Three athletes with three unique stories all competing on the national stage.
Colorado State is a track and field powerhouse, competing well above its weight.
Especially in the throwing events, the Rams are big deals in the sport.
“To every year, almost, have throwers go to nationals, that’s pretty cool. That’s a statement, I think. That speaks a ton about what our program is all about,” CSU star shot putter Mya Lesnar said.
CSU head coach Brian Bedard is also the throws coach. The Rams have three throwers competing at the NCAA Championships this week in Lesnar, Kajsa Borrman (hammer throw) and Klaire Kovatch (discus).
Lesnar is the national leader in shot put, Kovatch is making her second appearance at nationals, and Borrman is just a redshirt sophomore and a rising star.
CSU has qualified 11 women’s throwers for nationals in the last three seasons, which is most in the nation.
Here’s a look at what to know about CSU’s three qualifiers ahead of the national meet in Eugene, Oregon:
Mya Lesnar, shot put
Lesnar is the headliner. She won the indoor 2024 NCAA championship in shot put. Her best outdoor finish was fifth in 2024.
Lesnar enters the national meet first in the event with a top mark of 64-feet, 3 3/4 inches. Second-best (Akaoma Odeluga of Ole Miss) has a top mark of 62-feet, 1 1/4 inches.
“Yeah, she’s just taken her throwing to a whole other level. It’s fun to see her compete with some joy and not be an angry competitor all the time. I’ve just seen her demeanor change in competition,” Bedard said.
Lesnar competes at 7:10 p.m. Mountain on June 12.
Kajsa Borrman, hammer throw
Borrman is a legacy Ram. Her parents — Mattias and Shelly Borrman — are CSU track and field legends. Mattias was a seven-time NCAA qualifier who is still top 10 at CSU in three throwing events. He was named CSU’s top male athlete in 1996 and was a national champion in Sweden. Shelly was a five-time first-team All-American and 1999 national runner-up in discus. She was named CSU’s top female athlete in 1999.
“I’ve known her since she was in diapers, so a completely different dynamic with her. Some of the other athletes (say), ‘I can’t believe she said that to you.’ We have a different relationship. She’s more like family,” Bedard said.
Mattias Borrman has joined CSU staff and works with Kajsa and the other throwers. The two frequently converse in Swedish as the family tradition continues. Kajsa Borrman played some other sports when she was younger but the allure of throwing at CSU was always going to win out.
“Ultimately, I think my parents talk about their throwing experience and college experience so much and with so much fondness and joy that it seemed like a good time to me. I’m really happy I made that decision,” Kajsa Borrman said.
Kajsa Borrman also throws discus but qualified in hammer throw with clutch final attempt at regionals to qualify for nationals. Her top mark of 220-feet, 8-inches is 15th in the nation.
Kajsa Borrman competes at 2:30 p.m. Mountain on June 12.
Klaire Kovatch, discus
Kovatch made the NCAA Championships in 2023 and finished 21st but missed out last season after a disappointing regional meet. That led to a sharpened focus on this season.
“I’m just glad to be going back again. I went two years ago and it was a really cool experience. Missed out last year. This is another opportunity to go show what I’m doing and become an All-American,” Kovatch said.
“I want to be at nationals and I want to be competing at the highest level. Coming back this year it was like, ‘What do I need to change to be better?’ For me, a lot of it was letting go and being an athlete. I forgot how to compete. That doesn’t work very well.”
Kovatch is an intense competitor, but throwing events are a tricky balance of knowing the key technical cues to follow but not too much so that the motions turn less athletic and more robotic.
“She’s really pretty hard on herself and she likes to overcoach herself a little bit, so a lot of this year was helping her manage what was going through her mind when she stepped in the circle,” Bedard said. “A lot of times she’d get off of cues or start stacking cues, we call it, and try and do too many technical things at once. We really tried to manage that this year and let her be more of an athlete.”
Kovatch is ranked 16th in the nation in discus with a top mark of 190-feet.
Kovatch competes in the discus at 1:30 p.m. Mountain on June 14.
Follow sports reporter Kevin Lytle on X and Instagram @Kevin_Lytle.