Monarch’s Thomas Cole wins pole vault gold at state track meet (original) (raw)
LAKEWOOD — Over the past couple of years, Monarch’s pole vaulters have established themselves as one of the elite programs in the sport, and Thursday at the Class 5A state championships was no different for Thomas Cole.
He cleared the 15-foot, 7-inch bar with ease at Jeffco Stadium, but his final competitor, Golden’s Gage Pieper, couldn’t muster up enough height to do the same through three attempts.
“I want to see Gage do well,” Cole said. “I was hoping we would push each other and keep going. It was super fun to compete against him.”
Cole, with his state crown already in hand, decided to keep going. He flew over the 15-10 bar — his previous personal record was a 15-6 — and beamed as he fell into the mat. His attempts at 16 feet wouldn’t come to pass, though he came tantalizingly close on his final try.
Still, he could now consider himself a state champion.
“Coming in, I was just going to try and jump, because I’ve been doing well recently and just wanted to keep doing the same thing, not worry too much about who else was competing and stuff like that,” he said. “I came here and just sort of talked with all my friends and just tried to have a good time. It was super fun, and then that made me more relaxed and I was able to jump.”
Two years earlier, Tyler Rowan won the 5A crown for the Coyotes.
Peak to Peak’s Riley Watson throws a disk in the 3A girls discus during the State Track and Field at Jeffco Stadium in Lakewood on May 14, 2026. (Joel Solis/Staff Photographer)
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Peak to Peak’s Riley Watson throws a disk in the 3A girls discus during the State Track and Field at Jeffco Stadium in Lakewood on May 14, 2026. (Joel Solis/Staff Photographer)
Sterling silver
Coming into Thursday’s 3A state discus championships, Peak to Peak’s Riley Watson knew she would have to pull off the best performance of her career to defeat Manitou Springs’ Mackinzy Wall.
Before she stepped foot in Jeffco Stadium, Wall led the rest of the qualifiers by about 18 feet, and that prophecy held true during the finals. She won at 147-9, beating out Watson, who claimed second at 124-2.
In her past two state meets, Watson went 12th and 13th.
“The feeling of being on the podium this year and getting to compete against just a lot of these athletes that I’ve known for so long, it’s been an amazing feeling,” Watson said. “Mackinzy is a great girl. I absolutely love her. I’ve known her for about a year, and she’s always pushed me to be a better athlete. That’s exactly what she did today.”
Watson leaned on her renewed confidence in herself to improve her distance by about 15 feet from the beginning of the season to the end.
Peak to Peak’s Chelsey Streifel gasps after clearing the pole in the 3A girls pole vault at Jeffco Stadium in Lakewood on May 14, 2026. (Joel Solis/Staff Photographer)
Reaching new heights
For the past three years, Peak to Peak pole vaulter Chelsey Streifel has been in a bit of a holding pattern. The senior began her high school career a freshman at the 3A state meet, claiming third at 10 feet, but couldn’t improve upon that mark as a sophomore and a junior.
On Thursday, she finished second in the 3A state championships after clearing the 10-5 benchmark, a week after setting her PR at 10-6. What a way to go out.
“I’ve had a lot of challenging days in pole vault, but today and recently, I’ve just sort of embraced it,” she said. “There’s a lot of fear for me in pole vault. I’m a senior now, so taking it up now just felt like it was just a crowning moment on my high school career, which really made me happy.
“I really just wanted to do my best and recently, I got a PR after six years of not getting a PR. It was 10-6, so jumping an inch under that just now was really great. Of course, I want more.”
Notable
Silver Creek’s Caellum Majka placed fifth in the 4A triple jump with a leap of 43-5. … Niwot’s Mahlya Blanks claimed fifth in the 4A shot put thanks to her throw of 36-8.50. … Erie’s Natalie Fetters pushed herself to third in the 5A discus with her landing spot of 128-1. … Broomfield’s boys 5A 4×800 team of Reid Babcock, Andrew Heuton, Michael Datz and Case Thomas took fourth at 7:51.94. … Longmont’s Mason Hendricks claimed fifth in the 4A high jump with a clearance of 6-5. … Broomfield’s Albert Cedillo secured fifth in the 5A discus with a throw of 156-10. … Prospect Ridge Academy’s 4×800 boys team of Parker Naujock, Kaden Rohman, Nigel Thomas and Gordon Trujillo took fourth in the 3A competition.