Pomona’s Ryan Marquez, right, and Ralston Valley’s Tyler Shannon, left, are two of the top hurdlers in 5A. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
LAKEWOOD — Pomona junior Ryan Marquez stays focused in the moment be it on the football field, basketball court or track.
“Of course school comes before everything,” said Marquez, a three-sport athlete for the Panthers. “To be the best in every sport really drives me to focus on each sport individually when I have the time. When I come out on meet days or games days I come out to do the best of my ability.”
Marquez doesn’t just tinker in his three sports. He has quarterbacked Pomona to back-to-back Class 5A football state championship appearances. Marquez was a 5A Jeffco League basketball second team all-conference selection this winter leading the Panthers in scoring, rebounds and assists.
Now, it’s track season where Marquez placed third in the 300-meter hurdles at the state meet last year as a sophomore.
Pomona junior Ryan Marquez has excelled at football, basketball and track. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
“What a phenomenal athlete,” Pomona track coach Jeff Donnel said of Marquez before the start of the Arvada City Championships on Saturday at Jeffco Stadium. “He totally fits the mold of what we try to do at Pomona. We are all about having multi-sport athletes. In this day and age its kind of a dying breed.”
Encouraging multi-sport athletes has benefited Pomona’s strong football, wrestling and track programs. Marquez said the bonding has been key over the past few years.
“A lot of the football guys do track. It’s a great atmosphere,” Marquez said. “Everyone is having fun and joking with each other. Everyone really bonds during track season. It’s a great feeling being apart of that.”
It’s also a nice feeling being the defending 5A boys track and field team champions. Pomona racked up 94.5 team points last season distancing itself from runner-up Fountain-Fort Carson (79 points). It was the first team track state title in the school’s history.
“Of course that’s in the back of our minds,” Marquez said of defending the 5A title. “Early in the season we are just looking to get better for the end of the season. We are training hard right now. Everyone is devoted. When time comes for state everyone will be ready to go.”
Marquez won the 300 hurdles and finished second in the 110 hurdles to Ralston Valley senior Tyler Shannon on Saturday. Shannon placed third at state in the 110 hurdles last spring. Marquez and Shannon — good friends — will line up against each other plenty of times this spring.
Pomona was ready to go Saturday winning both girls and boys team titles at the Arvada City Championships.
The Panthers did lose a few key cogs from last year’s Class 5A state championship team. Junior Max Borghi — second in the 100, third in the 200 and on both the 4×100 and 4×200 relays at state — is still recovering from torn ACL and MCL in his knee that happened during the state football quarterfinals. Borghi won’t run this spring.
Pomona seniors Jeremy Gonzales, left, and Miles Matulik finished 1-2 in the 100 meters Saturday at the Arvada City Championships. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
Jake Moretti — first in the shot put at state — graduated a semester early and is already enrolled at the University of Colorado where he will play football for the Buffaloes. Also, Danny Williams — fifth in the high jump, second in the long jump and first in the triple jump at state — graduated.
“We’ve still got some great kids,” Donnel said. “If everything falls into place anything can happen. Never turn your back on an opportunities.”
The cupboard isn’t even close to bare for the Panthers. Seniors Brandon Micale and Issac Lopez return as two of top in the discus and shot put in 5A. Micale placed fourth in the discus and Lopez took sixth in the shot put at state last year.
Pomona returns 3-of-4 runners — seniors Jeremy Gonzales, Adam Eckhardt and Miles Matulik — from its state championship 4×100 relay. It’s likely Uriah Vigil, another three-sport athlete, or Marquez will fill the void of Borghi in the 4×100 and 4×200 really teams.
“I don’t see any pressure in this sort of sport,” said Gonzales, who was seventh at state in the 100 and 200 last year. “You’ve got to go out there and give 110 percent every time. If you do that your outcomes will be good.”
Gonzales, Matulik and Eckhardt finished 1-2-3 in the 100 on Saturday. Gonzales, who will play football and run track at South Dakota School of Mines next school year, also won the 200.
“Without a doubt he (Gonzales) has a chance to really shine,” Donnel said. “Of course we are going to miss Max, but Jeremy has the chance to be the guy.”
Gonzales is clearly focused on helping the track team duplicate the accomplishment Pomona’s wrestling team did last month in winning back-to-back 5A team titles.
“It would be amazing. I think we deserve that at Pomona,” Gonzales said about repeating as state champs. “We work really hard. We really take this sport it seriously.”
Pomona hopes to sprint to a second straight 5A boys track and field state championship title. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
Before you can knock down a row, the first domino has to fall.
For the Paonia girls track and field team, the tipping point was the 1,600 relay final at the 2013 state meet.
The Eagles trailed Akron by nine points in the team standings heading into the last event. Akron didn’t advance their group out of preliminaries, which meant if Paonia won the 1,600 relay the program’s first team championship would follow.
“We had to win it,” coach Brian Mitchem said. “We didn’t tell our girls where we were at (in points). I don’t know if they knew or not what was on the line. They ran the race of their lives and set a new state record and we won the title.”
