Colorado state track notebook: Utah football commit Soren Shinofield cruises to shot put title

A Class A 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 feet inches It was short of the -foot mark which would have been a personal best and a chicken sandwich courtesy of his coach I was throwing like feet in warmups so I was getting kind of nervous Shinofield mentioned But after that first I kind of calmed down and just started throwing consistently I definitely yearned 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 A state title in football The - -pound Shinofield is committed to play offensive line for Utah next year Football has perpetually 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 commented But my coaches have been awesome and I ve grown to love it I threw over 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 specific 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 He took care of that with his first throw At - 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 - Shinofield ended up with the five best throws of the meet We were working all spring on staying grounded in the ring more he stated I think I at last 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 commented Also it s just a beautiful campus It was the best overall school for me after I took my visits I think that will apparently 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 A title Thursday with a jump of feet inches Jake Swanson of Green Mountain was second at - while Monte Samaras of Holy Family was third at - A reminder of Nohr s path was the long sleeve on his leg Nohr was the A state champ as a freshman in at Berthoud After transferring to Roosevelt ahead of his sophomore year he finished second in the 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 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 mentioned I just feel lucky and favored that I was able to jump in the present day 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 practitioner 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 explained 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 Roosvelt s Jayden Nohr competes in the Class A boys long jump during the CHSAA track and field state championships at Jeffco Stadium in Lakewood on Thursday May Photo by Hyoung Chang The Denver Post 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 A high jump on Thursday Menegatti s jump of feet inches edged runner-up Maggie Hoyer of Fossil Ridge feet 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 moves instead of 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 achievement marked her third state title and first in Class A after she won the triple jump and long jump championships in Class A in Related Articles Cherokee Trail triple jumper Kaeli Powe carries on legacy started by record-setting mom Colorado state track meet Day Live results from Jeffco Stadium Colorado state track meet Storylines returning champions and what to know ahead of this weekend Colorado school district sues CHSAA state to clear way for transgender athlete ban Colorado school district approves transgender athlete ban though questions about implementation remain I was just trying to enjoy my last high school meet Menegatti explained I yearned to have fun and live in the moment A is a entirely 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 -meter relay Mountain Vista was a heavy favorite in the boys race on Thursday but Northfield upset the Golden Eagles in a thrilling finish The Nighthawks who are in their first season in A after winning the A squad crown last year edged Mountain Vista by a tenth of a second to 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 supremacy in the final 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 noted But when everyone was doubting we revealed up and desired it We had something to prove out there in the current era 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 the present day is what pushed me through the last meters Northfield s Ayuub Hassan right passes Mountain Vista s Ben Anderson at the finish line to win the Class A boys meter relay in the CHSAA state track and field championships at Jeffco Stadium in Lakewood on Thursday May Photo by Hyoung Chang The Denver Post Ponderosa s hurdles star Ponderosa senior Payton Becker lived up to her top-ranked billing in Thursday s -meter preliminaries posting a time of to advance to Saturday s finals Becker is also the Class A favorite in the -meter hurdles which runs its preliminaries on Friday Becker only started doing hurdles last season when she finished third in the hurdles and did not qualify for the finals in the hurdles after gassing out her legs in a relay shortly before the prelims So this is my redemption year Becker explained The Wyoming commit who holds the Ponderosa record in both events has a PR of in the hurdles and in the hurdles She is ready to embrace the pressure on Saturday that comes with sweeping the hurdles titles and prove various fake friends wrong in the process I still feel pressure but I feel like that s good Becker revealed 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 various 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 ' Want more sports news Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver s teams