LAKEWOOD | Aurora’s pole vault “family” did very well for itself on the opening day of the state track meet.
Regis Jesuit junior Jordan Hatfield won the state championship on the boys side and city athletes earned six places among the Class 5A boys and girls pole vault events on Thursday at Jefferson County Stadium.
Hatfield capped off a monster junior year with a winning jump of 15 feet, holding off fellow junior Harley Korte of Cherokee Trail, who cleared 14-6. Smoky Hill’s Tesfai Holt, the Centennial League champion, collected fifth place, Cherokee Trail’s Mitchell Waltz tied for seventh and Steven Clopine scored a point for Grandview with his ninth-place result.
“I can’t even describe it, I’m really happy with how the season turned out,” Hatfield said. “I’m not over the moon about today, but I made every one of my goals. I broke the school record, I made 16 feet and I’m the 5A state champion, so I couldn’t ask for more. I really couldn’t.”
Indeed Hatfield made a big jump from last season, when he placed sixth at state with a jump of 13-6.
He opened the season with a 14-6 to win the Aurora City Championship meet and then on April 6 at the Mountain Range Track Invitational, Hatfield cleared 15-8 to shatter the previous Regis Jesuit record that had stood for 43 years. Jimmy Kliegler cleared 15-3 in 1970 on his way to a state championship that season.
Last weekend at the Continental League Championship meet, he cleared 16 feet for the first time.
Right behind Hatfield was Korte, who also trains with the Above the Bar pole vault club headed by none other than former Aurora Central star Pat Manson, the state record holder.
Korte — a multi-sport athlete who placed sixth at 152 pounds at the 5A state wrestling tournament in February — set a new Cherokee Trail school record for the second straight week. He cleared 14-1 at the Centennial League Championship meet on May 10, then added six inches to it at state.
Holt also made a huge jump over the course of the year, as he upped his season best jump by more than two feet over the course two months. He finished second at the Aurora City Championships behind Hatfield with a jump of 12-6, but cleared 14-7 to win the Centennial League Championships.
Waltz pushed Korte and vice versa all season and it paid off at the state meet. Waltz finished just an inch short of his PR of 13-7 — set at the league championship meet — and placed seventh, adding to the ninth-place result he had a season ago at state.
Clopine had a busy day as he was competed in the high jump and pole vault concurrently. The Grandview senior high jumped 6-4 to place sixth.
In the girls pole vault, Cherry Creek’s Megan McCabe won the event as expected, but Grandview senior Anna Loken nabbed the runner-up spot.
Loken came into state seeded fifth with a personal best of 11 feet, but topped that by a whopping eight inches in the finals. Her 11-8 was matched by Lakewood’s Lauren Brunsdale and Loveland’s Heather Waite, but Loken had the fewest misses.
It was a great result for Loken, who improved nearly two feet on her best jump at last season’s state meet, a 10-footer that tied her for ninth overall.
Reach Sports Editor Courtney Oakes at sports@aurorasentinel.com or 303-750-7555
2013 CLASS 5A STATE POLE VAULT RESULTS
BOYS: 1. JORDAN HATFIELD (REGIS JESUIT), 15 FEET; 2. HARLEY KORTE (CHEROKEE TRAIL), 14-6; T3. Brad Mattison (Doherty), 14-0; T3. Nathan Forest (Arapahoe), 14-0; 5. TESFAI HOLT (SMOKY HILL), 14-0; 6. Zachary Ray (Arapahoe), 13-6; T7. MITCHELL WALTZ (CHEROKEE TRAIL), 13-6; T7. Jacob Kirlan-Scott (Fairview), 13-6; 9. STEVEN CLOPINE (GRANDVIEW), 13-6; Other Aurora results: T15. Frank Thomas (Smoky Hill), 12-6
GIRLS: 1. Megan McCabe (Cherry Creek), 12 feet, 2 inches; 2. ANNA LOKEN (GRANDVIEW), 11-8; 3. Lauren Brunsdale (Lakewood), 11-8; 4. Heather Waite (Loveland), 11-8; 5. Lauren Santi (Lakewood), 11-2; 6. Emily Cleary (Fossil Ridge), 10-8; 7. McKenzie Patarino (Lakewood), 10-8; 8. Zoe Robb (Boulder), 10-8; 9. Zoie Hoben (Standley Lake), 10-8; Other Aurora results: T10. Melissa Klatt (Smoky Hill), 10-2