Lindsay Russell, Ashley Van Vleet, Chelsy Reed, and Taylor Polson earned the necessary ten points needed to sneak past Akron 87-86 in the final tally. They established a Class 2A state record in the 1,600 relay that still stands with a time of 3 minutes, 58.16 seconds.
Van Vleet, Reed and Polson also teamed with Taylor Plymale to blow past the classification record in the 3,200 relay on the first day of competition, running 9:33.81.
“We started the meet with a state record and finished with a state record,” Mitchem noted.
Now, coming off four consecutive 2A team titles, Paonia is a dynasty. The Eagles are just the fourth program to win four in a row in any classification.
The Classical Academy topped 3A five times in succession from 2006-2010 and Mullen won 4A seven times in a row from 1997-2003. Limon is the only 2A program before Paonia to have achieved such a feat, conquering four in a row from 2004-2007.
So yes, Paonia is in rare company. And of course it takes special athletes to thrive to that degree.
2016 grad Ashley Van Vleet was a member of a championship squad every year of her career. A two-time state winner in the high jump, Ashley will soon reunite on the track at Idaho State with her younger sister, Brianna.
Before that, Brianna has unfinished business to attend. Although an outstanding class of seniors graduated, and the most complete team thus far in Mitchem’s eyes was the 2016 group, the cupboard is anything but bare.
“We’re swimming with athletes,” the younger of the superstar sister tandem said. “We want to strive for five.”
Nothing in life is guaranteed and Mitchem knows the competitiveness of the state. Lyons and Soroco would love nothing more than to claim the top perch, and each has the firepower to be in the mix.
(Courtesy of Paonia HS)
At the start of the spring, Paonia has a team worthy of being deemed the favorite again though. Van Vleet won the long jump and set a new standard in 2A with a mark of 18 feet, nine and a half inches last year. She’s back for more and will be joined by fellow multi-sport stars from volleyball (24-3 record in fall) and basketball (22-0 and No. 2 seed in 2A Great 8) in Sophia Anderson, Emily Pieper, McKenna Hartigan, McKenna Palmer, Randi Rapke, and Poppy Lightfoot.
Scott Rienks, the girls basketball coach, spends his time in the spring coaching the throwers and sprinters of the track program. Brent McRae led Paonia football to back-to-back 1A state titles in 2013 and 2014 and coaches the jumpers on the track team.
The Eagles have been potent in athletics in recent years—Paonia claimed three consecutive 2A titles in wrestling from 2012-14—and it’s easy to see why. Strong coaches and competitors are in place each season.
It’s been a collective effort in the spring, exemplified best by Paonia’s dominance in the relay events.
“We’ve just had some great kids come through the high school the last several years,” Mitchem said. “We’ve been a very welcome recipient of great athletic talent. Last year we scored 47 out of 50 points in the relays.”
Piling up 139 total points with placers in nearly every event (Wray was runner-up with 76), the Eagles really flew in the relays while triumphing in four of the five (800, 1,600, 3,200, and 800 medley relays). They placed third in the 400 relay and have finished first in at least two relays every season of their championship streak.
Now another group of seniors could finish their careers in the red and black never knowing the taste of defeat at state.
“That’s obviously a big deal to me, because track is my sport and I love it with a passion,” Van Vleet said. “Being able to look at my sister and say, ‘Hey, I won four too.’ I know we can do it.”
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Track and field preview
Important dates
Regular season begins: March 9
State meet: May 18-20 at Jefferson County Stadium in Lakewood
Defending champions in boys track:
5A: Pomona
4A: Mountain View
3A: Lutheran
2A: Cedaredge
1A: Heritage Christian
Returning all-state competitors in boys track:
5A: Malic Bonner, Fountain-Fort Carson, 4×400, Jr.; Max Borghi, Pomona, 4×100, Jr.; Sergio Cedano, Fountain-Fort Carson, 4×400, Sr.; William Dixon, Monarch, 4×800, Jr.; Adam Eckhardt, Pomona, 4×100, Sr.; Jason Farrell, Fountain-Fort Carson, 4×200 and 4×400, Jr.; Jeremy Gonzales, Pomona, 4×100, Sr.; Isaac Green, Monarch, 4×800, Sr.; Angel Heredia, Hinkley, 300 hurdles, Jr.; Zach Litoff, Monarch, 4×800, Sr.; Jalen Lyon, Fountain-Fort Carson, 4×200, Jr.; Miles Matulik, Pomona, 4×100, Sr.; Darrien Wells, Hinkley, 400 meters, Sr.; Donovan Williams, Fountain-Fort Carson, 4×200, Sr.
4A: Aaron McCoy, Canon City, 300 hurdles, Sr.; Ian Meek, Montrose, 1600 and 3200 meters, Sr.; Brandon Pappas, Palmer Ridge, 4×400, Sr.; Harry Steinberg, Durango, 4×800, Sr.
