Girls lead area with day's golds

LAKEWOOD - Rampart senior Kelli Ehardt won the pole vault and Coronado junior LaTraia Scott won the 100-meter dash to claim the only state titles for area athletes Saturday at the Class 5A track and field meet at Jefferson County Stadium.

    The Doherty girls edged Lewis-Palmer 42.5 to 40 for fifth, tops among area teams. Montbello won the competition with 55 points, followed by Fort Collins with 47.5.

    In the boys meet, Rampart topped area teams with 41 points, good enough to tie for third. Arapahoe won with 53 points.

    Ehardt, who will attend BYU on a pole vault scholarship, assured herself of the win by clearing 12 feet, 6 inches on her first attempt.

    Ehardt kept jumping and cleared 13-1 to break her own 5A record, set at state last year. She fell short in three attempts to clear 13-5, which would have been an all classifications state record.

    "With the season I've been having with the weather, I'm just happy to (get a personal record) to tell the truth," Ehardt said.

    "I was shooting for a new all class (record), but I'll take a 5A (record)."

    Scott, the 2007 runner-up in the 100, beat Montbello's Natasha Gay, finishing in 11.93 seconds.

    Scott took second in the 200, 0.05 of a second behind Gay, securing 18 points the Cougars.

    Doherty's 42.5 points are a school record for the Spartans, whose previous best was 35.

    Doherty senior Carly Allen scored in four events, capping her performance with a third-place finish Saturday in the 300 hurdles.

    "Everyone did their best today," coach Rob Duensing said.

    "Everyone peaked at the right time."

    Lewis-Palmer was led by junior Karlye Marshall and senior Alex Colvin, who placed second and third, respectively, in the pole vault. Junior Kalie Kirk finished second in the 300 hurdles and sixth in the 100 hurdles for the Rangers.

    Palmer and Coronado finished in a tie for 19th with 18 points.

    Senior Karen Wyatt provided 14 of the Terrors' points with third-place finishes in the shot put Friday and the discus Saturday. Wyatt was the state champion in the discus last year.

    "Three is my lucky number this year," Wyatt said. "At least I have one and not a lot of people get that."

    On the boys side of the competition, Rampart was led by junior Devin Mohn - who took second in the 400 and anchored the second-place 400 relay team - and senior Josh McMillin - who finished third in the pole vault and fifth in the triple jump.

    "It feels great," said Mc-Millin, the Rams' only entrant in the field events.

    Palmer finished second among area teams with 23 points, good for 14th.

    Brendan Jackson placed third in the 300 hurdles and fifth in the 110 hurdles for the Terrors.

    Coronado scored 21, led by senior David Mueller's fifth place in the 400 and fourth place in the 200.

    Sophomore Kenny Chambers finished third in the 100 to Heritage's Jordan Edwards to lead the Spartans.