CALENDAR

Pole vault: One year’s work paying o for Riverdale Ridge’s Couron

BY STEVE SMITH SSMITH@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

LONGMONT – A year ago, Riverdale Ridge’s Lucas Couron pole-vaulted competitively for the fi rst time and vaulted 9 feet.

A year later, Couron, a senior, had the top height in the state (15 feet 7 inches) through competition last week.

Couron won the Longs Peak League pole vault championship on May 7 at Longmont High School. His fi rst meet was a year ago May 7, when he jumped 9 feet.

“I’d score my team a couple of points, and that felt good,” Couron said. “One day, I went from 9-6 to 11-4. It was like, ‘OK, I think I can do this.’ Then I jumped 11-4 at state. I saw Becker Ell (a Thompson Valley pole vaulter who set the state record in the event last year and is competing at Colorado Mesa University) jump 16 feet. Ever since I’ve had the same mindset of ‘Let’s go there and jump higher than we did yesterday.’”

The secret is hard work.

“I get told a lot that what I’m doing right now, no one else does,” he said. “That’s pretty cool. But knowing the work I’ve put in and that everything has come together. It’s not that surprising. This is where I should be at.”

There were some frustrations before this season began.

“With COVID and all that stuff, then to come back in my junior year and know nothing about the vault,” he said. “I kept chipping away at it every single day. I would be sitting on the couch and be like, ‘How can I get better at this?” Then I looked it up on the internet and I tried it one day. If it worked, it worked. If it didn’t, it didn’t.”

That led to a lot of offseason work with training and technique and an indoor season before the Ravens’ season began in March.

“Before you start vaulting, make sure you do speed. Speed is everything in the vault, and you have to be fast,” Couron said. ‘Make sure you speed train. If you don’t have the legs to bend these big poles, then you’re going to see a lot of plateaus. There’s a little bit of upper-body strength, too.”

Couron, who drew some interest from Colorado Mesa and Colorado State University, plans to attend Eastern Washington University in Cheney, Washington, to continue his pole vaulting and to get a degree in business “until I know what I want to do.”

But before that, there’s the matter of sitting atop the heap in class 4A in an event that is brand new.

“I still experience new things. It’s not the same old thing, which I like a lot,” he said. “It’s fun. Every now and then, you get a pop from a pole. You get a little higher in the air than you felt before, and you’re like, ‘Yeah, I want to do that again.’ It’s what I strive for every single weekend.”

Riverdale Ridge’s Lucas Couron, shown during a descent into the landing area during the Longs Peak League meet in Longmont May 7, won the league title in the pole vault and is the top-rated pole vaulter in class 4A in the state. PHOTO BY STEVE SMITH

Ravens’ catcher likes the view from behind the plate

BY STEVE SMITH SSMITH@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

His is the one position on a baseball team that can see the entire fi eld.

Even though the job calls for such duties as being an extra manager on the fi eld and an in-game counselor and psychologist, Riverdale Ridge catcher Corey Lopez is all for it.

“It makes me focus on the game more,” said Lopez, who is a senior. “Not taking away from other positions, but you have to be more mentally sharp. You’re focused on what’s going on. It puts a little pressure on, in big-time situations. You just have to be prepared.”

Lopez can play fi rst base and third base, too. But the coaching staff pressed him into service behind the plate May 5 against Severance with little advance warning because of advanced-placement testing.

“Our other catcher, Keagon Pitton, is a good catcher under pressure,” Lopez said. “He’s a very good catcher. We compete. We love each other. We fi nd and grind together. It’s a good dynamic.”

Normally, Pitton catches junior hurler Ty Thompson, and Lopez’s duties team him up with Ethan McCormick.

“You know how to talk to them. You know how to present a pitch to them,” Lopez said. “You represent yourself to where the pitcher can throw the pitch to you and have a good presentation for it.”

Every so often, Lopez has to take a message to the mound.

“Calm down, take a breath,” Lopez laughed. “Relax and do your thing. If someone gets a hit off Ty and he’s angry, we have to settle him down and take some steam off his head. Usually, it’s a good response. The next pitch, especially Ty, he goes right back at them.”

As for the game, the Silver Knights erupted for fi ve runs in the fi fth inning and beat the Ravens 9-2. The win salvaged a split of the home-and-home series. RRHS won the game in Severance 12-2.

Tyler Hansen’s three-run home run was the big blow in the inning. Winning pitcher Nolan Hertzke added a two-run triple. Marcus Espinosa singled home a run in the second inning. The other run scored on an infi eld error. Thompson fi nished with two hits.

RRHS put together seven hits ion the fi rst fi ve innings. But the Ravens also stranded 10 runners.

“We didn’t take advantage of some mistakes,” said RRHS assistant coach Anthony Mastroni. “We misplayed a couple of balls. They took advantage of our mistakes. We missed a pop fl y down the fi rst-base line, and the next pitch, they hit a home run. We just didn’t capitalize.”

Mastroni said the next order of business will be to step into the batting cage to face pitches of different speeds.

“They didn’t quit,” he said. “There was noise in the dugout. We need to spend some time in the cage. From here on out, all we’re going to see is a lot of high-velocity stuff.”

As for Lopez, he’ll await his next chance to put on the tools and settle in behind the plate.

“Catchers are a very important aspect of baseball,” Lopez said. “They are the captain on the fi eld. They control the pitcher, every other player. You’re in every play, physically and mentally. You never get a break, but it’s never boring. It’s fun. There’s all this action.”

Riverdale Ridge catcher Corey Lopez, right, prepares to roll the ball back to the mound after an inning-ending strikeout by Severance’s Caden Panas May 5. PHOTO BY STEVE SMITH