it with minimal fanfare. It took one jump to win gold for Vines.
Then the real show began.
The 6-10 mark was surpassed with ease, even though he matched his own Class 1A state meet record set one year ago. The crowd picked up when he cleared 7 feet, especially after it was announced he—once again—had a mark that qualified for Olympic trials.
But when the bar moved to 7-2.25, the wind picked up. The wind dislodged the bar twice and even toppled the small scoreboard indicating the height.
More importantly, the tailwind pushed Vines ever-so-slightly closer to the bar. He tried to adjust his approach to compensate, but he failed to clear on all three attempts, with the final just catching the back of his heel on the way over. The final mark of 7 feet was short of the 7-6 national record Vines was gunning for to surpass the Colorado record of 7-4.25 he set earlier this year.
“I’m happy with what I did this season,” Vines said. “I’m satisfied and I’m just happy I had all these people come out to watch me. Today was just really fun.”
Although Vines’ days representing De Beque are over, he’ll have an exciting few months leading into the Olympics. Clearing 7 feet qualified Vines for the Olympic Trails and there’s a chance an athlete from Colorado could compete for Team USA. Vines is considered the favorite at the U20 Nationals on June 12-13 in Eugene, Oregon.
“I really want to win and I’d love to make the Olympic team,” Vines said. “It’s pretty far-fetched, but if I have a good day, the sky’s the limit.”
Perhaps the most dominating performance at the state championship meet came out of 1A and Vines said he was thrilled to represent a small school on a big stage, pointing out several quality athletes at De Beque and other small schools. The Western Slope community, located just 30 miles east of Grand Junction along Interstate 70, had many make the trip supports Vines and his teammates.
Vines’ father, the former NFL and University of Wyoming receiver who shares his name, also made the trip from Alabama with several of the track stars’ siblings.
But ultimately, the University of Colorado signee said he was consistent throughout the season and winning the state title was just the culmination of that.
“I’m grateful for all that I was able to accomplish today,” Vines said. “I got over seven foot. I like to promise people that every time I’m on a track, I’m going to get over seven feet. That was my goal for this whole season was just to stay consistent over seven, and that’s what I did.”
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Track Champions
Class 5A
(Dan Mohrmann/ColoradoPreps.com)
Team champion: Cherokee Trail
Individual champions
| EVENT | ATHLETE | SCHOOL | RESULT |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100-meter dash | Peyton Sommers | Cherokee Trail | 10.54 |
| 200-meter dash | Peyton Sommers | Cherokee Trail | 21.13 |
| 400-meter dash | Peyton Sommers | Cherokee Trail | 46.59 |
| 800-meter run | Ben Lee | ThunderRidge | 1:52.76 |
| 1600-meter run | Dane Eike | Valor Christian | 4:13.47 |
| 3200-meter run | Dane Eike | Valor Christian | 9:07.42 |
| 110-meter hurdles | Kyler Lewis | Fountain-Fort Carson | 14.36 |
