LAKEWOOD — After confusion gave way to jubilation, Kelsey Lakowske realized what she had done.
The Boulder sophomore had pulled off an improbable upset Thursday at Jefferson County Stadium by seemingly going bionic in the final stretch of the Class 5A 3,200-meter run.
Lakowske led the race for only nine-hundredths of a second on the first day of the track and field state championships — but it was the final .09, as she surged past favorite Eleanor Fulton of Highlands Ranch in a race so close Lakowske didn’t find out until several minutes later that she won.
“It was so sketchy because at first they were saying she won, then they were saying I won,” Lakowske said. “Then they were saying she won again and I was thinking, ‘What?’ So I couldn’t really celebrate.”
She trailed Fulton and Natosha Rogers of Dakota Ridge entering the final turn, but soon bolted past Rogers and set her sights on Fulton.
“I just started surging in the final 200 or so,” Lakowske said. “I thought I couldn’t catch them, but I just started kicking. I didn’t know where the finish line was so I just kept running.”
Lakowske’s win came in one five 5A finals on the initial day of the three-day meet. Also in 5A, Rocky Mountain won the 3,200 relay, Overland’s Brittney Lewis won the long jump, and Littleton teammates Jenna Adams (pole vault) and Brooke Jackson (discus) placed first.
In 4A, the Thompson Valley girls set a state mark in the 3,200 relay with a 9:00.07 finish, more than a second better than Smoky Hill’s 2003 effort. The time was the fastest outdoor mark in the country this season.
“We ran 9:04 a few weeks ago, so at that point we targeted that record,” Thompson Valley coach Matt Norton said.
The Eagles’ team (Brooke Regan, Liz Tremblay, Karina Ernst and Laura Tremblay) finished more than 30 seconds ahead of second-place Alamosa.
In other 4A finals, Annie Kunz of Wheat Ridge won the high jump but was edged by Mountain View’s Amy Medina in the triple jump.
In 3A, Classical Academy’s 3,200 relay team of Kelsey Brown, Kaitlin Hanenburg, Emily LaValley and Kassie Mazzocco set a classification record with a 9:29.41, more than 12 seconds better than Centauri in 2005.
Classical Academy’s Hanenburg also won the 3,200 in 10:52.67. Also in 3A, University freshman Tori Fisher won the high jump.
In the only 2A finals Thursday, Emily Post of Wray won the long jump and Paonia finished first in the 3,200 relay.
