AUSTIN — Stephenville’s Kolton Dearth and Caleb Garland know what it takes to win state, and how to have fun while doing it.
The Yellowjacket duo took home gold and bronze at the Class 4A UIL state championship Thursday, with Dearth winning the event on his last throw that traveled 61-feet and 4.25-inches and Garland earning bronze on a 56-0.50 toss inside Mike A. Myers Stadium.
After the event, Dearth, a Tarleton State football signee, made sure to don a custom “shot bros” T-shirt featuring himself and Garland parodied as Will Ferrell and John C. Riley from the late 2000’s comedy “Step Brothers.”
Dearth said the design and shirt were the idea of Stephenville girls shot putter Brinley Hall — who placed fourth in the girls 4A competition earlier in the day.
“Nothing but excited for (Dearth),” Garland said. “We’ve been together all year, it’s just great to see him succeed like that, and couldn’t do anything but cheer for him at the end. … I came in with a positive attitude and just wanted to succeed, cheer my teammate on and, luckily, it ended out good for me too.”
Having fun and winning at the highest level is nothing new for Dearth. The 6-foot-2, 310-pound defensive lineman was critical to the Yellowjackets 4A Division I football state championship. And, during their run, he became a household name.
In the second round of the football playoffs, Dearth scored a touchdown from inside the 2-yard line against Canyon Randall and went viral on social media for his celebration.
“I saw the celebration when we were watching (Canyon) Randall on film,” Dearth said. “We noticed that that’s the dance they were doing after every time they scored a touchdown. So, I was like, ’Hey, I’m gonna run one into the endzone and hit that dance on them.’”
The touchdown celebration and custom T-shirt were the latest bits for the Yellowjacket big man. Since he can remember, his nickname at school and on the football team has been Dearth Vader, a pun on Star Wars villain Darth Vader.
“Yeah, my last name’s Dearth, so Dearth Vader has always kinda been a thing,” Dearth said. “That one was my dad — it’s our Xbox username. … I actually just watched (Star Wars) again last week.”
No matter the pun, bit or joke, Dearth is all about making memories with teammates, while collecting a few gold medals along the way.
“With this being our last meet, I’m just glad I could end it with a bang,” Dearth said. “… this is my first medal at the state track meet. It’s different than football because that felt unreal for a long time, but this medal I felt it instantly. It just hit me.”
Paul Witwer covers high school sports and Angelo State University sports for The San Angelo Standard-Times. Reach him at sports@gosanangelo.com. Follow him on X @Paul_Witwer, Instagram and TikTok at pwitwer_sast.
This article originally appeared on San Angelo Standard-Times: Stephenville’s Kolton Dearth having fun while winning gold
Reporting by Paul Witwer, San Angelo Standard-Times / San Angelo Standard-Times
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
