Sports Extra: Colin Prater
Colin Prater is a freshman biology teacher at Cheyenne Mountain. He’s also the assistant golf coach, and his players would be wise to listen to him. Prater recently qualified for next week’s US Open, and Prater is still wrapping his head around it.
"I still don't know if it's really actually set in yet," Prater says.
"I mean, it's something that you've dreamed about since you were a little kid. To actually have have that scenario occur, it's pretty dreamlike, and I still don't think I'm fully aware that that's what I've accomplished. To be honest with you, I didn't think I was in. The last couple of holes, I was just maybe hoping for a playoff or for an alternate position. So crazy enough to make par on the last hole and to realize about 45 minutes later that I was for a spot in the US Open. It's pretty remarkable. As the final leaderboard was complete, about a 250 text messages just start rolling into my phone."
Prater is hoping that his story will inspire his students.
"Hopefully this fall I'll be able to use this experience to really portray the idea that kids can accomplish whatever they set their set their mind to," Prater says. "Creating dreams and creating goals can actually be attainable and achievable."