This week, I’m doing something different. Partly, I’m psychologically about ready to do something different. The other part is that I have some serious time crunches this week mandating that I do my writing in smaller chunks. I probably won’t get all the writing done that I would like, but I’ll get done what I can.
While I was announcing the Boulder County Track and Field Championships on Saturday, throwers all around the state were registering some rather impressive marks. Let’s cut straight to the chase, and I’ll let you know what at least most of the best marks were. We’ll start with 1A and move our way through the classifications to 5A. This will include two-day meets that spilled over into both Friday and Saturday.
1A Boys – Peyton McDonald of Elbert and William Swennes of Simla—essentially, neighboring high schools—found their way onto the 1A board with throws of 119-something at the Terry Amundson meet. Riley Shean of Stratton was right behind them. These will likely have to be stepping-stone throws, however, as there’s no assurance these marks will stick at 5 and 6. Swennes also went 40-4.75 in the shot put for a 1A #5. John Hainer of Granada threatened his classification-leading mark in the shot put, but didn’t quite get there. Still, consistency counts for something in the march through the season. Cooper Tixer of Wiley climbed the ladder a little with a 41-8 in the shot put at the same Tri League meet in Holly.
1A Girls – We had a trio of very nice shot put marks at the Tri League meet in Holly. Cheraw’s Abby Provost took the win at 35-1.5, but she had to do battle with Edith Mungary of McClave (34-7) and Kyra Sheridan of Eads (34-2) to get there. The 1A girls shot put is shaping up as a serious battle—for any of the places. Zadie Mackey of Elbert had a big discus throw at Terry Amundson, landing the implement at 135-2. Mackey was also 34-2 in the shot put—at the same meet, of course.
2A Boys – The parade of big-time throws from Bryant Schoenthal and Mohamed Ibrahim continues. If you miss this one at state, you’ve missed something special. This week, at the Terry Amundson meet, Schoenthal went 53-10.75/175 while Ibrahim went 50-3.75/172-3. Younger brother Laith Ibrahim went 44-7/153-7. I don’t know if these guys are going to keep pounding on each other every week up until state or if they’ll take a break somewhere, but it’s been a traveling circus of throws thus far. And, at state, they’ll be joined by Jacob Doyle of Grand Valley, who went 144-9 at the Glenwood meet. Doyle didn’t have such a great day in the shot put on Saturday, but his season record in that event says he’ll be up for consideration at state. Kenyon Cochrane of Rangely added a nice 142-7. Joseph Bjegovich of Banning Lewis goes 43-0 at Fountain-Fort Carson and barely makes the list of mentions. Keaton Floyd of Burlington goes 44-1, same deal. Liam Buettenback of Sedgwick County, 43-5.5 at Mountain Range. Same song, third verse. It’s getting intense here, folks.
2A Girls – It keeps getting better and better. I hope the ladies in involved are taking great care of their arms, because this could be another grand showdown at state. Elizabeth Brooks of Cedaredge had another big weekend at 117-1 and 38-1 in Glenwood. Much of the way across the state at Terry Amundson, Corey Koellner and Lauren Herman of Holyoke went 40-5.5 and 36-9.5 in the shot, while Herman sent the discus to 123-7. Chloe Cure of Wray barely gets a mention despite a shot put of 34-3.25. Gemma Powell of Lyons quietly sent one 117-1 at the Boulder County Championships.
3A Boys – Sam Johnson of Woodland Park hid out at a Fountain-Ft. Carson meet with a lot of big arms, but he’ll have a harder time hiding his 132-2 in 3A. Tory Mataia of Rifle had a 43-3 at Glenwood. Kane Fobare of Weld Central chucked on 130-10 at the Pomona meet, but that meet wasn’t very big for 3A. Perhaps a lot of 3A schools were promming this last weekend, because it seems like it was a lull of a weekend for 3A throws.
3A Girls – The Alexandria Tice highlight reel continues apace. This week, at Terry Amundson, she snared a first and a second with a 41-0 and a 126-2. Vianney Mendoza of North Fork scored a second at Glenwood Springs with a heave of 34-4. Otherwise, it was pretty much as quiet in 3A Girls as it was in 3A Boys, which means we move on to 4A…
4A Boys – We could start any of a few places, but let’s start with Palmer Ridge’s Alec Falk. The beast has been unleased. Falk went 50-9/175-4 this weekend. Air Academy, though, had a nice pair of seconds at Fountain-Ft. Carson with Samuel Beers at 48-6.75 and Kyle Demos at 152-2. Erie’s John Pastore had a winning pair of 47-11/142-7 at the Boulder County Championships, but he has to be left wondering where he can find more to keep pace with this field.
4A Girls – Giavonna Meeks. Admit it, you almost forgot about her when she didn’t show up until April. She’s back. This weekend, it was 39-9.5/153-10. Those marks will collect some interest. Brooke Franke of Riverdale Ridge (someone needs to explain the “dale” and “ridge” parts of the school name to me) did her best to keep pace with a 126-6. Gigi German of Palmer Ridge won solidly at Fountain-Ft. Carson with a toss of 37-6. Mikenzie Jones of Vista Peak left her mark with a 36-2.5 at Pomona.
We now go to 5A, and I can assure you that 5A had a big throws weekend…
5A Boys – We’ll get to Pomona in a moment, but, before we get there, it’s worth noting that Pine Creek’s Gavin Whetzal threw 150-8 at Fountain-Ft. Carson. At the Lions Classic in Littleton, Grandview’s Moosah Alsaffar threw 50-5.5. Leo Ramos of Far Northeast won at Mountain Range by going 48-0.5. Have collected those data points, we can now visit Pomona. And where to begin? Kevin Bruxvoort of Rocky Mountain, Austin Appiah of Rangeview, and Blaine Fisher of Denver East all cracked through the 160 barrier in the discus. In the shot put, Charles LaFore of Chatfield, Taylor Nichols of Douglas County, and Cade Whish of Fort Collins left 50 feet in their wake. Bruxvoort didn’t miss that standard by much. What we don’t have in 5A—at least not yet—is a prohibitive leader in either throwing event. And that should make for a very intriguing state meet.
5A Girls – Since we’re already at Pomona, we can stay there for a bit. Kajsa Borrman of Loveland had a very nice discus toss of 146-2. She doesn’t have to face Meeks at state, and that puts her well up on the 5A field. Laura Davis of Fort Collins went to #4 in 5A with a 121-2. That’s indicative of the kind of lead Borrman currently has on the field. Addison Edwards of Cherry Creek checked in at 119-even. Davis of Fort Collins and Mia Speights of Chaparral led the 5A ranks in the shot put at Pomona with 38-3.25 and 37-2, respectively. Hope Callan of Liberty tossed a 37-2 to take second at Fountain-Ft. Carson.