3A: Sunday Abarca, Aspen, 400 meters, Sr.; Luke Arkell, Lutheran, 4×100 and 4×200, Jr.; Bryce Coop, Manitou Springs, 4×400, Sr.; Jacob Dack, Lutheran, Shot Put, Sr.; Adam Dawson, Lutheran, Discus, Sr.; Isaiah Delacerda, Alamosa, 4×800, Sr.; Jasper Germain, Roaring Fork, High Jump, Jr.; Chad Jackson, Alamosa, 4×800, So.; Jared Keul, Manitou Springs, 800 meters, 4×400, Sr.; Oscar Martinez, Alamosa, 4×800, Sr.; Caleb Palmer, Alamosa, 4×800, Sr.; Luke Rodholm, Manitou Springs, 4×400, Sr.; Victor Zimmerman, Sterling, Pole Vault, Sr.; Conner Stahla, Resurrection Christian, 4×100 and 4×400, Sr.; Michael Stevenson, Resurrection Christian, 4×400, Sr.; Jack Taylor, Resurrection Christian, 4×100, Jr.
2A: Jaylen Hayes, Ellicott, 4×200, Sr.; Simon Kearns, Mancos, 4×800, Jr.; Ben Kelley, Soroco, 800 meters, Jr.; Jake McKie, Mancos, 4×800, Jr.; Chad Mikelson, Sedgwick County, Long Jump and Triple Jump, Sr.; Chiante Stewart, Ellicott, 4×200, Jr.
1A: Chris Athey, Lake City Community, 4×800, Sr.; Ian Beckett, McClave, High Jump, Jr.; Isaac Borchers, Lake City Community, 4×800, Jr.; Shiloh Bremer, Cheraw, 4×100, Sr.; Beau Dukes, Springfield, 4×200, So.; Bowman Ellis, Springfield, 4×200, Sr.; Blayden Fletcher, North Park, 110 hurdles, Jr.; Tate Goble, Otis, Pole Vault, Jr.; Cameron Klann, Flager, 100 meters and Long Jump, Sr.; Riley Moore, Lake City Community, 4×800, Jr.; Taylor Motschall, Heritage Christian, 4×400, Sr.; Brendon Trujillo, Cheraw, 4×100, Sr.; Fred Turner, Eads, 300 hurdles, Sr.
Defending champions in girls track:
5A: Fort Collins
4A: Classical Academy (now in 3A)
3A: Eaton
2A: Paonia
1A: Heritage Christian
Returning all-state competitors in girls track:
5A: Aumni Ashby, Cherokee Trail, 4×200, Jr.; Hannah Carlson, Arapahoe, 800 medley, Jr.; Gina Coleman, Fountain-Fort Carson, Discus, Sr.; Jamie Johnson, Cherry Creek, 4×800, So.; Audra Koopman, Fort Collins, Long Jump, Sr.; Sydnee Larkin, Cherokee Trail, Triple Jump and 4×100, Jr.; Allison Marizza, Arapahoe, 4×400, Sr.; Jordan McCurdy, Cherry Creek, 4×800, Jr.; Gabriella McDonald, Rocky Mountain, Shot Put, Jr.; Arria Minor, Denver East, 100 meters, 200 meters and 400 meters, So.; Brie Oakley, Grandview, 1600 meters and 3200 meters, Sr.; Jaiden Paris, Cherokee Trail, 4×100 and 4×200, Jr.; Devon Peterson, Cherry Creek, 4×800, Sr.; Emily Sloan, Rock Canyon, 100 hurdles and 300 hurdles, Jr.; Taylor Watson, Cherokee Trail, 4×100 and 4×200, Jr.
4A: Anna Hall, Valor Christian, High Jump, So.; Rylee Anderson, Silver Creek, High Jump, Jr.; Tess Boade, Valor Christian, 4×100 and 4×200, Sr.; Alexis Buckhaults, Canon City, 100 hurdles, Sr.; Lauren Gale, Discovery Canyon, 100 meters, 200 meters, 400 meters, 800 medley, Jr.; Destiny Grimes, Valor Christian, 4×100, So.; Jenny Hall, Discovery Canyon, 800 medley, Sr.; Lilliana Hamilton, Air Academy, 4×800, Jr.; Ayannah Lang, Discovery Canyon, 800 medley, Jr.; Lily Lockhart, Delta, Shot Put, Sr.; Bianca Lopez, Valor Christian, 4×200, Jr.; Maria Mettler, Air Academy, 4×800, Sr.; Lianna Ubungen, Discovery Canyon, 800 medley, Jr.
