3A Boys Track and Field: New Pole Vault State Meet Record Set

LAKEWOOD – Nicholas Rothe was feeling “lousy” and “down” during warmups for the Class 3A pole vault state finals on Friday at Jefferson County Stadium.

But once the event started, the University senior said he was “fine.” More than fine, apparently.

In the finals, Rothe cleared 16 feet to break the Class 3A state meet record. The previous record was set at 15-05 last season by Ryan Martinez of Eaton.

“It was just really going all out,” Rothe said. “I was just kind of feeling really down for some reason and lousy and tired. But once I got into the competition, I was fine. I was just doing what I do.”

Rothe won a state title as a sophomore but placed third last year.

“Last year, I was kind of down because I got third,” Rothe said. “I really wanted to win last year. I definitely could have. But it made this year feel better.”

At the beginning of the season, Creede Dosier was primarily a high-jumper.

Then a little ways in, he popped a big jump in the long jump. After seeing his own potential in the long jump, he quickly switched his focus and never looked back.

On Friday at Jefferson County Stadium, that decision paid off in the form of a 21-foot, 6-inch jump and a Class 3A gold medal at the Colorado state championships.

“It was kind of surreal,” Dosier said. “I didn’t really believe it at first and then it kind of settled in. From the start of the season, that wasn’t my main event. But then I popped a big jump up and it (winning the long jump) started to become a goal later in the season.”

Another newcomer to an event had success at Friday’s state championships.

In the 3A boys 3,200-meter run, Alamosa freshman Ethan Merrick pulled off a surprise victory in the 3A boys 3,200 with a time of 9 minutes, 41.31 seconds.

“I really wanted to win it and I had the fifth seed, and it looked like there was quite a bit of a gap there,” Merrick said. “But I was just trying to amp myself up this morning. Oftentimes, you can speak it into existence if you try hard enough and it’s just confidence. If I didn’t have that confidence, I wouldn’t have won today.”

In the 3A boys 800-meter run, Resurrection Christian dominated all three top spots with Jackson Fagerlin (1:54.59), Lincoln Fagerlin (1:56.33) and Trevor Lim (1:56.84) finishing first, second and third, respectively.

“Going 1-2-3 means the world to me, especially with my little brother and one of my best friends and training partners,” Jackson Fagerlin said. “It’s really incredible. We’ve been working so hard for this and we talked about going 1-2-3 in the beginning of the year and not until a few weeks ago did that really become a reality. Here we are, we went 1-2-3 and that alone just means the world.”

The 3A boys shot put title went home with The Classical Academy’s Cole Hoffman, who won the event with a mark of 53-11.75. A relative newcomer to the sport who only started throwing last year, Hoffman’s rise to state champion as a senior has surprised even him, especially after he lost the lead but regained it on his last throw.

“I’ve always been big and everyone tried to get me to play football, but I never liked football,” Hoffman said. “My friends and family wanted me to do track. I started last year and I did OK. I stuck with it. It’s unreal and I don’t know if it has kicked it yet. I knew I had to perform to get up there and it was a good competition out there today.

“I’m just thankful to be here, to be honest.”