| 300-meter hurdles | Kyler Lewis | Fountain-Fort Carson | 37.41 |
| 4×100-meter relay | Eric Hill, Jeffery Poku, Noah Brown, Peace Warah | Eaglecrest | 41.86 |
| 4×200-meter relay | Jayden Hughes, Kahari Wilbon, Nick Hoffsetz, Peyton Sommers | Cherokee Trail | 1:24.93* |
| 4×400-meter relay | Cam Chapa, Evan Keppy, Thierry Asare, Peace Warah | Eaglecrest | 3:16.77 |
| 4×800-meter relay | Benjamin Anderson, William Wachter, Jameson Tokle, Alex Fowler | Mountain Vista | 7:46.16 |
| Long jump | Wondame Davis | Overland | 22-11.25 |
| Triple jump | Elijah Roy | Pine Creek | 46-05.00 |
| High jump | Kaleb Kimaita | Horizon | 6-07.00 |
| Pole vault | Tyler Rowan | Monarch | 16-09.00 |
| Shot put | Charlie Lafore | Chatfield | 64-06.50 |
| Discus | Jarrius Ward | Overland | 203-04.00* |
* – Meet record
—
Class 4A
(Dan Mohrmann/ColoradoPreps.com)
Team champion: Northfield
Individual champions
| EVENT | ATHLETE | SCHOOL | RESULT |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100-meter dash | Mikey Munn | Windsor | 10.58 |
| 200-meter dash | Mikey Munn | Windsor | 21.33 |
| 400-meter dash | Mikey Munn | Windsor | 47.96 |
| 800-meter run | Rocco Culpepper | Niwot | 1:55.23 |
| 1600-meter run | Rocco Culpepper | Niwot | 4:17.23 |
| 3200-meter run | Will Brunner | Battle Mountain | 9:01.32 |
| 110-meter hurdles | Karamoko Sacko | Northfield | 13.43* |
| 300-meter hurdles | Teagan Malcom | Longmont | 38.38 |
| 4×100-meter relay | Cole Johnson, Jaymison Wichmann, Mason Kelley, Joseph Ciccio | Lutheran | 41.79 |
| 4×200-meter relay | D’Andrae Vermilye, Grayson Mommens, Tanner Lothrop, Izaiah Bustamante | Riverdale Ridge | 1:28.25 |
| 4×400-meter relay | Bruce Hobbs, Luke Ware, Royce Thomas-Quintana, Gavin Lockett | Pueblo West | 3:19.87 |
| 4×800-meter relay | Quinn Sullivan, Cole Mazurana, Gavin Engtrakul, Rocco Culpepper | Niwot | 7:43.92* |
| Long jump | Dylan Jessop | Montrose | 22-08 |
| Triple jump | Matthew Kwong | Northfield | 47-07.25 |
| High jump | Asher Serlen, Jaden Hoffman, Benson White | Standley Lake, Severance, Conifer | 6-05.00 |
| Pole vault | Cooper Vanmaurer | Grand Junction Central | 15-09.00 |
| Shot put | Montrey Strickland | Golden | 59-04.00 |
| Discus | Trevor Hill | Montrose | 181-07 |
* – Meet record
—
Class 3A
(Dan Mohrmann/ColoradoPreps.com)
Team champion: The Classical Academy
Individual champions
| EVENT | ATHLETE | SCHOOL | RESULT |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100-meter dash | Griffin Eastman | Holy Family | 10.90 |
| 200-meter dash | Brevon Doss | University | 22.07 |
| 400-meter dash | Jack Friesen | Liberty Common | 49.34 |
| 800-meter run | Jackson Fagerlin | Resurrection Christian | 1:53.18 |
| 1600-meter run | Jackson Fagerlin | Resurrection Christian | 4:15.99 |
| 3200-meter run | Matthew Edwards | The Classical Academy | 9:28.32 |
| 110-meter hurdles | Aidan Brownell | Valley | 14.36* |
| 300-meter hurdles | Aidan Brownell | Valley | 38.12 |
| 4×100-meter relay | Gabriel Hollingshead, Brevon Doss, Ethan Baker, Dylan Sup | University | 42.99 |
| 4×200-meter relay | Caleb Dunn, Malachi Mariscal, Andrew Brown, Cooper Connelley | Elizabeth | 1:27.81* |
| 4×400-meter relay | Rhys Cushman, Cowyn Cushman, Pierce Richardson, Jack Friesen | Liberty Common | 3:22.81 |
