Coal Ridge’s Aiden Huey Heads to Adams State After State Title in Triple Jump

“Aiden Huey still remembers the move from Houston to New Castle.”

That sentence, pulled from a profile of a local graduate, feels less like a news lead and more like the opening line of a memoir. It’s a specific, sensory pivot — from the sprawling, humid density of a Texas metropolis to the crisp, high-altitude air of the Garfield County valley. He was eight years old. His father had died. His mother needed a change of scenery, and so, they came west.

The result is Aiden Huey, a recent Coal Ridge High School graduate who is leaving Glenwood Springs with a state title in the triple jump, four state championships in cheerleading, and a letter of intent to compete in track at Adams State University.

It’s a lot for a kid who didn’t exactly start out as a multi-sport powerhouse. As a freshman, Huey played recreational baseball and tried out for basketball. Neither fit. His mother suggested football; track was just a way to get faster for the gridiron. Then, he realized track was actually better.

“I was like, track is so much better,” Huey said.

That simple declaration changed the trajectory of his high school years. It led him to Adams State in Alamosa, a choice he made after weighing larger universities and schools closer to home. He’s interested in architecture, and Adams State offered a middle ground — a place to keep competing in track without the jarring shock of jumping from a small-town high school into a massive collegiate athletic program.

“I’m excited to continue on my track career,” Huey said.

But the story isn’t just about the track. It’s about the cheer team. He joined as a junior, encouraged by a teacher-coach who saw something in him. It wasn’t in the original plan. He loved trampolines, flips, physical challenges. He wasn’t afraid to throw himself into something new.

“I honestly had a blast,” he said. “It’s something I don’t regret at all. I actually wish I did it a little bit sooner.”

That cheer team success added another layer to his identity. It gave him another community, another way to measure growth. And it cemented his pride in Coal Ridge.

“Coal Ridge has been a huge part of just growing up,” Huey said. “I’m lucky it was this one, because I think academically and athletically they’re just an amazing school. All the teachers are great, the friends that I found are amazing.”

He graduated on Sunday, leaving behind the halls where he spent his formative years. He’s carrying that pride with him, all the way to Alamosa.

“’I’m very proud to say I’m from Coal Ridge,” Huey said, “and speak that with no doubt in my mind that it’s an amazing school.”

This is the kind of story that gets buried in the back pages of the Post Independent sometimes, overshadowed by budget debates or road construction delays. But it matters. It matters because it shows what happens when a community steps up. When a mother moves her family west after a loss, and a school becomes a anchor. When a teacher sees a kid who likes flips and says, “try this.”

Huey’s journey from Houston to New Castle to Adams State isn’t just a personal triumph. It’s proof of the institutions here. Coal Ridge isn’t just a place where kids go to get a diploma. It’s a place where they find their footing. Where they learn to jump.

The article notes this is the first installment of an eight-part series highlighting graduating students in Garfield County. Huey is the first. There will be seven more.

Picture this: a kid from Texas, now a state champion, packing up his track spikes and cheer uniforms, heading south to Alamosa. He’s taking the pride of the valley with him. He’s taking the lessons of the teachers who kept encouraging him. He’s taking the memory of a small town that grew up with him.

And when he looks back from a college campus in the San Luis Valley, he won’t just remember the titles. He’ll remember the move. The change of scenery. The place that helped shape him.

That’s the thing about small towns. They don’t just raise kids. They raise adults who carry them with them, long after they’ve left the parking lot at dawn.