The state meet didn't go perfectly for Platte Canyon, but it went well enough. Despite losing sprinter A. J. Melillo to a false start in the 100 meter prelims, the Huskies still had enough to put 52 points on the board, enough to beat second-place Buena Vista by 12 points.
For Platte Canyon, the biggest chunk of points came courtesy of junior middle distance runner Thomas Hoffman. After running a blistering 1:54.30, Hoffman came back to win a relatively slow and tactical 1600 race on Saturday in 4:35.06. Hoffman also finished sixth in the 400 in 52.01 after a 50.46 mark in prelims on Friday when the legs were a little fresher.
Despite the mishap in the 100, Melillo won the 200 in 22.96 and anchored 4 X 100 and 4 X 200 relay teams for Platte Canyon. Platte Canyon would pick up only three more points on the day from the pole vault, but it was enough in this meet. The points were very evenly spread among the top teams.
Roosevelt and Erie, both highly regarded going into the meet, struggled with matching their seeds. Roosevelt finished in fourth with 38.5 points, and Erie slipped to eleventh with 24 points.
Nobody had a more surprising finish than second-place Buena Vista. Going in, it was pretty much conceded that Buena Vista had 20 points locked up on the basis of Mason Finley's throws. And, Finley did break 3A meet records in both the shot put and discus events with throws of 64-9.75 and 211-6. Both marks were the best in all classifications. But, the Demons had a few other stunning performances to deliver. Junior Joseph DeMoor ran a season and career-best 9:48.57 to finish second in the 3200 on Friday and then contributed a leg toward Buena Vista's winning effort in the 4 X 800 on Saturday.
In other performances of note, JaLoni Martinez of Monte Vista went 45-2 in the triple jump, and Dan Gieck of Manitou Springs won the 110 hurdles in a time of 14.54.
On the girls' side, The Classical Academy won by a margin of 43 points, 89-46, over second-place Peak to Peak. The Titans were led by Kaitlin Hanenburg who won the 1600 in a best time for all classifications of 5:00.52. Hanenburg also won the 3200 and placed second in the 800 on Friday. Although TCA would win no other individual events, they edged Roosevelt to win the 4 X 800 relay in 9:43.60. TCA also had second-place finishes both the 800 medley and 4 X 400 relays and by Shannon Harrell in the 400.
This year, however, will be long remembered as the 3A girls state championship of a few dominating individuals. In addition to Hanenburg, Sam Berggren of Middle Park won three events and finished second in one. Plus, Margaret Weingart won two individual events, placed second in another, and finished her day by anchoring the Peak to Peak 4 X 400 team to a 3A state meet record time of 4:01.82.
Sam Berggren, at left, ran the fastest 800 of all the state meets, winning in a time of 2:12.70. Her 55.96 in the 400 prelims also ranked as the second fastest state 400 time in any classification. Margaret Weingart's 43.96 time in the 300 hurdles prelims would stand as the best time recorded in that event in any of the state meets.
Katie Dreher of Salida won the triple jump with a solid leap of 37-6.5
Complete Meet Results
Photo Galley
The state meet didn't go perfectly for Platte Canyon, but it went well enough. Despite losing sprinter A. J. Melillo to a false start in the 100 meter prelims, the Huskies still had enough to put 52 points on the board, enough to beat second-place Buena Vista by 12 points.
For Platte Canyon, the biggest chunk of points came courtesy of junior middle distance runner Thomas Hoffman. After running a blistering 1:54.30, Hoffman came back to win a relatively slow and tactical 1600 race on Saturday in 4:35.06. Hoffman also finished sixth in the 400 in 52.01 after a 50.46 mark in prelims on Friday when the legs were a little fresher.
Despite the mishap in the 100, Melillo won the 200 in 22.96 and anchored 4 X 100 and 4 X 200 relay teams for Platte Canyon. Platte Canyon would pick up only three more points on the day from the pole vault, but it was enough in this meet. The points were very evenly spread among the top teams.