LAKEWOOD | Step by step, Zack Golditch worked his way to the Class 5A state championship.
The Gateway senior won last season’s state title in the 5A boys discus, but he wouldn’t allow himself to think about a repeat until he addressed some immediate goals.
Golditch crossed his main objectives off the list — winning the Liberty Bell Invitational and setting the school record in the shot put — before he turned his attention to the state meet. Then, with one free and easy first throw Thursday at Jefferson County Stadium, he met his ultimate goal of a second straight state championship.
A Colorado State football signee, Golditch launched the discus 176 feet, 10 inches, on his first throw of his preliminary flight. It set the tone for a day in which Greeley West star Austin Waterman, a state wrestling champion who came into the meet with the state’s longest throw of 180-8, and the rest of the field had to chase him.
Waterman topped out at 165-5, however, which meant Golditch became Gateway’s first ever two-time state track champion. He was already the first thrower to win a state title in school history and how he has another distinction.
Golditch has one more competition left as a prep athlete, the 5A boys shot put at 10:30 a.m. Saturday.
Eaglecrest’s Deyon Sizer was Aurora’s only other state qualifier in the discus, but the junior missed out on the finals with a top throw of 136-10.
In the 5A girls discus, three Aurora girls worked their way onto the medal podium as Rangeview senior Christina Fasci placed sixth and Cherokee Trail teammates Charley Hatcher and Maddie Leatherbury took 7th and 8th, respectively.
Fasci — the EMAC discus champion and only state qualifier for the Rangeview girls team — earned her first state place in the discus with a throw of 116-9. It was almost two feet short of her PR of 118-8 set on April 13 at the Rod Card Invitational, but it was enough for her to finish in front of Leatherbury for the first time.
The shot put remains for Fasci, who will try to improve on her 7th place result in 2011.
Hatcher came into the discus seeded 15th, but made the finals and climbed considerably up the ranks by the time the event was finished. Hatcher threw a PR of 114-7, the same distance as Leatherbury’s best throw of the day, but Hatcher finished seventh by virtue of a longer second throw.
Reach Sports Editor Courtney Oakes at sports@aurorasentinel.com or 303-750-7555
2013 CLASS 5A BOYS AND GIRLS DISCUS RESULTS
BOYS: 1. ZACK GOLDITCH (GATEWAY), 176 FEET, 10 INCHES; 2. Austin Waterman (Greeley West), 165-5; 3. Matt Simmons (Liberty), 154-8; 4. Stanford Cooper (Cherry Creek), 151-11; 5. Jacob Hanks (Fort Collins), 147-9; 6. Max McDonald (Rocky Mountain), 145-7; 7. Blake Jacobs (ThunderRidge), 145-2; 8. Colin Peter (Fossil Ridge), 144-1; 9. Matt Huerta (Doherty), 143-9; Other Aurora results: 15. Deyon Sizer (Eaglecrest), 136-10
GIRLS: 1. Kelcey Bedard (Rocky Mountain), 124 feet, 4 inches; 2. Rachel Pott (Poudre), 122-5; 3. Audrey Kohlts (Arapahoe), 118-8; 4. Lorell Stuht (Loveland), 117-11; 5. Elsie Magnum (Littleton), 117-2; 6. CHRISTINA FASCI (RANGEVIEW), 116-9; 7. CHARLEY HATCHER (CHEROKEE TRAIL), 114-7; 8. MADDIE LEATHERBURY (CHEROKEE TRAIL), 114-7; 9. Allie Hill (Greeley West), 114-4; Other Aurora results: 17. Ann Mahnke (Smoky Hill), 97-3
