Mohamed Ibrahim stood motionless in the ring.
His arms dangled by his sides as he shifted his weight back and forth before evening it out between both feet.
Balance.
The Wiggins senior took concentrated breathes as he began to wind up.
Rhythm.
He picked up speed in his rotation while gripping the discus tightly with the fingers in his right hand.
One rotation.
Two.
And then --
Release.
Ibrahim watched the discus sail high into the air. It hovered like a silver UFO against the vast blue sky before allowing gravity to take hold.
Spectators gasped as the discus crashed back to earth - they knew they had just witnessed something phenomenal.
It landed 185-2 feet beyond where Ibrahim stood, nearly reaching the fence that lined the edge of the complex at Wiggins High School. The mark - a Colorado No. 1, and US No. 7 - was a 13-foot personal best for Ibrahim.
As impressive as the performance was, still standing on the sideline for his turn was the 2021 state champion in this very event - Bryant Schoenthal.
Needless to say, the bar had been set.
Schoenthal mirrored Ibrahim in the ring as they had many times before.
Ibrahim and Schoenthal are two of Colorado's best throwers, and their two schools - both 2A - are just 109 miles apart. While this number might seem big to anyone from the Denver area, add that both schools are in Colorado's north-eastern plains.
In other words - there's not a whole lot between them.
To add a little history here...
Friday's battle included the 2021 state champion in the discus verses the 2021 runner-up. Additionally, it included the 2021 state champion in shot put, and the runner-up.
A year ago - or, nine-months ago - Schoenthal won the discus at State, and Ibrahim took second. In the shot put the places were reversed.
But on this day there would be no sharing of the crown. On this day there would be one winner to reign over the throws.
And the title went to the host - Ibrahim.
Schoenthal responded to Ibrahim's result with a massive throw of his own - a 178-2 PR to the wow of the crowd. Additionally his mark landed him at the No. 19 spot nationally, and No. 2 in Colorado.
The two titans of Colorado's throwing community went head-to-head on Colorado's high plains at the Wiggins Invitational Friday afternoon.
The Wiggins senior claimed the discus title with his 185-2, and several hours later won the shot put in a state-leading 56-3. Shoenthal finished second in 53-7. Ibrahim's younger brother - Laith Ibrahim - also finished third in the discus with a 159-6 mark.
The throws were definitely the highlight of the meet.
On the girl's side of the competition Lauren Herman had a big day as well. The Holyoke senior won the discus in a 2A No. 1 of 127-5, and finished second in the shot put to teammate Correy Koellner, who won the event with a state-leading 39-2. Herman was just a few inches back with a toss of 38-8.
And those weren't the only state-leading marks to come out of the meet.
Fleming's 4x100 torched a new 1A No. 1 to win the event with a 54.53 clocking, and nabbed a No. 1 in the Sprint Medley Relay, winning the event in 2:00.02.
Meanwhile, Merino ran away with a state-leading 4:23.83 to win the 4x400. Their time currently leads 1A by a staggering 19-seconds. Limon took second in the race, finishing in 4:24.70 for a 2A No. 1.
While there was a very generous tailwind (7.6), Kyle Fryrear sprinted away to a 1A No. 1 of 11.43 to win the 100.