3A: Maya Evans, Lutheran, Long Jump, Jr.; Lannan Abbott, Colorado Springs Christian, 4×400, Jr.; Morgan Barone, Lutheran, High Jump, Sr.; Kylie Chavez, Sterling, Long Jump and Triple Jump, Sr.; Dana Kotz, Coal Ridge, 4×200, Sr.; Chelsey Lockey, Eaton, 800 medley, Jr.; Santana Martinez, Coal Ridge, 4×200, Jr.; Quinn McConnell, Peak to Peak, 800 meters and 4×800, So.; Quinn Pinnt, Moffat County, 4×100, So.; Julia Ridgway, Colorado Springs Christian, 4×400, Sr.; Courtney Sabatino, Eaton, 800 medley, Jr.; Emma Samuelson, Moffat County, 4×100, Sr.; Anna Shults, Peak to Peak, 1600 meters and 4×800, So.; Tarynn Sieg, Eaton, Shot Put and Discus, Sr.; Erica Thompson, Colorado Springs Christian, 4×400, Sr.; Ivy Todd, Estes Park, Pole Vault, Sr.; Lily Tomasula-Martin, Estes Park, 3200 meters, Sr.; Sarah Yocum, Faith Christian, 100 hurdles and 300 hurdles, Sr.
Mason Finley has come a long way from Jeffco Stadium and the Class 3A track and field championships. After failing to qualify for the 2012 Olympics, the Buena Vista grad won the discus at the U.S. Olympic Trials earlier this month with an impressive toss of 63.42 meters.
Now he’s off to Rio de Janeiro.
He’s one of just several Colorado high school athletes looking to bring home gold medals. He took some time to chat about coming out of Buena Vista and what is mindset is with the games quickly approaching.
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Question: They don’t breed them small out in Buena Vista. The last two notable athletes to come out of the school are you and New England Patriots left tackle Nate Solder. What is it about living in that area that the big guys are the ones who are succeeding?
Finley: Oh, I’m not sure really. I think it kind of shows how many athletes come out of there and it’s just a testament to the support that our coaches and teachers there have given us.
It’s just the work ethic that we’ve learned again from our coaches and teachers out there.
Q: At what point of your throwing career did you think that the Olympics was a legitimate possibility?
Finley: I felt like after having success in my high school career, probably my junior and senior year, that it could be a possibility.
Trying to achieve it for the 2012 Olympics, I had some speed bumps during that area of my training. It just pushed me even further and I guess it didn’t become a reality again until this season.
Q: You said you hit some speed bumps. What did you learn from that experience in failing to make it?
Finley: I think I just had a different vision of what it took to be a good thrower during those times.
I was trying to get really big, really strong just seeing what some of these guys looked like when I was younger. I was going about things in the wrong way. I got really heavy and started having back injuries and stuff like that.
I learned that everyone’s body is different and you have to adjust to your gifts. Each person has their own talents that they need to let shine and not work on what someone else is doing.
(Courtesy of Mason Finley)
Q: What’s the biggest difference between competing up at the state meet at Jeffco Stadium as opposed to an Olympic qualifier?
Finley: It’s definitely more mental than anything. It’s tougher competition for sure. Physically, you do need to change some stuff. I changed a lot of my technical aspects to my throw. I changed my body for more muscle and less fat, kind of doing appropriate body composition there.
But I’d say the biggest change is becoming mentally ready to handle that big of a venue.
Q: Since you qualified, have you seen people come out of the woodwork, whether it’s someone from high school or friends from college wanting to congratulate you?
Finley: Yeah, definitely. As soon as I got done, after meeting with drug testing and media stuff, I didn’t have a chance to check my phone.
As soon as I was able to, Facebook blew up, so many people were texting me it was crazy to see all the people I hadn’t heard from in a while.
Q: Is it reassuring to see all that and to know that you have that support from people you haven’t seen or talked to in a long time?
Finley: I think so. It’s great to reconnect with people and just to have the knowledge and to know that you have such a big support base from back home.
Q: Speaking of support bases, I understand you’re doing a lot to get your family to Rio. What does that involve?
Finley: We’re doing a couple of things. First, we set up a GoFundMe page to try and get my mom and sisters out there. We’re also going to do a fundraiser in Lawrence (Kan.) and I’m going to come up to Colorado, Salida and Buena Vista, and do a couple of things up there, too.
I learned really quickly that as soon as I was done with college, family is by far your biggest support group that you have and just all of the love, when I was down they were picking me up. All the help that my mom has given me. They definitely deserve to go.
Q: Are you feeling more pressure with this than actually getting qualified to go to Rio yourself?
Finley: It was definitely a lot of pressure at the Trials thinking about everything. It’s a make or break situation.
This stuff isn’t too much pressure, I’m not feeling too much pressure. It’s just another goal.
Q: When it comes to the vision of the Olympic athlete, at least here in Colorado, you have Missy Franklin and Adeline Gray from the Denver area, do you kind break the stereotype as a kid who comes from a town of maybe a couple thousand people and school of 300 or so students?
Finley: When you just have those facts, yeah you break the stereotype. But at the same time, when you have a Nate Solder, when you have a Matt Hemingway from the same school who took second at the 2004 Olympics in the high jump.
It’s kind of interesting that for some reason, out of that area it’s not uncommon.
