Koellner is shot put champ — again

Dragon tracksters showed their resilience at the Colorado State Track and Field Championships on May 19-22, and one battled her way to the top of the podium for back-to-back state titles.

Thursday’s opening day of competition was beautiful and sunny at JeffCo Stadium in Lakewood. But a snowstorm moved in Friday, causing all of that day’s events to be postponed to Saturday, and Saturday’s events to move to Sunday. The wet weather persisted Saturday morning, and events didn’t start until the middle of the afternoon.

Girls shot put competitors were more than ready to finally begin Saturday evening, despite the snow piled up in the stadium and the chilly temps that greeted them when the sun went down.

Going in as the reigning state champion and the favorite in this year’s 2A girls shot put, Holyoke senior Correy Koellner put her game face on and never looked back. Her best throw — 39 feet, 4 inches — put her on the top of the podium with another first-place finish.

Teammate Lauren Herman, another Holyoke senior, also repeated her placing from last year, earning runner-up honors in the shot put with a throw of 38 feet, 4 inches.

The throwers did a great job finishing their high school careers, said coach Corey Koberstein.

He pointed out that “anything can happen at state track.”

This isn’t the first time it’s snowed at the annual May event, and it’s not the first time that athletes exceeded expectations or fell short of what they thought they could do, he said.

“It’s one track meet, one day,” he reminded his athletes.

Koberstein said that the day off on Friday allowed the team to have some extra bonding time. He told the Colorado High School Activities Association commissioner that they weren’t concerned with the cold, wet weather, and he said she realized northeast Colorado kids are “a different breed.”

“We’ve had way worse weather at track meets,” said Koberstein. “Our kids are tough enough that these kinds of things don’t affect us.”

He noted that the region’s athletes really root for each other at the state competition.

There were a lot of Holyoke tracksters who went out for the sport for the first time this year, and it was fun for Koberstein to watch them build their confidence and to push themselves even though they might fail. “They were able to do things they didn’t know they were capable of doing throughout the year,” he said.

“Watching the kids go with a fighting spirit and put it all on the line was amazing to watch,” he added.

The girls team finished the meet in eighth with 35 points.

Herman, Koellner place in discus

In Sunday’s discus competition, Herman fought hard to repeat as the state champion, but in the end was edged out of first place. She earned second with a throw of 118 feet, 10 inches.

Koellner, who was runner-up last year, placed eighth with a throw of 108 feet, 5 inches.

Dragon senior Aidyn Shafer also finished his throwing career at state. He finished in 12th place in the shot put event with a throw of 42 feet, 6 inches.

Dirks, Esser on podium for long jump

In his second year long jumping at state, Bryson Dirks placed fifth in the boys long jump, with his best jump reaching 20 feet, 1.5 inches.

Linda Esser was also on the podium in the girls long jump, with a jump of 15 feet, 11 inches.

Cash Weber also competed in the long jump. He ended up in 16th with a distance of 18 feet, 5 inches.

Dirks got some good experience in the triple jump pit, finishing in 14th with a jump of 38 feet, 6.25 inches.

Chase Johnson also represented Holyoke in the high jump competition.

Sprint medley relay takes 6th

In an exciting prelim heat Thursday, the girls 800 meter sprint medley relay team of Ava Koberstein, Esser, Koellner and Tayla Martin ran hard for a personal record of 1:56.84. That earned them a spot in the finals on Saturday in which they placed sixth with a time of 1:58.27.

That same team also set a new PR in the 4x100 meter relay prelims Saturday with a time of :53.53; however, they did not make the finals with the 12th best time.

The girls 4x200 meter relay of Esser, Koberstein, Koellner and Dahira Castillo ran hard for a time of 1:59.33 on Thursday.

Late on Sunday, the girls 4x400 meter relay of Koberstein, Clover Adler, Elyce Sisseck and Leah Struckmeyer finished with a time of 5:05.41.

In the boys 4x100 meter relay, the Holyoke team of Wyatt Sprague, Weber, Max Kleve and Trey Oakley didn’t finish because of a bad handoff.

Sprague, Martin set PRs

Sprague competed in the 110 meter hurdles and set a PR of :17.64. He had the 16th best time in preliminary competition.

Martin also set a PR in the 400 meter dash with a run of 1:02.58. She narrowly missed making the finals. She also competed in the 800 meter run, finishing with a time of 2:39.74. She was in 15th, and Koberstein said he was proud of her for beating some who were ranked higher than her.

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