Lutheran hurlers soar to top

Adam Dawson, Jacob Dack capture back-to-back titles in discus and shot put in 3A boys

The 4-pound projectile launched out of the powerful right hand ofadam Dawson and hurled toward chaos.

Dawson, the state’s top discus thrower from Lutheran High in Parker, was warming up ahead of Saturday afternoon’s 3A championship event at Jeffco Stadium when disaster nearly struck.

“Look out! Look out!” bystanders shouted as the discus soared out of the fenced-in field and toward a group of unsuspecting bystanders.

Dawson’s heart sunk to his stomach as he attempted to will the discus into an open patch of grass in the crowd.

“I was definitely a little nervous,” he said.

No harm, no foul. Dawson recovered from the white-knuckle warm-up to hurl a winning throw of 203 feet, 1 inch. His mark bested every other throw— across all classifications — by more than 40 feet.

After scratching on the first of four attempts, Dawson launched a “safety” attempt that landed in bounds at 186 feet, easily assuring him of his second consecutive title.

Then, on the final attempt of his high school career, the Colorado State-bound Dawson catapulted the discus over the 200-foot mark, a throw that has become habit during a season in which he reached 209 feet.

“The first two throws I wasn’t finishing well,” Dawson said. “Then I said, ‘I have to go for it. I have to see what I can do.’ ”

Finishing in third place in the discuswas Lutheran’s Jacobdack, with a throw of 156-4. Dack also won the shot put Saturday, where Dawson finished fifth. The two throwers did their part to put Lutheran in line for a fourth-straight 3A state championship.

Whenthey began their track and field careers as sophomores, competition often came before camaraderie for the two talented athletes. But Dawson and Dack soon learned they could accomplish more working together than simply trying to outmuscle on another.

The result was back-to-back titles in their main events for both throwers.

“As they’ve matured, last year and into this year, it’s become, ‘Hey, we’re two of the best there are and let’s do this together,’ ” said Lutheran throwing coach Nick Blume. “They encourage each other in the opposite event because they know that we still need that success to happen. That relationship has only gotten better as they’ve gotten older, so it’s really been fun to watch the growth, not only individually, but the two of them together over the last three years.”

You could lay down five Shaquille O’neals fromdawson’s winning throw Saturday and not hit the next-furthest toss. Dack had to sweat his victory in the shot put a bit more. His throw of 51-6K beat Bayfield’s Sam Westbrook by three-quarters of an inch.

Back, headed to Concordia (Neb.) in the fall, shook his head as he walked away from the shot put pit, disappointed in a throw that was nearly 5 inches from his season’s best.

Then, Blume wrapped the burly thrower in a bear hug and offered a reminder.

“At the end of the day,” the coach told Dack, “you’re still a champion!”