(Courtesy of Mason Finley)
Q: When you think back to your time competing for Buena Vista, what sticks out the most?
Finley: I think the thing I remember the most is how hard working and loving my coaches were. It’s definitely a family. It goes kind of a step further than, I don’t really know what to compare it to, I can only imagine going to a bigger school things are separated a little bit more.
In a small town like that, things were just a lot closer because of the size of the population.
Q: Other than actually competing, what are you looking forward to the most about the trip to Rio?
Finley: I guess I haven’t thought too much about it. I guess I want to go see some of the monuments there, kind of the touristy things.
Besides competing, definitely watching some of the other events if I have time. I would really like to watch some of the other world class athletes duke it out.
Q: What’s the ultimate goal for you and what’s an acceptable result at the Olympics?
Finley: The Ultimate goal is to get on the medal stand. Whether it be gold or bronze.
It would be acceptable to make the finals. I understand that this is my first time in this venue, competing at this level internationally, but I am still very confident that I can go in there and get in the finals if I can just keep my head.
Past that, if I’m on like I was in the prelims in Eugene, I should be in the running.
Caleb Ojennes, who just finished his senior season at at Palmer Ridge, was named Colorado’s boys track athlete of the year by Gatorade on Friday morning.
Ojennes won the 200- and 400-meter races at the Class 4A state meet in May. He also anchored Palmer Ridge’s 4×400-meter relay squad which won a state title, and placed fifth in the 100 meters.
“He had more love for the sport than any other athlete I have ever coached or been around,” Palmer Ridge coach Kelly Christensen said in a statement. “He was a student of the game and always found a way to deliver elite results every time it was needed.
“Caleb will be missed by the school, his teammates and the coaching staff. Without his passion and desire to succeed, the Palmer Ridge track team would not have won the back-to-back state team titles that we did in 2014 and 2015.”
After the season, Ojennes was named the 4A track athlete of the year as part of the all-state teams. He was also the 4A athlete of the year in 2015.
Ojennes, an Indiana recruit, is the first boys track athlete to be honored by Gatorade.
He had a 3.46 GPA in the classroom. Ojennes also volunteered as a youth track instructor, and also at the Marian House Soup Kitchen for underprivileged families during the holidays.
Sanford’s Chance Canty (21) holds up the 2A boys basketball championship trophy in March. (Jeff Tucker/jefferywtucker.zenfolio.com)
Sanford’s Chance Canty certainly was amazed when notified that he had won the 2016 CHSCA Freddie Steinmark Award.
“This is amazing. I had no idea that I would win it and I just don’t seem to have the words right now to express my appreciation.”
Canty is the 47th winner of the Steinmark Award since it was established in 1971 and he is certainly deserving. There were two winners in 1976 and 1979.
“The award certainly adds to our family values as we have had cancer hit our home,” said Canty. “This award does not define who we are going to be. To be number 47 is just amazing. I feel more blessed than I can imagine. I’m also just great full to be a part of the Sanford community and for their support.”
The Steinmark Award honors Freddie Steinmark, who excelled in football, basketball and baseball while attending Wheat Ridge High School in the 1960s. He was also an outstanding student and was active in several school and community-oriented endeavors before attending the University of Texas, where he helped the Longhorns to the national football title in 1969. He died from cancer in 1971 at the age of 22.
“The Steinmark Award means so much more than just a recognition in honor of a superior athlete,” wrote Canty in his nomination letter. “It is an extreme honor to be nominated for the Steinmark. I have worked hard to get to where I and today. I will also continue to strive to be the best I can be in everything I do. I will continue to strive to be the best I can be in everything I do.”
Canty graduated from Sanford High School as the Valedictorian. And, he certainly was as successful in his sport participation. His honors are too much to be presented in this article, but here is a summary:
He was named first-team all-conference all four years in basketball, all-state all four years while helping lead his team to three state championships. He was the Southern Peaks player of the year twice and helped lead Sanford to 73 consecutive wins, and an overall record of 103-5 in his prep career. During that period on the courts, he averaged 21.4 points a game and 11.8 rebounds.
He was all-conference in cross county, twice, and helped lead his team to two, top five team finishes both years in state.
He also excelled on the track. Canty was a state qualifier three years, earning all-league honors in the high jump, 110-hurdles and 300 hurdles and as a member of the 1,600-meter relay team.
Citizenship is also an important part of the Steinmark Award winners in school and in their communities. Again, his honors and participation are extreme.
His honors are highly appreciated by his teachers and coaches at Sanford. And, those honors were high expressed by Canty’s English/Composition and Journalism teacher, Krista Bond, and coaches Rhett Larsen and Corey Crowther.
“Throughout his high school career he has received a plethora of academic and extracurricular awards for his stellar grades and participation,” wrote Bond. “He has taken rigorous academic courses throughout his high school career and is currently enrolled in three college-level and/or Advanced Placement courses. He is extremely concerned about his work and getting it in on time and doing it to the best of his ability.”
