LAKEWOOD — It’s been more than a year since Annie Kunz injured her left ankle, yet the Wheat Ridge senior continues to wear a black brace. It’s mainly for preventive reasons.
“It’s more like a security blanket,” said Kunz, noting it comes in handy when she’s competing in the triple jump. “I definitely need it for that.”
That’s about all she needs it for. Kunz does pretty well, injury or not. She took first place in the girls 300-meter hurdles and high jump and placed second in the 100 hurdles Saturday at the 14th annual Mullen Runners Roost Invitational at Jefferson County Stadium. She nipped ThunderRidge’s Erin Bowers in the 300 hurdles with a time of 45.53 seconds. Bowers finished less than a second behind.
“It definitely helps (jumping over the hurdles with ease) with my height,” Kunz said. “It makes it a little bit easier. The last stretch definitely gets hard, but you kind of have to gut it out and do your best.”
Immediately after her second victory of the day, she wasn’t sure how well she would do with two jumps left in the triple jump, but she won that as well. Her jump of 37 feet, 3 1/4 inches was more than 2 inches better than the second-place finish of Eaglecrest’s Danielle Williams.
Fellow all-state performer Eleanor Fulton of Highlands Ranch won the girls 1,600 by almost 11 seconds ahead of ThunderRidge’s Dominique Gerard, running a winning time of 5:00.59. She followed that with just as dominating of a victory in the 800. George Washington’s Chyna Ries (100, long jump) was also a double winner.
For the boys, Nolan Mayhew, who won the 400 earlier in the day, won the 200 invite later in the day. It was the first 200 in two years for the Cheyenne Mountain runner because of injuries, but he was able to clip Eaglecrest’s Marcus Harris at the line.
“It was just a little bit of hard work. Our team works hard together,” said Mayhew, who actually had the second-fastest time in the 200 during the event. Alex Gildon of Valor Christian was seven-hundredths of a second faster in an earlier heat, but he also had the luxury of a slightly weaker wind.
Fossil Ridge’s Jake Schneeberger was also a two-time winner, finishing first in the shot put and discus. ThunderRidge’s Keifer Johnson won the 1,600 and 3,200.
