LAKEWOOD – Kelby Dias wasn’t so sure Friday that he could win the boys long jump in the 4A state track and field meet.    But Saturday at Jefferson County Stadium proved to be a different story.    There was no question that he would win the 110- and 300-meter hurdles.    And to prove that point, he did.    The Sierra junior first won the 110 hurdles, then came back and ran the eighth-best time in state meet history in the 300 to pull off the double.    “I worked hard all year. My coach told me to stay focus and don’t let it get in my head. Come out and do what I do,” Dias said.    But more than an individual accomplishment, Dias said that his efforts were more about the team and trying to win a state championship together.    The Stallions nearly did, coming in second with 68 points. But it was Longmont, led by sprinter Matt Butcher, that took home the team trophy with 78 points. Mullen came in third with 61. Widefield tied Greeley Central for seventh with 36 points, and Mesa Ridge came in ninth with 34.    The girls championship went to Thompson Valley, which broke the state record in the 1,600-meter relay en route to 78 points. Mullen came in second with 64, and Longmont was third with 45. Mountain View came in sixth with 39.5, and Widefield tied for seventh with 39.    Mesa Ridge’s Marcel Gibbons, the triple jump champion in 2006, and teammate Mikal Torres, the 2007 champion, figured to be in the running for the 2008 titles. But Fountain-Fort Carson’s Calvin Williams stole their thunder, winning the event with a leap of 47 feet, 4¾inches Gibbons, who was injured last year, came in second at 45-11¼ and Torres was third in 45-8.    “First off, Calvin had just a great jump. Unquestionably, a great jump,” Mesa Ridge coach Carl Burgess said. “He went out and earned that. Our guys they wanted to win. I think they wish they’d jumped better. They didn’t jump what they are capable of.”    Conifer’s Emily Blok, a junior, beat out Mesa Ridge freshman Kadeshia Rose in both the 100 and 200, and sandwiched those wins with her victory in the 400.    As for Rose’s performance, Burgess couldn’t have been happier for his first-year runner.    “Her first year out, we were hoping,” Burgess said. “But we were not sure what she’d do in a meet like this. We were hoping for top five, but after prelim in the 100 she ran a last faster than we anticipated. She had a great meet.”    Widefield’s Patrick Richards won the 400 and was second in the 200.    “I just wanted to tell my parents I finally won something,” Richards said.    D’Evelyn’s Kevin Williams nearly broke the state record in the boys 3,200 run, but he came up short of Brett Vaughn’s record of 9:05.89 set in 2003. Nevertheless, Williams ran a 9:06.27 to win race and earn his second title in two days. He won the 1,600 on Friday.

MCT Newservice Photo by

Florence Low