“In this day and age it is very difficult for young people to look to their future and stay focused,” said Larsen. “Chance has a maturity about him that allows him to see into the future and realize the acts he does now will have a large impact on that future.”
“Chance is a leader, whether on the court or off the court and other players and students looked to him for his leadership,” added Crowther. “He leads by example and nobody will work harder or care more about those around him.”
Canty is currently undecided on a college. He is going to serve a two-year LDS Mission beginning this month in Birmingham, Ala.
“I have seen the impact one can have on others, and I always want to impact other positively,” said Canty.
The trophies will be presented to the Steinmark winners, June 10, 2016 at Adams State University in Alamosa. Canty will be joined by Yuma’s Tara Traphagan, who will receive the Steinmark for the girls.
Freddie Steinmark had the ability to motivate his peers on and off the field, always giving more of himself than was necessary. And, he played the game of life harder than anything else.
As noted, the trophies, are for both boys and girls, and they must be seniors who participated in at least two varsity sports. And, the overall criteria for receiving the award is high. The recipient must be of high moral character, a school and community leader, be willing to give more of himself to others, and, of course be that top athlete.
Dave Logan of Wheat Ridge High School, and now the extremely well known sports announcer for the Denver Broncos and other sports endeavors, was the first winner of the award in 1972. The initial presentation was made May 22, 1972.
Following is the list of the other boys who were nominated for the Steinmark: Adam Buchmann, Faith Christian; Owen Burke, D’Evelyn; Colton Cline, Elizabeth; Nate Fedel, Ouray; Gabriel Hegarty, Faith Christian; Chris Helbig, Holy Family; Brandon Hinkle, Yuma; Alec Hornecker, Golden; Parker Joens, Platte Valley; Benjamin Lachelt, Durango; Seamus Millett, Durango; David Moenning, Durango; Landon Schmidt, Windsor; Benjamin Waters, Valor Christian; Keegan Wentz, Buena Vista; Ben West, Poudre.
Mountain View won the 4A boys track and field championship. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
LAKEWOOD — It’s fair to say Kevin Clark will be leaving the Mountain View track and field program in good condition.
After a runner-up finish on the girls side at the Class 4A state championships in 2015, the Mountain Lions took it one step further Saturday at Jefferson County Stadium by winning the boys team title. For a program with one other track crown (the boys also won 4A in 2006) Clark took over the program in Loveland when it was in a bit of a transition.
“The first year on the boys side in 2008 we took one young man to the state meet,” he said. “We’ve seemed to always have a pretty solid girls program. We highlighted that last year by being runner-up. I feel great about what our staff has accomplished. To be second in 2015 and then to end 2016 with a state championship, this is as good as it gets.”
The Mountain View track coach, who recently accepted the athletic director position at Loveland High School, also led the Mountain Lions to a 4A girls cross country championship in 2014. But this was his first spring title. And it came in his final go-round before starting a post-coaching chapter of his life.
“I just have so much excitement for this group of young men,” Clark said. “It’s all juniors and seniors. The work they’ve put in this past year has been unbelievable, so it’s nice to see that pay off.”
A well-rounded group, Mountain View took down the two-time defending champion Palmer Ridge Bears by tallying points across a wide spectrum of events on the track and in the field:
Logan Stewart, after finishing as the runner-up in the long jump as a junior, won the event Friday with a mark of 22 feet, 11 inches.
Ramon Salgado, a four-time Northern Conference champion in the pole vault, finished first in winning his first-ever state title on Saturday over teammate and runner-up Brenton Emmons as both went 14 feet, 8 inches, but Salgado won on number of attempts.
Scott Sipes, yet another fourth-year, placed eighth in the shot put and third in the discus.
Jordan Kress placed in both the 100 and 200, while Nolan Kembel did the same in both hurdle events.
Ryan Vomacka shattered the school record in the 800 in placing seventh in a time of 1:55.89.
The Mountain Lions also finished second in the 400 relay, second in the 800 relay, third in the 1,600 relay and fifth in the 3,200 relay.
It all added up to an 89-79 margin of victory for Mountain View over Palmer Ridge.
“Palmer Ridge, they didn’t let it come easy,” Clark said. “Our kids stepped up for three days and put it out there. We had a great state meet. It was going to take a great state meet to win it and we had big kids. At the end of the day, ten points isn’t that much so we’re fortunate to come out the way we did.”
Clark will walk away from coaching on top.
During the track and field season’s finale, with several state records being rewritten again, Palmer Ridge senior Caleb Ojennes won the 200 and 400-meter dashes for the second consecutive year. His time of 46.71 seconds in the one-lapper not only shattered the 4A state meet record of 46.78 by Kevin McClanahan of Erie in 2014, but was also the second fastest time ever run on Colorado soil by a prep athlete. J.T Scheuerman remains the record-holder from 2006 during his days at Littleton when he ran a 46.23.
Ojennes also anchored the first-place 1,600 relay (3:18.92).
