LAKEWOOD - Natasha Gay and her Montbello teammates were feeling pretty good Saturday as the Class 5A state track meet headed into the final event, the 1,600-meter relay. For all intent and purpose, the Warriors had the schools sixth team championship in the bag.

And it was Gay’s victory in the 200-meters and a third-place finish by Kayla Fisher-Taylor that secured the win. Montbello finished with 55 points to outdistance runner-up Fort Collins (47.5 points), and Rocky Mountain and Heritage, each with 46. And, at that point, it did not matter where Fort Collins or Rocky Mountain finished in the relay.

Gay won the 200 with a time of 24.24-seconds edging LaTraia Scott of Coronado, who posted a 24.29 time, and Fisher-Taylor right behind in 24.67. And, in a way, it was pay back as Gay had finished second to Scott in the 100.

It was also the third gold medal of the day for Gay, who also ran legs on Montbello’s winning 400 and 800 relay teams. She teamed with Sierra Jones, Kyja Winchester and Fisher-Taylor to win the 400 in 48.15 and with Jones, Fisher-Taylor and Warren Washington to win the 800 in 1:40.79.

“I knew that it was going to be a close race, but I knew that I could cover the ground,” Gay said. “I knew that if I didn’t get it, La Traia would. I just needed to get out of the blocks.

“I’m real proud of myself and I’m grateful for our coaches, mom and my teammates,” Gay said. “I’m just really proud of Montbello. This is my senior year so this is such a good way to end the year.”

Scott won the 100 in 11.93 with Gay timed at 12.07. And, as fate would have it, Fisher-Taylor was third in 12.11.

“I did have a great start and I think that was the key,” Scott said. “I don’t think much about coming down the track except ‘form, form’. It was just do the best and run.”

It was also a good day for Kelli Ehardt of Rampart and Emmalie Pfankuch of Fort Collins as they successfully defended their state championships in the pole vault and long jump, respectively.

Ehardt broke her own 5A record in the pole vault with a winning height of 13-feet, 3 inches. She then went for the All-classification record of 13-4, which had been set last week by Longmont’s Elizabeth Stover. Stover was the 4A winner on Friday.

“It feels so good to hit 13-feet again,” said Ehardt, who will enroll at Brigham Young University in the fall. “ I’ve been doing it in practice, but when we get to meets it has rained or snowed. So, it felt good to hit it in a meet again. I sprained my foot and it’s also been a tough year. I think the adrenalin helped me this time. I’m also proud of Elizabeth as there are not many states that have two girls over 13-feet.”

Pfankuch won her second title with a leap of 18- ½ , beating Deann Williams of Eaglecrest who went 17-7 ¼. Third in the event went to Arvada’s Ashley Fanelli, who had won the triple jump and finished second in the high jump Friday.

“It was tough after running on our 400 relay team,” said Pfankuch, who is headed for the University of North Carolina to play soccer. “But coming into the long jump I still had a lot of adrenalin going. I thought I could do it. Since this is my last year running track, I wanted to make it special.”

It also was a special day for Littleton’s Brooke Jackson, who probably no one thought would win the discus, even Jackson. But the Lion’s junior pulled the biggest throw of her career out of the bag on her first attempt for a winning throw of 134-8. It was good enough to help deny Karen Wyatt of Palmer a second title.

“I was afraid, coming in as my PR was only 118,” said Jackson, a junior. “I was expecting to place, but not get first place. My legs were shaking, but I was ready and I could feel it. Then waiting to see who might beat me was hard.

“I was thinking the girl from Poudre (Becca Lindquist, who was second) was going to pass me, but she didn’t do it. I just went out and had a big day.”

Eaglecrest’s Brianna Patton and Smoky Hill’s Vanessa Samuel came away with victories in the hurdles. Patton took the 100s in 14.08 while Samuel was the winner in the 300s in 44.65.

“My biggest worry was Taylor Baird (of Heritage) in the 100s,” said Patton, who will enter the University of Cincinnati in the fall. “We’ve only run against each other once this season and I knew it was going to be tough and she was right there (with a 14.29).”

Samuel placed fourth in the 300s last season and she was worried that a good freshman or sophomore would come out of the woodwork.

“I hit the next to last hurdle but my thoughts were just keep going,” Samual said. “It wasn’t going to be over yet. I just ran as hard as I could.”

And yes, there was a freshman that came out and let it be known she will be tough the next three years. In this case, it was Eleanor Fulton of Highlands Ranch, who won the 1,600 with a time of 5:00.99 beating Tati Ogan of Fort Collins and Alexa Rogers of Dakota Ridge.

