Orem’s Cooper Legas wins state title for fourth straight season
Orem's Cooper Legas prepares his throw in the 4A boy's javelin during the UHSAA State Track and Field Championships on Friday, May 18, 2018 at Brigham Young University in Provo. Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald
Orem's Cooper Legas celebrates his victory over Desert Hills' Byron Anderson in the 195-pound weight class during the UHSAA 3A and 4A State Wrestling Championships on Saturday, Feb. 10, 2018, at the UCCU Center in Orem. Isaac Hale, Daily Herald
Orem quarterback Cooper Legas (5) gathers himself after running the ball in for a touchdown during a 4A state semifinal game against the Sky View Bobcats on Friday, Nov. 10, 2017, at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City. Legas rushed for two touchdowns and threw for another as Orem beat Sky View 28-12. Isaac Hale, Daily Herald
May 20, 2017, was the date that initiated an jaw-dropping year of state title success for Orem junior Cooper Legas.
The Tiger star started his impressive run by winning the 2017 4A state in javelin, throwing it 187 feet, 7.25 inches to set a new Orem school record.
Six months later, Legas was quarterbacking the Tiger football team to a dominating 26-0 victory over Mountain Crest in the 2017 4A state football title game at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
The junior continued his championship romp in the 2018 state wrestling tournament, where he battled against some tough competition but emerged as the 4A champ in the 195-pound weight class.
On Friday, 363 days after he won the javelin event to start off the run, he added a second javelin title to his collection.
His throw of 194-feet, 3.5-inches wasn’t as far as he wanted to throw it but proved to be enough to win the 4A crown once again.
“It started off pretty good,” Legas said. “On my third throw, I hit 194 feet. My best this year is 198 feet. I was hoping to break the state record today but in the finals it was super-windy. I don’t think anyone threw better in the finals than they did in the preliminaries because of the wind. Mostly I was just wanting to win, so I was stoked about that.”
He said the gusty wind that started blowing at the BYU track and field complex as a brief storm moved through the area came at a tough angle for the throwers.
“I can still throw well if it is either straight at me or right behind me,” Legas said. “But sideways wind kills it and messes up the whole flight.”
Legas actually entered the track finals as the second-best qualifier, so he knew that winning another championship wasn’t a given.
“When I heard the other kid had thrown 200, I was super-happy because I throw better when there is competition,” Legas said. “If there was better weather, I think I would’ve thrown over 200. It’s all about competing. I wish it could’ve been a shootout with both of us over 200 — but I’m glad I won.”
As he reflected on the past year, he said it feels really good to have accomplished those successes.
“I’ve tried everything,” Legas said. “I’ve tried discus, long jump, basketball — I’m bad at basketball, bad at high jump, bad at discus. I just stick with the things I’m good at. I try my best on the things I can do well naturally the first time. If I’m good the first time, then I keep working on it and see how good I can get.”
One of the unique aspects of the run for the junior is that javelin and wrestling rely solely on individual performance while football depends on the success of the entire team.
“I think I’m the most proud of winning wrestling because I had to do that on my own and I worked super-hard for that,” Legas said. “I think we have the best team in the state in football and we have amazing coaches. Our team decided to work together this year. We’ve had the athletes to win state but we never put it all together until this last year. We figured out how to work as a team and it was awesome.”
He explained that he sees quite a bit of crossover between his various events.
“Football is my main sport,” Legas said. “I’ve already started working on football. During the summer, I’ll work out with the team and go to camps. I’m just football all summer and fall, then I focus on wrestling during wrestling season. I throw a little bit to keep my arm fresh and then go to track.”
He added that he enjoys competing in three different sports in a year.
“Every team has cool people,” Legas said. “They are all my friends and I get along with everyone. I think I like track the best as far as being the most fun. It’s more relaxing and besides there are girls on the team. That’s more fun than being around sweaty guys all year.”
The reality is that this may be just over the halfway point of the streak.
Legas is just a junior and he looks to have three more chances to keep building his collection of state title hardware.
“There is a lot that could go wrong but I think a big thing that helps me win is that I only have positive thoughts,” Legas said. “I never expect anything to wrong and it hasn’t yet. I plan on doing the same thing next year.”