Steamboat Springs — A pair of Soroco freshmen and several Hayden seniors will help lead the way this week for local athletes at the state track meet in Lakewood.

Soroco freshman Ben Kelley will compete in three individual boys events, while classmate Mattie Rossi will compete in two individual events and two relay races on the girls’ side. Hayden seniors Jack Redmond and Thomas Rauch, meanwhile, each qualified in two events and may represent some of the top chances for a local athlete to bring home medals from the three-day championship competition.

In all, 25 local athletes qualified in 26 different events. That includes 21 Soroco athletes, a trio of Hayden Tigers and one Steamboat Springs Sailor.

On top of the nine Rams qualified in individual events, Soroco qualified with eight relay teams in three distances on the boys’ side and in all five possible races on the girls’ side.

The state meet includes the top 18 athletes in each event from the season. It begins Thursday and wraps up Saturday.

Kelley stood out, qualifying four times over in individual events, though he’ll only race in three. He was best in the 800-meter run, where he’ll race as the No. 8 seed. He had the 10th best time in the 1,600 and 13th best in the 3,200. He’ll pass on the 400, where he was ranked 18th.

Mattie Rossi, meanwhile, qualified in the 300 hurdles, where she had the seventh best time. She also made it with the eighth best time in the 100 hurdles. She’ll pass on two other individual events for the chance to race in the relays.

Other qualified Soroco athletes include Cody Reynen in high jump, Micah Gibbons in pole vault, Jessica Rossi in discus and pole vault, Briana Peterson in shot put, Cassie Constine in triple jump, Hayley Johnson in the 100 and Kali Constine in high jump. The boys 400-, 1,600- and 3,200-meter relay teams all made the cut. The girls 400, 800, 1,600, 3,200 and 800 sprint medley relay teams all were fast enough, as well.

For Hayden, Redmond will compete in the triple jump and long jump, where he will enter the meet with the fifth best jump in the state. 

Rauch will also represent Hayden in a pair of events, the 110 high hurdles and the high jump. Jewel Vreeman will compete, as well, in the 100.


Steamboat, meanwhile, will have one athlete compete, but that one, Austin Kerbs, could challenge for a medal. Kerbs qualified in the high jump with a season-best leap of 6 feet, 2 inches. That slots him 10th in the state, easily good enough to get him a trip to the Front Range and within 2 inches of the top five jumpers in the state.

To reach Joel Reichenberger, call 970-871-4253, email jreichenberger@SteamboatToday.com or follow him on Twitter @JReich9