5A TRACK AND FIELD

The 5A pole vault competition was basically a Boulder County battle.

Fairview had three of the top five, including Olivia Kosanovich (second), Sophie Pierce (fourth) and Charlotte Elliston (fifth). Legacy’s Victoria Spitzley was third, Monarch’s Mckenna Selby was sixth and Broomfield’s Elizabeth Dunham was eighth.

In the end, it came down to Nichols and Kosanovich, who matched each other with successful jumps through 12-6. Kosanovich was unable to clear 12-9, but still broke her previous personal record (11-10) three times.

“It was so fun,” Kosanovich said. “It was a little bit of a rough season, but it all paid off in the end and all my training finally worked and everything came together, which is a super good feeling. My goal was just to come close to my PR, which was a lot of fun.”

It was fun for Nichols, too, who enjoyed the competition with Kosanovich and others.

“I loved it,” Nichols said. “She’s such a good jumper and I’m so glad that she made PRS today. I love competition, so when there’s more competition, I most of the time jump better. I just like competition in general.”

After securing the title, Nichols made three attempts at 13-1.5, which would have set a state meet record, but fatigue set in and she ran through the pit on all three attempts.

“I think I got tired,” she said. “My stamina definitely isn’t the best because I don’t run that much. (Pole vault) is 80% mental and 20% physical, so if your brain isn’t there, you’re probably not going to do very well.”

She did very well up to that point, however, and remained in line for possibly being a four-time champion down the road.

Nichols was just as happy for Dunham, though. Dunham came in as the 18th and last seed but had a PR of 10-3 to win a medal.

“I’m so glad that my teammate went up on the podium because she’s been working so hard,” Nichols said. “So many other people in this competition have been working hard too and they placed and I’m happy for them. It was really fun.”

Kosanovich said having so many great local competitors helped her nerves fade away, allowing her to relax and focus.

“It was a lot of fun and since we know each other, we can push ourselves in a friendly competition,” Kosanovich said. “I think that’s what made all of us have such a great time and jump really well.”