“My plan was to stay with Alexa,” Fulton said. “I was really tired because I ran in the 4 X 800 relay, so I just wanted to put it out there. I had a chance to go out and did. Yeah, I guess the pressure is on for the next three years.”

Rocky Mountain’s Ashly Lester won the day’s final individual event, the 400 in 56.99-seconds. But it took a dramatic lean at the finish to gain the win.

“I was really nervous and it just came down to who had more heart and who wanted it more,” said Lester, who nipped Rangeview’s Lakiesha James for the title. “I’ve been working hard all season and I knew (James) was right there. We are both really good runners and I just leaned and I kind of knew I had it. I was nervous for sure, though, waiting for the final results. Thank you Acutrack for this one. I wanted to get in the 56s and I got it.”

Team results - Montbello 55, Fort Colllins 47.5, Rocky Mountain 46, Heritage 46, Doherty 42.5, Lewis-Palmer 40, Dakota Ridge 38, George Washington 37, Overland 37, ThunderRidge 36, Littleton 32, Loveland 32, Chaparral 31, Highlands Ranch 27, Eaglecrest 26, Arvada 25, Cherry Creek 22, Poudre 20, Palmer 18, Coronado 18, Douglas County 18, Rampart 16, Fairview 15, Arapahoe 15, Rangeview 13, Smoky Hill 13, Wheat Ridge 11, Air Academy 10, Arvada West 10, Sand Creek 8, Aurora Central 8, Grand Junction 7, Legacy 7, Pomona 6, Fruita Monument 6, Pine Creek 5, Thornton 5, Northglenn 5, Brighton 4, Green Mountain 3, Columbine 3, Mountain Vista 3, Denver South 2, Mitchell 2, Boulder 1..

Saturday’s championship results

100 - 1. LaTraia Scott, Coronado, 11.93. 2. Natasha Gay, Montbello, 12.07. 3. Kayla Fisher-Taylor, Montbello, 12.11. 4. DeVen Hamlet, George Washington, 12.32. 5. Zadia Bryant, Overland, 12.39. 6. Brianna Patton, Eaglecrest, 12.53. 7. Hailey Hughes, Mountain Vista, 12.64. 8. Ashly Lester, Rocky Mountain, 12.80. 9. Ashley Foster, Fort Collins, 12.81.

200 - 1. Natasha Gay, Montbello, 24.24. 2. LaTraia Scott, Coronado, 24.29. 3. Kayla Fisher-Taylor, Montbello, 24.67. 4. Sara Benson, Rampart, 25.02. 5. Zadia Bryant, Overland, 25.06. 6. DeVen Hamlet, George Washington, 25.19. 7. Taylor Baird, Heritage, 25.40. 8. Ashley Foster, Fort Collins, 25.71. 9. Kelsey Williamson, ThunderRidge, 25.80.

400 - 1. Ashly Lester, Rocky Mountain, 56.99. 2. Lakiesha James, Rangeview, 57.07. 3. Kelsey Williamson, ThunderRidge, 57.31. 4. Brittany Lewis, Overland, 57.44. 5. Shilay Willis, Rangeview, 57.62. 6. Kayla Mescher, Brighton, 57.84. 7. Molly Ramirez, Columbine, 58.14. 8. Kristen Narum, Fairivew, 58.58. 9. Kait Boisnard, Wheat Ridge, 59.21.

1,600 - 1. Eleanor Fulton, Highlands Ranch, 5:00.99. 2. Tati Ogan, Fort Collins, 5:04.36. 3. Alexa Rogers, Dakota Ridge, 5:04.45. 4. Clare Gallagher, Cherry Creek, 5:07.45. 5. Natosha Rogers, Dakota Ridge, 5:15.05. 6. Alexis Skarda, Fairview, 5:17.02. 7. Lynnea Sjoerdsma, Doherty, 5:20.78. 8. Kellyn Craig, Denver South, 5:21.48. 9. Dominique Gerard, ThunderRidge, 5:22.38.

100 hurdles - 1. Brianna Patton, Eaglecrest, 14.08. 2. Taylor Baird, Heritage, 14.29. 3. Sarah Webb, ThunderRidge, 14.78. 4. Annie Kunz, Wheat Ridge, 14.80. 5. Carly Allen, Doherty, 14.92. 6. Kalie Kirk, Lewis-Palmer, 15.07. 7. Sierra Jones, Montbello, 15.32. 8. Bri Johnson, Mitchell, 15.46. 9. Takara Reed, George Washington, 15.57.

