LAKEWOOD – Cerake Geberkidane looked over his shoulder with 200 meters to go in Friday’s Class 5A final of the boys 800-meter run at the Colorado Track and Field Championships.
“I knew there’s some great kickers (in the field),” the Denver East senior said.
Actually, it was the runner ahead of him, Smoky Hill’s Blake Yount, with whom he had to be most concerned.
Yount, who came into the race with the state’s fastest time of the season, had set the tone from the outset, with Geberkidane right on his shoulder.
Geberkidane made yet another move rounding the final curve and overtook Yount to take the state title in 1 minute, 51.75 seconds, winning by 55/100ths of a second.
“At the start of the race I didn’t really want to lead the race,” Geberkidane said. “I wanted to be in second or third.”
The two pulled away from the pack, with Yount trying to separate himself and Geberkidane staying on his right shoulder.
“With 300 (meters) left, I made a move and he stayed (ahead),” Geberkidane said.
With 100 to go, he looked back to see a gap between the two and the rest of the field. That’s when he began his final kick.
“(Yount’s) such a great competitor,” Geberkidane said of relishing the challenge. “I love it.”
It was Geberkidane’s first state track title after winning the 5A state cross country title last fall with ease.
The only thing left to cap off his career is Saturday’s 1,600-meter final. After winning the 3,200, “It makes me want (the 1,600) more,” he said.
He knows that like the 800, the 1,600 won’t be easy.
“You’re racing the best in the state,” he said. “It’s who wants it more, and who’s willing to hurt more. I’m willing to do that.”
Saturday’s final day of the three-day meet begins at 8:30 a.m., with all events being finals.
LAKEWOOD — Heat sheets for the third and final day of the boys and girls track and field meets are below. Find Day 2 results, as well as live Day 3 results, on this page.
LAKEWOOD — Live results, via co.milesplit.com, from the 2014 state track and field meet are below. Navigate to the event of your choosing with the menu at left.
LAKEWOOD — Andrew Barlow reached new heights Thursday.
That’s not uncommon at a state track meet, but the Monarch junior actually soared to new territory.
After clearing 15 feet, 6 inches to win the Class 5A boys pole vault, a personal best by two inches, Barlow then dug deep, soaring to 16 feet to literally set the bar higher for himself.
“Not even in practice,” Barlow said when asked if he had ever cleared that mark.
Barlow, who took up the pole vault during his eighth grade year, qualified for the state meet for the first time last year. He had the third-best vault entering the meet but finished tied for 10th.
“Last year I was really nervous,” he admitted.
But having competed in the north end of Jeffco Stadium gave him confidence this season.
“Today I had some good warm-ups,” he said, his confidence growing.
He also switched poles, using the longest one with which he has ever competed.
To make the quantum leap from vaulting 13 1/2 feet last year to beating that by 2 1/2 feet this year, Barlow worked hard in the off-season.
“I just jumped a lot,” he said, focusing primarily on his run-up to the pit and on his form. He also hit the weight room. The combination of increased speed and strength made the difference.
So how can he improve on that for his senior season, maybe even challenge the state meet record of 17-3?
“I want to get better form at the top (of my jump),” he said.
Oh, and to also get bigger and faster.
Competition in all five classifications got underway Thursday with finals in four running events and partial classification finals all six field events.
The meet resumes Friday at 8:20 a.m. with the start of finals in six running events as well as more classification finals in the field events.
Jeffco Stadium’s new videoboard has live video capability, and also displays results and lineups. (Dennis Pleuss)
Over the course of the past year, Jeffco Stadium has undergone a transformation. When the state track meet begins on Thursday, the facility will, in effect, cut the ribbon on a variety of new improvements.
Included: a resurfaced track, a new video scoreboard, a new timing system and a new drainage system.
“We made some real investment into it that’s really going to bring us into the future,” Jeffco executive director of athletics Jim Thyfault said Monday.
“Trust me,” added Ezra Paddock, manager of operations for Jeffco, “this has taken effort from every department in the district.”
A big driving force behind much of the improvements?
“We take seriously the opportunity we have to host the state track meet every year.” Thyfault said. “We feel like our part of that, besides providing a facility, is providing a quality facility.
“Time was rolling around where we needed to resurface the track. We felt if we could upgrade the surface and make it an even better one, then that’s what we’re going to do because we feel the state deserves that.”
The surface was part one to the project, along with the new drainage system. “Our surface was at the end of its lifespan,” Paddock said. The new surface is what’s known as a sandwich system and is used by many colleges and universities.
“It’s state-of-the-art,” Paddock said. “It’s the same thing colleges run on.”
And whereas before Jeffco workers often were reduced to five-gallon buckets to be rid of standing water during larger rainstorms, the new drainage system easily handles a lot of moisture. That was tested early on during last fall’s massive flooding.
Jeffco Stadium. (Dennis Pleuss)
At the same time of the resurfacing, Jeffco buried all wires that had once surrounded the track.
Next came the new videoboard. The process started last summer when Thyfault was talking with a track coach, who asked about running the timing clock on the scoreboard.