| 4×800-meter relay | Aiden Malherbe, Afton Cooper, Benjamin Clopper, Tate Bothun | Berthoud | 8:00.17 |
| Long jump | Jordan Wenger | The Classical Academy | 22-09.00 |
| Triple jump | Noah Osterloh | The Classical Academy | 49-09.25 |
| High jump | Troy Sowards | Centauri | 6-09.00 |
| Pole vault | Ryan Martinez | Eaton | 15-05 |
| Shot put | Johnny Whyrick | University | 54-09.50 |
| Discus | Johnny Whyrick | University | 159-05 |
* – Meet record
—
Class 2A
(Dan Mohrmann/ColoradoPreps.com)
Team champion: Peyton
Individual champions
| EVENT | ATHLETE | SCHOOL | RESULT |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100-meter dash | Landon Hadley | Peyton | 10.96* |
| 200-meter dash | Greg Ormas | Platte Canyon | 22.58 |
| 400-meter dash | Alex Marchand | Rocky Ford | 49.53 |
| 800-meter run | Matthew Peery | Peyton | 1:59.39 |
| 1600-meter run | James Talbot | Rangely | 4:30.64 |
| 3200-meter run | Gabe Gatti | Peyton | 9:51.72 |
| 110-meter hurdles | Joe Probst | West Grand | 14.58 |
| 300-meter hurdles | Alex Marchand | Rocky Ford | 39.18 |
| 4×100-meter relay | Trevor Kirklin, Leo Batzer, Tate Heineman, Greg Oramas | Platte Canyon | 43.91 |
| 4×200-meter relay | Trevor Kirklin, Leo Batzer, Tate Heineman, Greg Oramas | Platte Canyon | 1:30.18 |
| 4×400-meter relay | Quincy Eacret, Cameron Eastwood, Jake Anderson, Ben McPherson | Byers | 3:30.60 |
| 4×800-meter relay | Gabe Gatti, Hunter Trim, Ayden Breese, Matthew Peery | Peyton | 8:08.42 |
| Long jump | Cristian Duarte | Yuma | 21-10.75 |
| Triple jump | Tate Heineman | Platte Canyon | 45-04.25 |
| High jump | Ayden Dodge | Strasburg | 6-03.00 |
| Pole vault | Cameron Glasgow | Timnath | 13-06.00 |
| Shot put | Judd Harvey | Meeker | 50-00.75 |
| Discus | Jackson Bevan | Plateau Valley | 151-02.00 |
* – Meet record
—
Class 1A
(Dan Mohrmann/ColoradoPreps.com)
Team champion: Cheyenne Wells
Individual champions
| EVENT | ATHLETE | SCHOOL | RESULT |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100-meter dash | Lincoln Reynolds | Sanford | 11.19 |
| 200-meter dash | Lincoln Reynolds | Sanford | 22.90 |
| 400-meter dash | Perry Chadwick | Cheyenne Wells | 50.45 |
| 800-meter run | Josh Snyder | Cheraw | 2:01.08 |
| 1600-meter run | Anthony Pena | Primero | 4:37.04 |
| 3200-meter run | Anthony Pena | Primero | 9:55.29 |
| 110-meter hurdles | Dallas Calzonetti | South Baca | 16.11 |
| 300-meter hurdles | Carson Noe | Cheyenne Wells | 41.83 |
| 4×100-meter relay | Zach Statz, Ryland Wolff, Grant Statz, Joshua Wright | Haxtun | 44.36 |
| 4×200-meter relay | Grant Statz, Keegan Colglazier, Ryland Wolff, Zach Statz | Haxtun | 1:34.34 |
| 4×400-meter relay | Quincy Eacret, Cameron Eastwood, Jake Anderson, Ben McPherson | Byers | 3:30.60 |
| 4×800-meter relay | Junior Gamez, Kolter Cranson, Will Doherty, Brock Doherty | Kim | 8:44.79 |
| Long jump | Konner Rowden-Stum | Genoa-Hugo/Karval | 22-06.5 |
| Triple jump | Konner Rowden-Stum | Genona-Hugo/Karval | 42-07.5 |
| High jump | Ayden Dodge | Strasburg | 6-03.00 |
| Pole vault | Cameron Glasgow | Timnath | 13-06.00 |
| Shot put | Wyatt Cochran | Lone Star | 44-10.25 |
| Discus | Austin Wright | Arickaree | 136-11 |