300 hurdles - 1. Vanessa Samuel, Smoky Hill, 44.65. 2. Kalie Kirk, Lewis-Palmer, 45.40. 3. Carly Allen, Doherty, 45.58. 4. Stephanie Gerber, Arapahoe, 45.83. 5. Vanessa Emerson, Aurora Central, 46.21. 6. Alyse Harris, Cherry Creek, 46.31. 7. Brie Dana, Fruita Monument, 46.92. 8. Faith Winter, Loveland, 46.93. 9. Daphne White, Boulder, 48.09.

800 medley relay - 1. Overland (Creslie Henegan, Stormye Everett, Zadia Bryant, Brittany Lewis), 1:46.54. 2. Douglas County, 1:48.01. 3. Loveland, 1:49.18. 4. Littleton 1:49.96. 5. Thornton, 1:50.24. 6. Poudre, 1:50.37. 7. Sand Creek, 1:50.81. 8. George Washington, 1:51.04. 9. ThunderRidge, 1:51.11.

400 relay - 1. Montbello (Sierra Jones, Natasha Gay, Kyja Winchester, Kayla Fisher-Taylor), 48.15. 2. Heritage, 48.68. 3. Dakota Ridge, 49.05. 4. Fort Collins, 49.26. 5. Loveland, 49.90. 6. ThunderRidge, 49.91. 7. Eaglecrest, 49.96. 8. Highlands Ranch, 50.00. 9. Douglas County, 50.20.

800 relay - 1. Montbello (Sierra Jones, Kayla Fisher-Taylor, Warren Washington, Natasha Gay), 1:40.79. 2. Heritage, 1:42.61. 3. Loveland, 1:44.18. 4. Dakota Ridge, 1:44.59. 5. Douglas County, 1:45.16. 6. Grand Junction, 1:45.22. 7. Smoky Hill, 1:45.88.

8. Arapahoe, 1:46.19. Denver East, DQ.

1,600 meter relay - 1, ThunderRidge, (Sarah Webb, Alyssa Anuck, Katherine Wishmeyer, Kelsey Williamson), 3:54.78. 2, Rocky Mountain, 3:58.46; 3, Loveland, 3:59.23; 4, George Washington, 4:00.68; 5, Lewis-Palmer, 4:00.85; 6, Cherry Creek, 4:02.37; 7, Arapahoe, 4:02.74; 8, Littleton, 4:04.35; 9, Fairview, 4:06.31.

3,200 relay - 1. Chaparral (Kelly Hanrahan, Melanie Bergen, Kirsten Lake, Katlyn Wojan), 9:21.47. 2. Rocky Mountain, 9:21.48. 3. Highlands Ranch, 9:31.21. 4. Fairview, 9:37.55. 5. Sand Creek, 9:37.69. 6. Fort Collins, 9:40.53. 7. Doherty, 9:44.04. 8. Palmer, 9:46.05. 9. ThunderRidge, 9:46.62.

Long jump - 1. Emmalie Pfankuch, Fort Collins, 18- ½. 2. Deann Williams, Eaglecrest, 17-7 ¼. 3. Ashley Fanelli, Arvada, 17-6 ½. 4. Molly Bush, Lewis-Palmer, 17-4 ½. 5. Brittany Lewis, Overland 17-1 ¼. 6. Kelsey Grimm, Chaparral, 16-10 ¼. 7. Carly Allen, Doherty, 16-8. 8. Takara Reed, George Washington, 16-7 ¾. 9. Andi Slouka, Heritage, 16-2 ½.

Pole vault - 1. Kelli Ehardt, Rampart, 13-1 (Class 5A record). 2. Karlye Marshall, Lewis-Palmer, 12-0. 3. Alex Colvin, Lewis-Palmer, 11-6. 4. Jenna Adams, Littleton, 10-6. 5. Libby Westfall, Pine Creek, 10-6. 6. Briana Suppes, Doherty, 10-0. 7. Jordan Youngblade, Arapahoe, 10-0. 8. Morgan Griffin, Lewis-Palmer, 10-0. 9. Valentina Mihaly, Rocky Mountain, 10-0.

Discus - 1. Brooke Jackson, Littleton, 134-8. 2. Becca Lindquist, Poudre, 129-01. 3. Karen Wyatt, Palmer, 124-6. 4. Morgan Sedivec, Heritage, 123-6. 5. Emily Hunsucker,

Pomona, 120-0. 6. Alexis Cooks, Doherty, 115-4. 7. Elizabeth Jorgensen, Green Mountain, 114-8. 8. Megan Supinski, Wheat Ridge, 113-9. 9. Antares Higgins, Grand Junction, 111-10.

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