LAKEWOOD — Thompson Valley twins Laura and Liz Tremblay couldn’t have written a better script to end their high school track careers.
Talk about going out on top: Each set a Class 4A meet record Saturday in the state championships at Jefferson County Stadium and led the Eagles to a repeat team title.
Now it’s on to the University of Colorado, where they will run middle distances.
“It’s going to be so fun at CU because we complement each other in the best of ways,” said Laura, catching her breath after establishing a 4A meet mark of 4 minutes, 54.59 seconds in the 1,600 meters. Katie Vannatta of Ralston Valley held the previous record of 4:56.08, set in 2006.
Laura, who jokes that she is the “more mature” twin, having been born four minutes earlier, said she drew energy from watching Liz outrun defending champion Emily Blok of Conifer in the 400 meters about an hour before. Liz got a good start and stayed in front the entire race, although she had to hold off a charge by Blok around the third turn.
With Laura cheering her on, Liz clocked 55.19 to break the 3-year-old mark of 55.25 held by Widefield’s Nyeisha Wright. Last year, Liz placed third in the 400.
“I was a little scared because I could feel Emily coming up on me,” Liz said. “But I thought, ‘I’ve stayed with her this long, let’s just try and go for it.’ The 400 is such a hard race. It’s whoever has the will.”
Adding an exclamation point, the Tremblays helped Thompson Valley set a 4A meet mark in the 1,600 relay with a time of 3:50.74 that erased its 3:54.45 set last year.
Blok won the 4A 100 in 12.01 earlier Saturday (adding to her Friday gold medal in the 200), but couldn’t keep up with Liz Tremblay this time.
“If I’m going lose to anyone, I’d rather lose to Liz,” Blok said. “She’s a great girl. And she’s dedicated. She deserves it.”
Headed for UNLV, Blok finished her prep career with seven individual state-championship gold medals. She finished with three straight 100 and 200 titles.
“This has been my home stadium since I was 11,” said Blok, who ran age-group races in this facility as a youngster. “I’m a little sad to go.”
In the team competition, 5A Littleton, 4A Thompson Valley, 3A Classical Academy and 2A Akron all extended their leads from Friday. Classical Academy won for the third straight year, with Thompson Valley making it two years in a row.
Littleton’s team title was school’s first in girls track and field. The Lions had a good start Thursday with victories in the discus (Brooke Jackson) and pole vault (Jenna Adams), then used their depth in track events.
“They’ve been training for this since September. It was a dream of ours,” Littleton coach Jill Mullarkey said. “We have the right kids in the right places. And they came to perform.”
Coronado senior LaTraia Scott turned in one of the most impressive efforts Saturday in repeating as 5A 100 champion with a time of 11.91. Scott, who won the 200 on Friday, will be a pre-med major at Baylor next fall but has not decided whether she will run track in college. Her prep career also included some disappointments, including three seconds and two thirds at state meets.
“I was stressed out in big meets like this when I was younger,” Scott said, “but I’ve learned that having fun works best.”
Tom Kensler: 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com