“It just got me to thinking, and I got talking to Ezra about it,” Thyfault said. “Anyway, I ran it by my immediate supervisor here, and he thought it was great idea.”
Eventually, Jeffco secured a board from Daktronics, a national company which provides videoboards for some of the biggest sporting facilities in the world — including the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Madison Square Garden and Auburn’s Jordan-Hare Stadium.
“Our job now is to go out and sell some advertising to help offset the funding,” Thyfault said.
The video board was first fired up about a week ago. It has live video capability, and also displays results and lineups.
“It really adds to the experience for our kids,” Paddock said. “It’s just such a big difference. We’ve only had it up for a week, and they enjoy it so much.”
During the state meet, the board will provide live results — delivered by the new timing system, which was the final piece to the project.
The Lynx system is “the same system that they use at the Olympics,” Paddock said, and is wired directly to the new videoboard.
Thyfault said Jeffco is mulling putting new videoboards at its other stadiums — the North Area Athletic Complex, and Trailblazer Stadium — as well.
“It just all depends,” Thyfault said. “We’re going to go out and meet with some businesses and hope to partner up with them, and try and make it a win-win for both of us. If it ends up being a good process, then it could move us into being able to get scoreboards.”
Among other future ideas? Family move nights, using Jeffco Stadium’s new video screen, during the summer.
Thursday will mark the 30th year of the past 32 that Jeffco has hosted the state track meet. It doesn’t look to be going anywhere else anytime soon.
“We love to represent Jeffco when CHSAA comes out and hosts the state meet here,” Paddock said. “We try to make it as first class as it can be.”
TJ grad listed as No. 5 prospect for MLB Draft
Baseball America released its top 100 prospects for the 2014 MLB Draft on Wednesday. Thomas Jefferson grad Kyle Freeland, a junior at the University of Evansville, is No. 5 on that list.
Freeland, a left-handed pitcher, is 9-1 with a 1.75 ERA in 12 starts this season, and has 111 strikeouts to just seven walks. His stock really took off during a breakout summer in the Cape Cod League, where he was an All-Star after leading all players in strikeouts (48 in nine regular season games, and another 10 in a playoff game).
Also making the top 100 is Regis Jesuit senior David Peterson, who broke his fibula just prior to the season but made a quick recovery to return and pitch in mid-April. Peterson is 1-0 with a 1.17 ERA in 12 innings pitched this season. As a junior, Peterson was 6-3 with a 3.26 ERA.
Peterson is committed to Oregon.
Short stuff
Valor Christian graduate Wyndham Clark was featured by the Golf Channel on Mother’s Day. Now at Oklahoma State, Clark shared the story of his mother’s battle with breast cancer and how he honors her through his game.
Kent Denver dedicated a new sports pavilion last night, naming it for longtime football coach and athletic director Scott Yates and his family. The new facility — known as the Yates Pavilion — will house basketball and volleyball, and seat 850 people this fall. Here’s a photo. Coaching icon Dick Katte, a longtime figure at Denver Christian, attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday, as did a number of former players and coaches. “It is gorgeous,” boys basketball coach Todd Schayes said of the facility. “Now I have to make sure to put a strong basketball product in there next year.”
Valor Christian swim coach Rob Nasser regularly puts out rankings during the season which essentially comprise the best times around Colorado. His most anticipated rankings come out just prior to the state meet, and are based upon the psych sheets. Well, they came out Wednesday and amount to a projected finish at state. The favorites are Air Academy in 4A and Regis Jesuit in 5A. Find the full rankings at cohsswimanddive.blogspot.com.
Joe Rausch, largely successful as the boys basketball coach at Sand Creek for the past four seasons, will take over the same position at Pine Creek, according to the Colorado Springs Gazette. Rausch was 73-30 at Sand Creek, and led the 4A Scorpions to the Final 4 in March.
Arapahoe’s Austin Shindoll scored an incredible behind-the-back game-winner in overtime during the 5A boys lacrosse quarterfinals. Check out this photo. There’s also video here; the goal comes right around 1:56.
If you missed it, here was what Jeffco Stadium looked like on Monday during the snowstorm. Presumably, the new drainage system had no problem with the melt.
Courtesy/CHSCA Cards and online ticket entry Team Entrance (Northeast Gate) Only
Packets:
Team packets are available once doors open (7:30 a.m.) and throughout the day of competition.
Only coach or school designee can sign for team packet.
Parking:
No Parking Fee (Security Staff will direct vehicles to designated lots on west and north side of stadium).
Handicap parking will be located east of stadium.
Vehicles parked in non-designated areas will be ticketed and towed.
Bus parking:
Limited parking on the frontage road. Once the spaces are full, buses will be directed to park at Trailblazer stadium which is a 5-minute walk from Jeffco stadium.
Bus drivers must have school issued ID and can enter at no charge at the competitor/coaches northeast entrance.
RV parking:
Spaces are limited. We ask that you call Ezra Paddock (720-331-7289) to reserve your spot.
Please do not call Ezra for event organization questions. Instead, contact Jenn Roberts-Uhlig, CHSAA at 303-344-5050.
