Home

Preliminary heat sheets are out, and the field at the Class 4A State Track and Field Championships is loaded.

Three Steamboat Springs High School athletes qualified for the state meet. Senior Walker Hammond will represent the Sailors in the 110-meter and 300-meter hurdles, junior Matt Hill runs the 1,600, and junior Westin Cofer is a discus thrower. Hammond and Hill qualified for the state meet in the 3,200-meter relay last season. This is Cofer's first trip to state.

But Cofer may find his inaugural visit to Jefferson County Stadium rewarding.

After placing second at the Region 1 meet during the weekend, Cofer is seeded fourth in the state discus field.

Only three discus throwers, including Eagle Valley's Jacob Rivera, have thrown the discus farther than Cofer this season. Cofer's top throw this spring is 154 feet, 3 inches.

Cofer likely will have to break the 160-foot mark to win a state championship.

Mountain View's Brodie Wright recorded an impressive throw of 165 feet, 1 inch this year. If Cofer throws 155 feet or more, he likely will place in his first state meet.

The Class 4A/5A meet returns to Jeffco Stadium after a one-year absence. Last year, the meet was held at Cherokee Trail High School because Jeffco Stadium was undergoing renovations.

Steamboat coach Andy Reust said both facilities are great and have fast tracks.

Hammond and Hill will find out.

Hammond heads to the state meet a Region 1 champion in the 110-meter hurdles and a runner-up in the 300-meter hurdles. He will run in the second heat of both races.

According to the latest times posted on the Colorado High School Activities Association's Web site, Longmont's Austin Jurgensmeyer and Mountain View's Ben Yeh have the two fastest times in the 110-meter hurdles this season. Jurgensmeyer's time was a 14.64, and Yeh has run a 14.58.

Both may have run faster at the regional meet during the weekend, but those times have not been posted.

Hammond won the 110-meter hurdles in 15.38 on Saturday.

Yeh, Jurgensmeyer and Longmont's Michael Calhoun all have turned in times faster than 40 seconds this season in the 300 hurdles. Yeh is again the one to beat, with a top time of 38.81 as of Wednesday morning.

Hammond ran a 41.05 at Saturday's regional final.

Hammond's preliminary races are Friday, and the finals, should he advance, are Saturday.

Like Cofer, Hill will compete in his finals Friday.

There are two heats of the 1,600, and Hill runs in the first heat. His time of 4:34.04 was fast enough to qualify the junior before the regional meet. Bobby Potryku of Conifer and Thompson Valley's Ben Leon both have run 4:24 miles.