Cooksley wins Class B shot put gold

This time, a gold medal didn't elude Hadley Cooksley.

The Grand Island Northwest senior capped his prep career with a Class B State Track and Field title in the shot put Friday morning. Cooksley put himself in good shape for an all-class gold medal with a 57-foot, 7 1/2-inch toss on his last attempt.

But Cooksley fell just short of the all-class gold when Lincoln Northeast's Cole Pensick won the Class A title with a throw of 57-10 1-4.

"Those first throws, I wasn't really warmed up and a little nervous," said Cooksley, who leads the state with a 57-11 toss at the Central City Invitational late in the season. "The last throw, I knew I had the gold, so I let it loose."

The heave made up for Cooksley's last state trip to Omaha. He took an unbeaten record into the Class B 285-pound final at the State Wrestling Tournament, but dropped a 10-6 decision.

"It feels like I accomplished what I set out to do," Cooksley said. "Wrestling, I was disappointed. That's why I'm going to wrestle in college."

The Nebraska recruit led the field of 18 competitors after three preliminary attempts with a 53-10 effort. Cooksley threw 53-0 1/4 and 52-7 1/4 before his last finals toss.

"My initial goal was 60 (feet)," Cooksley said. "Fifty seven is pretty solid."

Arlington senior Alvin Voss was second at 53-7, while Hastings senior Bryce Knaub finished third with a 52-7 1/2 throw.

Northwest shot put coach Duane Spale attributed Cooksley's slow start to a lack of warm-up throws.

"He wanted to leave it for the finals," Spale said. "He felt he was underachieving. When we have decent weather, he was throwing 55 to 58 feet. I knew he was going to get one.

"It was great for Hadley," he said. "He's one of those kids who dedicates himself. He's a class kid. You like to see kids like that succeed."

Cooksley admitted he felt "a little pressure" going into the competition outside Omaha Burke Stadium.

"It's good to have the pressure off and compete in the first event," he said. "I can relax, maybe get a sun tan or something."

Cooksley wasn't the only one wearing black and gold for a final time. Spale, who turned 55 Friday, is retiring after 22 years at the school.

"It was a perfect way we ended it," Cooksley said.

Northwest's boys had a solid first day. The Vikings are second in the team race with 24 points after six of 17 events. Plattsmouth leads with 28 points.

GINW junior Travis Englund finished second in the high jump at 6-6. Northwest's 3,200 relay team of Kyre Randolph, Ethan Stutzman, Morgan Nason and Jory Pflasterer was third in a time of 8 minutes, 5.22 seconds.

Senior Devin Johnson posted the second-fastest 100-meter preliminary time in 11.11 seconds. St. Paul's Matthew Cooper had the top time at 11.04 seconds.

Senior Julie Stoltenberg paced the Viking girls with a berth in the 100 finals. Her 12.83-second clocking ranked seventh during the preliminaries.