Track and field star Mason Finley of Salida and Olympian Katie Uhlaender of Breckenridge are the 2010 Rocky Mountain State Games male and female athletes of the year.
Finley, 19, won gold medals in the men’s 19-29 discus and shot put at the State Games. The University of Kansas sophomore-to-be heaved the discus a State Games record 197 feet, 8 inches, the 12th-best toss in the nation this year.
Finley holds the national high school record in the discus, with a throw of 236-6 two years ago while competing for Buena Vista High School. He was named the Big 12 track and field freshman of the year last season.
Uhlaender, 26, a two-time Olympic skeleton competitor, opened her quest to become the 10th American to compete in the Olympic Winter and Summer Games by winning the women’s 63-kilogram weightlifting event at the Olympic Training Center as USA Weightlifting coaches and officials watched her Rocky Mountain State Games debut.
A two-time U.S. Winter Olympian and two-time World Cup champion in skeleton, Uhlaender is considering a bid to make the team headed to the 2012 London Games in weightlifting.
“I think I can give it a good go,” said Uhlaender, who often trains in Lake Placid, N.Y. “I’ve always been religious about my training. I train all the time, grew up running track and powerlifting and being a true athlete, doing four or five sports in high school. So I’m used to training four or five hours a day.”
Deehan, Peitz on Mackey watch list.
Colorado State’s Eric Peitz and Colorado’s Ryan Deehan were named to the John Mackey Award preseason watch list. The honor is for the nation’s top tight end. The winner will be announced Dec. 9.
Wyoming to scrimmage.
The Wyoming football team will hold its second scrimmage of the month today at War Memorial Stadium in Laramie. Practice will begin at 8:45 a.m., with the scrimmage starting about 9:20 a.m. Two other scrimmages are scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday and at 3:30 p.m. Aug. 25 at the stadium.
Western State adds assistant coach.
Western State hired Yuriy Litvinski as an assistant coach for the men’s and women’s track and field teams. Litvinski will focus on jumps and sprints. The native Bulgarian spent the last two seasons as a graduate assistant at Central Missouri, coaching four All-Americans.
Coloradan finishes first.
Kelly Moore, 16, of Morrison, finished first in the Silver Division at the National Equestrian Vaulting Championships in Santa Barbara, Calif. She now moves up to the Gold Division.
