Stepping into the discus circle at the Colorado State Track and Field Championships in Lakewood, May 16-18, Mancos High School junior Caden Showalter knew that he had a chance to strike gold.

Summoning all of his strength while simultaneously quieting his mind, the powerfully built Showalter then unleashed one of the best throws of his high school career, which soared 161 feet and guaranteed him a state title.

The junior also took top honors in the shot put with a throw of 48 feet, 1½ inches, which was just good enough to beat his brother, freshman Connor Showalter, who finished second in the event with a toss of 47 feet, 4½ inches.

Rallying behind the Showalter brothers’ impressive performances, which also included a third place finish by Connor Showalter in the discus (143 feet, 5 inches), the Mancos boys’ team placed second overall in the team standings behind Class 2A team-champion Lyons High School.

Junior Anthony Medina placed second in the long jump (20 feet, 5 inches), fifth in the triple jump (40 feet, 6 inches) and 14th in the 200-meter dash (23.62), while senior Caden Galloway soared to a third place finish in the high jump (5 feet, 11 inches).

Other top performers for the Mancos boys included junior Breccen Morelli, who placed ninth in the 400-meter dash (52.61), senior Vassar Stephens, who finished 12th in the high jump (5 feet, 7 inches), and freshman Edgar Hernandez, who crossed the line 13th in the 1,600-meter run (4:49.98).

Two Mancos relays also performed admirably as the 4x100-meter relay made up of Chance Garcia, Chase Moore, Morelli and Medina placed eighth overall (45.71) and the team’s 4x400-meter relay comprised of Connor Showalter, Stephens, Moore and Morelli finished 12th overall (3:41.48).

While the Mancos girls’ team did not equal their male counterparts in terms of its total number of representatives, sophomore Grace Manning represented the Lady Jays well when she finished sixth in the 800-meter run (2:24.61), eighth in the 1,600-meter run (5:37.09) and 14th in the 400-meter run (1:01.75).

Thanks to Manning’s impressive performances, the Mancos girls’ team finished 30th in the team standings for Colorado’s 2A classification.