Fountain Fort-Carson senior Christian Lyon won the 100 (10.80) and 200 (21.67) and ran legs on the winning 800 (1:25.96) and 1,600 (3:17.91) relays in 5A.
Despite the usual firepower from Fountain on the track, Pomona won the 400 relay (42.43), Danny Wiliams won the triple jump (47-3), Jake Moretti won the shot put (54-10) and Max Borghi scored heaps of points in the 100 and 200 on the way to the Panthers’ first-ever team title in boys track and field. Pomona racked up 94.5 points to Fountain’s 79, ending a two-year title run by the Trojans.
Poudre’s Henry Raymond. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
In other 5A action, Poudre senior Henry Raymond, appearing in the first individual events of his career at state, swept the distance events — the 800 (1:51.97), the 1,600 (4:18.67) and 3,200 (9:25.21). His 1,600 was on the final day, but he overcame tired legs and sealed his third gold medal before heading to Dartmouth University in the fall.
In each race, Raymond used a devastating kick on the last lap to get the job done.
“My strategy is always just to be in good position coming up on the last lap,” he said. “I tried to make sure no one passed me at any point, because I wanted to keep the lead and be in control.”
Asked what he’ll remember most from his spectacular three-day state meet, Raymond smiled when describing his 800 performance.
“I think the most memorable part for me was just finishing the 800,” he said. “It was so painful and I had been really nervous about that race. I did pretty well and got a good time.”
The Lutheran boys, in winning the 3A team title for the second straight year — they also claimed 2A in 2014 — had a Saturday highlighted by first-place finishes in the 110 hurdles (Matt Hanson, 14.68), the 100 and 200 (Kent Harris, 10.97, 21.89), and the 400 relay (43.27). They scored a monstrous 137 points as runner-up Platte Valley scored 65.
In the 2A team race, Cooper Ward won the 100 and 200 for Resurrection Christian, while teammate Evan Anderson outlasted everyone in the 400. The Cougars also claimed gold in the 400 and 1,600 relays, but Cedaredge countered with Shane Gates, the 110 hurdles, 300 hurdles and high jump champion, on their way to a 98-85 team title over the Cougars.
Cedaredge won their second-ever championship in any sport, adding to a 1A football title won in 2012.
Heritage Christian tallied 126 points, scoring heavily in relays and distance events, with depth in just about everything else, on their way to a team victory over second place Springfield (91 points). The Eagles, with Robbie Wagner, Caleb Wickstrom, Matt Lee and Taylor Motschall rolling to a winning 3:35.13 in the 1,600 relay, also won 1A in 2013 and 2014.
The 3A state meet record in the 400-meter dash was broken by both Sunday Abarca of Aspen (48.54) and Jared Keul of Manitou Springs (48.66). The previous top time was held by Brian Black of Yuma from 2002 when he ran 48.70.
Jordan Cherin, the Shining Mountain Waldorf senior who shattered the 1A 800 record on Friday, came back for the 400 record with a winning 48.80 on Saturday. Clay Russell of North Park had the state meet record of 49.00 from 2014.
The Longmont 400 relay of Conlan Berger, Eli Sullivan, Logan Goodner and Trevor Cook came close to the 4A record of 41.28 with a 41.39 on Saturday.
Paul Roberts, the only four-time champion in state history in boys cross country, overtook Aucencio Martinez’s (Center) 2002 state meet record in the 2A 1,600 of 4:21.35 with a 4:19.54. Roberts won the 1,600 four times and the 3,200 three times during a distance career for Lyons that registers as perhaps the greatest ever in the small-school ranks.
Ian Beckett, a McClave sophomore, broke the 1A record in the high jump by going 6 feet, 3 inches. Manitou Springs laid claim to the 3A 1,600 relay state meet record with a 3:21.46. Gunnison, who held the record of 3:22.42 from 2002, was overtaken by Conner Plackis, Luke Rodholm, Bryce Coop and Jared Keul.
Fort Collins’ Becca Schulte. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
LAKEWOOD — Becca Schulte had never toed the line for the 800-meter run at the state track and field championships, but that doesn’t mean she didn’t keep the idea handy in her back pocket.
“I wanted to give it a better shot this year, especially when I saw that no one had run super fast yet,” the Fort Collins senior said. “I was like, ‘This could be mine.’ It’s kind of crazy looking up and seeing the time.”
Schulte, the defending 400-meter state champion in Class 5A, was the No. 3 seed for the two-lapper on Friday at Jefferson County Stadium. Her season best of 2 minutes 15.12 seconds was within reach of Dakota Ridge’s Cayli Hume at 2:14.33.
“The first lap I just tried to stay at the front of the pack,” Schulte said. “It was a little faster than what I was expecting and what I had run in the past, but it’s the state meet. I was just trying to stay there.”
The seasoned veteran, arguably Colorado’s most versatile big-school standout, started to separate from the leaders on the back stretch of the final lap.
