LAKEWOOD — For Emily Stover, winning the 4A state girls pole vault championship was the easy part. It was attempting to break her own state record that proved to be hard.
And she almost did that, too.
But Friday at Jefferson County Stadium, the Longmont senior had to settle for only winning a third straight state title, setting a state 4A track meet record, then breaking that by setting an all-classification state meet mark.
That’s all.
“Wow, make one jump and the state championship is right there,” said Stover, who on her first jump surpassed the 10-foot, 6-inch runner-up finish of Silver Creek’s Erin Erhmantraut.
Stover scored Longmont’s lone 10 points on the first day of the meet, which Thompson Valley’s girls lead with 22 points. Alamosa is second with 19.5, followed by Mountain View at 18.5.
In 4A boys, Battle Mountain leads with 22 points. Sterling is second at 19, followed by Sierra and Mullen each at 18.
Stover set a state 4A meet record with her second jump at 12-9, then broke the all-classification meet record with her second attempt at 13-3. But she was denied a state record, which she broke last week with a 13-4 mark at regionals, when she failed in three tries at 13-7. But she was anything but disappointed.
“13-3, hopefully that will be around for a while,” Stover said.
Her only serious competition Friday really was herself. However, one person who could challenge 13-3 is Rampart’s Kelli Ehardt, the favorite in Saturday’s 5A pole vault event and the only other person to eclipse 13 feet besides Stover. It was Ehardt’s state-meet record that Stover broke Friday.
If Stover’s victory was a no-doubter, Dey Tuach’s win in the 5A boys 800 meters was inspiring.
The second-year runner from Thornton tore the meniscus cartilage in his right knee during cross country season and feared he wouldn’t be ready for track season. But not only was he ready for the state track meet, but he won.
Tuach overcame the early pace set by Fairview’s Alex Weinheimer and won the event in 1:52.42. Fruita Monument’s Steve Kasica came in second in 1:54.26, followed by Wheat Ridge’s Henry Cohick and Weinheimer.
Tuach was thankful for the opportunity.
“It’s not on me. It’s all on God, ” Tuach said. “I’m just thinking go out and do it. I have no control over it. . . . Everything comes from God. He gave me this.”
Tuach’s win was Thornton’s only points on the day. Wheat Ridge leads the 5A boys competition with 16 points, followed by Pomona with 15 and Cherry Creek at 14.
In 5A girls, Arvada leads with 18 points. Rocky Mountain and Chaparral are tied for second with 17 points, with Fort Collins right behind at 16.5.
Just like Tuach, his female counterpart in the 800, Chaparral’s Kristen Lake, wasn’t taking credit for her own success. But unlike Tuach, she couldn’t put her finger on where her success came from.
Lake overcame an exhausting two-lap jaunt around the track and a charging Trishawn Battiste of George Washington to score the victory.
“I didn’t think on the second lap that I would come in first,” Lake said. “Pretty sure I’d be fifth, fourth at least. I was just dead on that second lap. I don’t know where that came from.”
Now it doesn’t really matter, she’s a state champion.
So is Kevin Williams. The D’Evelyn senior won the 4A boys 1,600 meter by more than two seconds with a time of 4:14.76. But the race was closer than the final results would indicate.
“Someone hit my foot with about 600 to go. Usually you can hear if they are behind you, but it was so loud (Friday) I just had to keep my form,” Williams said.
That someone was Falcon’s Wes Rickman, who finished second in 4:16.94.
“He’s going to be phenomenal next year,” Williams said of Rickman. “There are five or six guys who are really going to be good in 4A and 5A. It will be great to see how they push each other next year.”
Williams won’t be around for that, though. He’s a senior and will be attending the University of Oklahoma in the fall.
One person who didn’t repeat is Greeley West’s Kendra Gerk. Credit Thompson Valley’s Laura Tremblay with that. The junior 1,600-meter runner rode Gerk’s coattails for most of the race before overtaking her down the stretch for the victory in 5:03.23.
“I just wanted to be right behind her. She knows what she is doing,” Tremblay said of staying behind Gerk until the time was right to make the pass.
Thompson Valley finished a distant 10th in the 3,200 relay, which was won by Alamosa.
Sierra’s Kelby Dias, a favorite in the hurdles, scored an upset in the 4A boys long jump.
A third-place finisher at regionals, Dias overcame rival and defending state champion Zach Little of Mesa Ridge with a preliminary jump of 22-2.75. It was good enough to hold up, despite pressure from Little, Glenwood Springs’ Donnie Jennert and Pueblo South’s Daquan Cartwright.
“It’s not really my event. I just came out to score team points. I do it to place third or fourth,” the Sierra junior said. “I never thought I’d win.”
But he did.
