A Class 5A state championship already in tow, Cherry Creek senior Soren Shinofield had a little extra motivation for the final throw of his high school shot put career.
He was throwing for free Chick-fil-A.
Shinofield equaled his best heave of the day — 56 feet, 3.5 inches. It was short of the 58-foot mark, which would have been a personal best … and a chicken sandwich, courtesy of his coach.
“I was throwing like 50 (feet) in warmups, so I was getting kind of nervous,” Shinofield said. “But after that first 56, I kind of calmed down and just started throwing consistently.
“I definitely wanted that Chick-fil-A, though.”
His consolation prize is his first state title in the shot put and second championship of the year. He was also a key part of the Bruins’ 5A state title in football.
The 6-6, 285-pound Shinofield is committed to play offensive line for Utah next year. Football has always been his future. But he picked up shot put on a whim as a sophomore. Two years later, he’s a state champion.
“It was kind of as a joke with my friends,” Shinofield said. “But my coaches have been awesome and I’ve grown to love it. I threw over 40 (feet) in my first meet. That’s when I realized that I could be pretty good at this.”
Shinofield was the favorite entering this meet, but he had some past disappointment to overcome. He finished sixth at state last year with a throw that was more than five feet shy of his personal record. It was a similar story at his first state meet in 2023.
He took care of that with his first throw. At 56-3.5, it was a title-winning toss. Camden Bruns, a senior from Rampart, finished ahead of Shinofield last year, but the closest he got to the pace setter was 54-5. Shinofield ended up with the five best throws of the meet.
“We were working all spring on staying grounded in the ring more,” he said. “I think I finally just connected it and started throwing it farther. This time, I was right around my PR. So yeah, definitely excited.”
Shinofield is the latest offensive lineman from the Creek factory. Three of his linemates last season signed with FBS programs, and he’ll join them at that level in the fall after choosing the Utes over Nebraska, Kansas and a handful of others.
“I ended up at Utah because I loved the coaches there. They were amazing,” Shinofield said. “Also, it’s just a beautiful campus. It was the best overall school for me after I took my visits.
“I think that will probably be the last time I ever throw a shot put. But you never know. I might do it in college with football.”
Nohr overcomes injury, wins second long jump title: It’s been a long road back, but Jayden Nohr is a state champion again in the long jump.
Nohr won the Class 4A title Thursday with a jump of 23 feet, 2.5 inches. Jake Swanson of Green Mountain was second at 22-2.5, while Monte Samaras of Holy Family was third at 22-0.5.
A reminder of Nohr’s path was the long sleeve on his leg. Nohr was the 3A state champ as a freshman in 2022 at Berthoud. After transferring to Roosevelt ahead of his sophomore year, he finished second in the 2023 state final to Miller Jones, who is now jumping at Colorado Mesa.
Nohr’s issues began at the state meet last year. He sustained a hamstring injury while competing in the 4×100 relay and was unable to participate in the long jump.
“I had two meets before this where I got to jump and stayed healthy,” Nohr said. “I just feel lucky and blessed that I was able to jump today.”
The hamstring troubles continued this season. His first event of the season was a success, but afterwards his hamstring “felt like it was on fire.” Nohr, who is going to jump at University of Colorado-Colorado Springs next year, made multiple trips to the doctor and took multiple breaks during the season while managing the injury.
He got healthy at just the right time and is now a two-time state champion at multiple classifications.
“It’s a love-hate feeling,” Nohr said. “Super grateful that I was able to jump and to win, but on the other hand, it’s kind of disappointing that high school is over now. It was a great way to go out, though.”
Menegatti’s golden trifecta: Pueblo West senior Bradie Menegatti shook off an ankle injury that sidelined her for the last six weeks to win the Class 5A high jump on Thursday.
Menegatti’s jump of 5 feet, 6 inches edged runner-up Maggie Hoyer of Fossil Ridge (5 feet, 5 inches). Menegatti qualified for state last week at a meet at Pueblo West after being out for the majority of the season with an ankle issue that also affected her left foot.
On Thursday, she cut her approach in half, with only five steps instead of 10, to limit the stress on her plant foot. She came up three inches short of matching her PR, but still walked away with the crown. The victory marked her third state title and first in Class 5A, after she won the triple jump and long jump championships in Class 4A in 2024.
“I was just trying to enjoy my last high school meet,” Menegatti said. “I wanted to have fun and live in the moment. … 5A is a completely different level of competition, but to have that makes me perform better. I’m really glad we moved up.”
The win was also a redemptive moment for Menegatti after she narrowly missed out on titles in the event the three years prior. She was second as a junior, and third as a sophomore and freshman.
She will also compete in the long jump on Friday. After that, she’ll head to Texas A&M to compete as a heptathlete.
Dramatic upset in the 3,200-meter relay: Mountain Vista was a heavy favorite in the boys 4×800 race on Thursday, but Northfield upset the Golden Eagles in a thrilling finish.
The Nighthawks, who are in their first season in 5A after winning the 4A team crown last year, edged Mountain Vista by a tenth of a second, 7:51:26 to 7:51:36. Northfield anchor Ayuub Hassan and Mountain Vista anchor Benjamin Anderson exchanged the lead several times over the last lap, before Hassan ultimately pulled away for the victory in the final 50 meters.
Anderson, desperate to catch Hassan at the finish, dove over the line and came up with several track burns on his shoulders. Ian Larkin, Jack Sheehan and Bridger DeCamp also contributed to Northfield’s win.
“We absolutely felt like underdogs in that race,” Hassan said. “But when everyone was doubting, we showed up and wanted it. We had something to prove out there today.
“I just could not let (Anderson) beat me. I used everything in my soul. I would not be able to sleep tonight if I lost that race. My friends, my teammates, my family — everything that got me here today is what pushed me through the last 50 meters.”
Ponderosa’s hurdles star. Ponderosa senior Payton Becker lived up to her top-ranked billing in Thursday’s 100-meter preliminaries, posting a time of 14.00 to advance to Saturday’s finals. Becker is also the Class 5A favorite in the 300-meter hurdles, which runs its preliminaries on Friday.
Becker only started doing hurdles last season, when she finished third in the 300 hurdles and did not qualify for the finals in the 100 hurdles after gassing out her legs in a relay shortly before the prelims.
“So this is my redemption year,” Becker said.
The Wyoming commit, who holds the Ponderosa record in both events, has a PR of 13.79 in the 100 hurdles and 42.64 in the 300 hurdles. She is ready to embrace the pressure on Saturday that comes with sweeping the hurdles titles — and prove some fake friends wrong in the process.
“I still feel pressure, but I feel like that’s good,” Becker said. “That pushes me to not slack off. I know just because I ran a fast time the last meet, that doesn’t guarantee anything for this meet. I go hard every single time.
“I have had some problems with certain friends, and that’s also pushed me. They didn’t want to hang out because I was so involved with track. So this is me also being like, ‘Ok fine, if you don’t want to be my friend, I’ll focus on track even more.’”
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