“Then Hannah from Fairview started to come up on the outside, so I had to start picking it up,” she explained. “Then once I hit the 200 I knew it was time to go, get around that turn as fast as I could and finish that straight.”
With four competitors separated by a mere 1.20 seconds, the one with the best closing speed turned the last curve and finished the home straight just ahead of the group. Schulte’s winning time of 2:11.62 was enough to hold off Hume (2:12.07), Madison Mooney (2:12.43) and Hannah Freeman (2:12.83).
Schulte’s 10 points in the event were critical for the team race between likely Fort Collins, the favorites and 2014 champions, and Cherokee Trail, the defending champions.
Schulte is also a top-four seed in the finals of both the 200 and 400-meter dashes. Denver East freshman Arria Minor, who came close to state records in both on Thursday at 23.42 and 52.80, is the No. 1 seed.
The second day of the state meet heated up in a number of events, but especially so for the 800. The race has a way of captivating the crowd — plenty of speed, tactics, and toughness all play a role in the physical and psychological challenges that come with the event.
With all five classifications going back-to-back during the afternoon session, Jeffco Stadium was alive after Shining Mountain Waldorf senior Jordan Cherin ran way under the 1A state meet record of 1:57.86.
“Before the race I had planned to start off fast,” he said. “I went out a couple seconds too fast. When Eric (Enriquez-Acosta) passed me I was already more tired than I was expecting to be. All I was thinking was that I had to stay with him. If I gave him a gap he would just blow me away.”
Enriquez-Acosta, the Idalia junior who ran away from Cherin for the 2015 title and record time, passed Cherin with about 250 meters to go. But he never let him get away and eventually passed him back while rolling to a time of 1:54.83.
The senior, who hopes to walk-on to the track team at Baylor University, had designs on his first state championship but the time caught him by surprise.
“I wasn’t expecting to run that fast,” Cherin said. “I still don’t know what to think about it, but it’s kind of unbelievable to me.”
Also the No. 1 seed in the 400 with the only 1A time under 50 seconds this season at 49.53, Cherin will have a busy Saturday with the 100 and 200 finals as well.
Air Academy’s Katie Rainsberger. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
As for other 800 champions, Bree-ann Carwin of Baca County (2:23.58) won 1A girls, Katy Parsons of Hotchkiss (2:18.91) won 2A, Quinn McConnell of Peak to Peak won 3A (2:16.02), and Katie Rainsberger of Air Academy won 4A (2:09.97).
McConnell is part of a stellar freshman group for the Pumas. Rainsberger, if she wins the 1,600 on Saturday, will complete a distance state championship sweep in cross country, the 3,200 relay, 800, 1,600 and 3,200 junior and senior years in 4A. Her time of 10:23.24 in the 3,200 on Friday was 32 seconds ahead of runner-up Lexi Reed of D’Evelyn.
Ben Kelley, a sophomore at Soroco, shattered a record of his own in 2A with a winning 1:55.61 800 to oust Paul Roberts of Lyons (1:58.08). Jared Keul of Manitou Springs (1:55.70) was the 3A winner, while Durango’s David Moenning (1:52.26) and Poudre’s Henry Raymond (1:51.97) were the big-school champions in 4A and 5A.
On a day where a number of state records fell, Roberts added to his legacy in the 2A 3,200 with a state meet record time of 9:26.17. The Cedaredge girls 400 relay broke their own 2A state record of 49.71 from 2015 with a 49.51 in prelims. Faith Christian’s Sarah Yocum set a new 3A standard in the 300 hurdles with a prelims time of 42.45, while Discovery Canyon’s sprint medley relay (Ayannah Lang, Jenny Hall, Lianna Ubungen, Lauren Gale) shattered the 4A record with a winning 1:44.54.
The Springfield girls (Audrey Rau, Jordan Reed, Jayci Westphal, Tatelyn Lasley) broke the 1A record in placing first in the 800 relay in 1:48.27. Both Valor Christian and The Classical Academy shattered the 4A record in the same relay in both prelims and finals as Valor’s Tess Boade, Megan Maccagnan, Bianca Lopez and Gianna Tesone won in 1:39.80. TCA went 1:40.28 for second.
In the 2A boys pole vault, both Cooper Daniels of Vail Christian (15-2) and Brandon Hinkle of Yuma (14-11) launched past the 1984 record of 14 feet, 9 inches held by Bill Culbreath of West Grand. Taylor Alexander, also of Vail Christian, cleared 14 feet, 9 inches to shatter the girls all-time best.
Classification records were also broken by Brianna Van Vleet of Paonia (2A long jump), Trent Loeffler of Arickaree (1A triple jump), and Jenna McKinley of Sangre de Cristo (1A shot put).
Ian Meek of Montrose won a memorable 4A 3,200 by two seconds over Tanner Norman of TCA 9:32-9:34, while Fountain-Fort Carson boys blitzed the 5A 800 relay field in 1:25.96.
The state track and field championships resume at Jeffco Stadium at 9:30 am on Saturday with the finals of the 100 hurdles in every classification.
