Jun. 27—LAKEWOOD — Although an individual state title eluded him, Xavier Freeman was pleased with his performance at the Class 4A state high school track and field championships.
Already with a fourth-place discus finish in his pocket, Freeman added to his hardware with a second-place finish in the shot put on Saturday at Jefferson County Stadium.
Freeman’s throw of 53 feet in the finals secured the silver for the junior from Pueblo East High School, who had captured the 185-pound weight class in the winter during the wrestling season.
“On my 53 (foot throw), I felt good because I wasn’t getting those numbers today,” Freeman said. “The first couple I felt like I held back and wanted to let it all out.”
“I kind of wanted another state title but it’s all right.”
Freeman was one of seven Pueblo competitors in the shot put. Five placed.
Besides Freeman, Central’s Kyle Bigley was fifth (48-5.25), Pueblo West’s Vladomir Dabovich sixth (47-6.75) and teammate Wyatt Pruce (46-4.25) eighth and Centennial’s Bryson Arnott (4-46.75) 10th. South’s Edward Darnell and Ryan Lane also competed.
Thomas Jefferson senior Avery Shunneson won the shot put with a toss of 54-8. He also won the discus.
Pueblo Centennial’s Troy Silver tumbled over the final hurdle in the 110-meter finals and finished eighth. Silver, the top seed entering the finals, finished in a time of 16.23. Brian Rose of Discovery Canyon won the event in a time of 14.75.
Silver also had a frustrating finish in the 300 hurdles, where he placed ninth in 41.81.
Also in the Class 2A 110-meter hurdles, Crowley County’s Rashaun McNeil placed second in a time of 15.77. He also was 10th in the long jump with a leap of 19-1.
The Pueblo West boys 4×400 relay team stepped up in the final race of the three-day meet with a fourth-place finish in 3:26.35. The team consisted of Malik Burnes, Adam Armstrong, Donovan Elston and Ryan King. The Cyclones were the ninth team to qualify for the event in the preliminaries
In the 4A girls 100 meters finals, South’s Brooke Huth finished ninth with a time of 12.81.
Chieftain senior sports reporter Jeff Letofsky can be reached by email at jletofsky@chieftain.com or on Twitter @jeffletofsky