LAKEWOOD — Chase Cooper’s priorities were in order. First came winning a second straight state championship in the boys 5A pole vault. Then he could concentrate on setting possibly a personal record and a state mark.
He got the state title out of the way in a hurry, but just giving himself a chance at the state record almost didn’t happen.
The Smoky Hill senior, who will be attending the Air Force Academy in the fall, won the pole vault on his first jump Thursday at Jefferson County Stadium at 15 feet, 6 inches, eliminating Standley Lake’s Todd Paicurich, who took second at 15 feet. Then he went up to 16-6, but his first jump almost turned out to be his last.
Cooper, the son of Smoky Hill head coach Mark Cooper, mistimed his first attempt at 16-6 and fell hard into the mat, injuring his knee. The state title was already his, but, for a few minutes, the thought of continuing forward seemed unrealistic, especially to his father.
“The thought process went through my mind, but he wanted to compete,” Mark Cooper said. “He’s a tough kid. I had a little lump in my throat when he banged his knee. Then I saw how swollen up it was. So I didn’t know, but he’s a tough kid. It was a gutsy performance he did today.”
Cooper gutted out 16-6 on his next jump, and three jumps later he went over 17 feet. But he failed in his quest to break Pat Manson’s record of 17-3, which the Aurora Central standout set in 1986.
While the younger Cooper didn’t address the knee as a reason for not hitting the state mark, it certainly couldn’t have helped.
“My knee hurts pretty bad. I had to just go and attack the pit,” Cooper said.
Smoky Hill teammate Mark Sparks wasn’t hurting, but he knows all too well about not living up to your own expectations. Last year, Sparks struggled at state, finishing 17th with a discus throw that was 37 feet worse than his personal best.
He made sure that wouldn’t happen again. The senior put the disappointment behind him early on with an opening throw of 177-8, good enough to win the 5A boys title by nearly 20 feet over Pomona’s Ryan Duman. Then Sparks took it easy.
“Me and my coach were talking all week about how we want to come out with the first, second throw and just win state and then have fun,” Sparks said.
Dakota Ridge’s Evan Appel opened Thursday’s championship run with a repeat in the 5A boys 3,200. Appel won in a time of 9 minutes, 18.40 seconds, a little more than eight seconds ahead of Cherry Creek’s Walter Schafer, who pushed Appel for six laps before the defending champion pulled away over the final 800 meters.
Castle View’s Aldric Brown, who finished sixth last year, won the 4A high jump. Other state champions crowned Thursday include Chaparral’s 3,200 relay team in 5A, Wheat Ridge in the 4A 3,200 relay, The Classical Academy in 3A and Wiggins in 2A.
Lewis-Palmer’s Andrew Schom-berg won the 4A triple jump (46- 1/4), and Pueblo South’s Ken Harriman won the shot put (53-4 1/2).
In 3A, The Classical Academy’s Kevin Schwindt won a four-way tiebreaker in the pole vault at 13 feet, and Buena Vista’s Joseph Demoor surprised Lyons’ Andrew Roberts in the final 100 meters to win the 3,200 in 9:24.58.
Sedgwick County’s Carson Ebke won the 2A shot put with a toss of 52-3, and Kyle Carper of Holyoke won the 2A long jump at 21-7 1/4.
