Two families celebrated with Kacey Johnson as she signed a letter to continue her track and field career at the Division I level with Colorado State University. 

Her immediate family and her Lewis-Palmer family. 

Johnson and 14 other student-athletes filled the stage of the Rangers’ auditorium last week for the school’s signing day as coaches reminisced and shared heartwarming stories about athletes from their respective programs. 

From stories of painting houses to a daughter growing up among four brothers, the coaches expressed their gratitude, but there was one common thread, the respect and pride each coach had for all the athletes, not just their own. 

That respect is a two-way street. 

“I’m grateful for this opportunity,” Johnson said. “I just want to thank all my coaches and everything. I just truly put in so much hard work through these four years of high school to get me to this moment.”

The Lewis-Palmer senior throws discus and shot put for the Rangers. Last year, she was a top-six discus thrower at the 4A state championships and ranked inside the top 20 for shot put. On Wednesday, she signed a letter to join the Rams as a preferred walk-on. 

Both moments are special for her dad, Joey, who blazed the trail for his daughter.  

“I threw high school, Pueblo South, back in the early ’90s but it’s been great to watch her develop as an athlete and take up the sport of throwing,” he said. “It’s really cool to see that she took a liking to the sport and was naturally gifted and spent a lot of time and energy improving her form.”

Johnson has been honing her craft since middle school, and has competed nationally at outdoor and indoor meets in shot put, discus, hammer throw and weight throw for Emerging Elites. 

She moved from Frisco, Texas, her sophomore year and joined the Rangers her junior season. 

She is what Lewis-Palmer football coach Dustin Tupper might refer to as a “Texas unicorn” or a talented player who moves to the area from the Lone Star State. Tupper jokingly gave senior nose guard and offensive tackle Ty’sen Logan the moniker during his speech Wednesday. The 6-foot-4 lineman stood out for his height and is one of three Rangers who signed to Colorado Mesa’s Division II football program.  

Rylee Edmondson is the aforementioned daughter with four brothers. She’ll continue her basketball career at Utah State Eastern. Her coach, Kristy Youngpeter, praised her for mental fortitude and the wealth of strength she has in herself. She likened Edmondson to a bird sitting on a branch in a tree. 

The bird isn’t afraid of falling because of what it’s standing on, but rather because it knows it can fly. 

Like many of the superlatives shared in the Rangers auditorium, Youngpeter’s metaphor doesn’t just apply to Edmondson but the group as a whole. 

It’s the same mentality Johnson embraces when she throws. 

“I really love that it’s an individual sport and so all my successes and all my failures are on me,” Johnson said. “I can grow to do better and I know personally what I’m doing wrong when I’m throwing, and it’s not like someone else is making me do bad. It’s all on me.”

Lewis-Palmer signees

Maddox Bertz, baseball, Monterey Peninsula 

Sydney Blazer, softball, Chandler-Gilbert Community College

Ashton Brittain, baseball, Dakota State

Madi Crowe, volleyball, Fort Hays State

Jevon Davis, football, Colorado Mesa

Joey Davis, baseball, Dakota College at Bottineau 

Rylee Edmondson, basketball, Utah State University Eastern

Josh Gilbreath, baseball, Crown

Kacey Johnson, track and field, Colorado State  

Troy Johnson, football, Colorado Mesa  

Cady Knight, volleyball, Regis  

Charlie Lendt, baseball, Northeastern 

Ty’sen Logan, football, Colorado Mesa  

Mason Martin, football, Kansas Wesleyan

Luke Robinson, football, Wheaton