The Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — Before Hayden junior Holli Salazar crushed any opponents in the shot put, before she rewrote the school record in the event and before she did the same to record books at the league and regional meets, Salazar sat down with high school track coach Barbara Manzanares and set a goal.

Before the season started, Salazar said she wanted to throw the shot 40 feet. But the proclamation barely fit within Manzanares’ guidelines for setting goals — the coach had asked team members to jot down something realistic. While Salazar entered as an undoubtedly talented shot putter, having qualified for state in both of her previous chances, she threw 34 feet, 1 1/4 inches at the season-ending meet last year. But by leaps and bounds — and recently by feet at a time — Salazar has surged toward her state goal and heaved a regional championship toss of 39-1.

Now, a once-impossible 40 feet is within reach.

“From league to regionals, I went from 37 to 39,” Salazar said. “Getting to 40 has been my goal all year. At first, I wasn’t expecting to get it. I was just hoping for it. Now I am pretty sure I can.”

Salazar is one of six Hayden athletes competing today in the first of the two-day Class 2A state track meet in Pueblo. She might be the Tigers’ best chance at a state champion.

Salazar will find no shortage of competition at the meet, as her toss of 39-1 ranks her just fourth in the class. She finished 13th a year ago, and only four of the competitors who finished ahead of her were seniors. Last year’s state champion, then-junior Talli Hansen from Eads, will return along with the top five placers.

A 40-footer would have won last year’s competition, but throwers already have surpassed that mark this season. Still, with the rapid assent Salazar has taken this spring, no one is ruling anything out.

“I’m ranked fourth in the state, but I expect to finish higher than I’m ranked,” she said. “This year, I know what to expect going in, how to keep my head in the right spot.”

Hayden also has solid chances to medal in the three other events in which team members will compete. Sophomore Jake Walker won the 100-meter dash at the regional track meet and also advanced to state in the long jump.

The girls 3,200-relay team, consisting of freshmen Delanie Vedepo and Krista Tomke, junior Laura Zirkle and sophomore Calla Manzanares, also will run. The group finished third at the regional meet but is ranked ninth in the region and hopes to muscle its way onto the medal stand and finish in the top eight.

“We don’t know what to expect,” said Vedepo, who has only heard about state from friends. “I always get a little nervous.”

Walker will kick things off for Hayden at 9:30 a.m. today in the long jump. He races at 11:40 a.m. in the 100 prelims. The 3,200 relay begins at 10 a.m. today, and Salazar will wait until Saturday morning to toss the shot.