Yuma County representatives Ketch Sulppizio and Lori Hoffmeier in athletics

Yuma, Arizona (KYMA, KECY) – The Arizona Open State Championships in Athletics are underway, with only two stars from Yuma qualifying due to a new Open format with fewer qualified athletes and Mesa Community College.

Starting at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Gila Ridge, the only boy to qualify for the state was pole vaulter Ketch Sulppizio.

Ketch was one of 12 qualifiers at last week’s district competition, and with the Hillaryge pole vault record reaching 13 feet 6 inches, Ketch is chasing that record in his senior season, which he achieved on Saturday. want to achieve.

But most of all, he and coach Jensen Roseboom are excited to represent the school and Yuma on the big stage after building confidence in final practice Friday.

“I think it makes me feel a little better to represent the school. Both seem to be obviously important, but people have been participating in all-regional, state, etc. I don’t know if it feels cool,” Sulppizio said. “So I think it’s really cool.”

“It’s really amazing to see how much we’ve grown from last season to this season, and to have a kid who deserves more credit for finally achieving these goals after all their hard work. It’s really hard to think about,” he told Roseboom. “We are thrilled to be able to remind the big dogs of Phoenix that there are still athletes here and we plan to come pick them up. If we do that, everyone in Yuma will do better.”

Meanwhile, at Cibola High School, the only girl in all of Yuma stands to qualify for the State Open Championship – that’s Lori Hofmeyer. After she played ball on both volleyball and basketball courts, she qualified for the women’s high jump in 5 feet.

Lori barely looked out after being kicked out of state for the last time last year, but with the help of coach Kyle Sauter, he said he overcame the hurdles to make it this time around. Format changes make it difficult to reach this level.

“At first, I didn’t even know if I could make it to the states. And the fact that I’m the only girl, it means a lot. Not just being there, but seeing Cibola and Yuma County. Try to get into the state to represent ‘I’m proud,’ Lori said. “I’m not just doing it for myself, I’m doing it for my coach, Kyle. He’s had his ups and downs and he’s seen me fail and succeed, My only goal for tomorrow is to make him proud, just 5’4″ or getting there.”

Sauter is also excited to see what she can do given how difficult it has been to adapt to this new format.

“Having her compete in this big show is a huge achievement because she will be the first woman in Yuma County to compete,” Sauter said. “Her jumping five feet, her self-promotion that day and her battle against other powerhouses in Phoenix shows just how hard she’s been working every day, and the result is that she’s It’s bigger than you realize now.”