LONGMONT — Frederick’s Julia Wyatt has been having an incredible month of April and it just keeps getting better and better.
At Everly-Montgomery Field on Saturday, the Warriors senior checked off a longstanding goal. With a throw of 35 feet, 9 inches, Wyatt won the shot put title at the Boulder County Invitational in her fourth and final shot at one of the local area’s premier events.
“Honestly, I was trying to break 36 feet but a win is a win,” Wyatt said. “I accomplished my goal of winning. This is my fourth year at BoCo and each year I’m like, ‘I’m gonna win shot put, I’m gonna do it this year.’ I’m glad to finally do it.”
After placing 12th in Class 4A at last year’s state meet, Wyatt currently carries a season best of 35 feet, 9 inches in the shot put and is determined to medal in May. She has also set her sights on the Frederick school record, and she would have to hit 38 feet to break it, but shot put is not the only event in which she excels. Also on Saturday, Wyatt anchored the Warriors’ sprint medley relay race that won gold with a time of 1 minute, 55.63 seconds.
As great a day as Saturday was for Wyatt, winning multiple Boulder County titles feels like a bonus after she found out two weeks ago she was appointed to West Point.
“I was beside myself I was so excited when I found out,” Wyatt said.
In the girls discus, Lyons junior Ixchell Leeuwenburgh took first place with a throw of 114-08. On the boys side, Silver Creek senior Brock Knechtel won the discus with a 161-07 mark and threw 49-05 in the shot put to finish runner-up to Monarch senior Nico Heineke Magri.
“I was hoping to get a PR, but I’m really happy I got first,” said Knechtel, whose personal best in competition is 166 feet. “My throws in practice are 15 feet further that what I threw today. I’m a little frustrated with myself but winning BoCo is awesome.”
Heineke Magri took first place with a 51-08 in the shot put to claim the second Boulder County title of his prep career before he heads of to the University of Colorado as a preferred walk-on with the football program.
“I’ve thrown against a lot of these guys over the past couple years and it’s just a great community within the throws themselves,” Heineke Magri said. “It feels really good to win here. You train so hard just so you can throw further and it feels great to see it all pay off, and against some good competition.
Anderson, Dykema fly to titles
Silver Creek juniors Trent Dykema and Rylee Anderson may be highlight-every-game-night players on the basketball and volleyball courts, respectively, but on Saturday they also flew to jumping titles in the open air of Everly-Montgomery Stadium.
For Dykema, the transition from hoops to triple jump went smoothly as he has already hit a mark of 43 feet, 7.5 inches to put him in the 4A top 10. On Saturday, he won the event at 42-1.75.
Anderson, the defending champ in 4A girls high jump, hit 5-5 on Saturday to claim first place ahead of Longmont’s Katherine McCain. However, the Raptors junior has already proven she is in line for another title — having hit 5-10 and holding a full four-inch advantage over anyone else in Colorado at this point.
Mead’s Glynn making her mark
Niwot’s domination of girls hurdles is well-known, but beware of Mead’s Abby Glynn. The sophomore Maverick — a standout middle blocker on the volleyball team — continues to get better in the 300 hurdles and once again put a little bit of pressure on Niwot’s Mackenzie Fidelak on Saturday. Glynn finished second at 46 seconds flat, besting her previous season time (46.67) and keeping her in the top five for 4A in the event.
Glynn also finished third in the triple jump on Saturday with a season-best 34-8.25, which would move her into the top seven of that event in 4A.
Lyons continues to dominate Bob Charles Award
A weighted team scoring award determined by a scoring system that factors in enrollment numbers from each school, the Bob Charles Award is a unique feature of the annual Boulder County Invitational.
One of the smaller schools to compete each year, Lyons claimed the award at the 2017 meet in both the girls and boys competitions. In doing so, the Lyons boys have now won the Bob Charles for 17 years running while the Lyons girls have won 16 of the last 18.
“We’re very happy to get it,” Lyons head coach Mark Roberts said. “We thought the girls had a good chance but we also knew that Niwot would score a lot of points. They’re the ones who took it away from us a couple years ago. Every point was challenging out here and I was really pleased that both our boys and girls could keep it going.”
Gorman keeps moving up the rankings
Broomfield junior Mitchell Gorman entered Saturday’s meet with the 43rd best 300 hurdles time in the state, according to MileSplit.com. But with a blistering time of 40.31 in his winning race at the Boulder County Invitational, he should move up into the top 20 and possibly even the top 15.
No surprises as Peak to Peak girls dominate distance events
The Peak to Peak girls are in the early stages of a distance dynasty and to no one’s surprise that continued at the Boulder County Invitational on Saturday.
Reigning as the current Class 3A cross country champions, the Pumas took home the individual titles in the 1,600 and 3,200 on Saturday. Sophomore Quinn McConnell won the 1,600 in 5:00.93 and fellow sophomore Anna Shults won the 3,200 in 11:14.17.
Carroll, Fidelak help Niwot keep the streak alive
The Niwot girls team won its eighth straight Boulder County Invitational team title and senior Alexis Carroll’s exploits were a big reason why again in 2017.
Helping the Cougars win nine of 19 events, Carroll leapt 36-11.25 to take first in the triple jump and won the 100 hurdles in 15.21 seconds. Teammate Makenzie Fidelak won the 300 hurdles in 45.65 seconds.
Manes leads the way for Longmont
With Cammy Manes as the anchor, the Longmont girls won the 1,600-meter relay with a time of 4:15.52. Maines also finished runner-up to Broomfield’s Madison Mooney with a time of 2:16.58 in the 800.
The Longmont boys also finished runners-up to Monarch in the team scoring.
Notable: Fairview took home a pair of titles on the boys side, with sophomore Cooper Harmon winning the 400 in 50.72 and Ward Maxwell won the long jump in 20-11.50 … Centaurus’ Charley Sagrillo, who ranks among the top 40 in the state as a sophomore, kept his strong start going with a time of 16.22 to win the boys 110 hurdles … Silver Creek’s distance duo of juniors James Lee (9:50.34) and Logan Simington (9:50.39) took first and second in the 3,200.
Brad Cochi: cochib@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/BradCochi
