F-FC walks away with crown at 5A track and field meet

LAKEWOOD • Fountain-Fort Carson’s Jamarius Mathis won the Class 5A shot put title Saturday, but he seemed to enjoy his run on the Jefferson County Stadium track even more.

No, the burly senior didn’t compete in a race at the track and field championships. But he did join his teammates in a victory lap to celebrate the Trojans’ title. F-FC compiled 73 points to edge Cherry Creek (67) and Regis (62).

“The individual title is nice, but the team title — they don’t even compare,” Mathis said. “Just knowing all these guys. … They’re pretty much like my brothers — all of them.”

In addition to Mathis — whose 59-foot-3/4 heave in shot put was nearly 4 feet better than his closest competitor — junior Brandon Parson won the 400-meter dash in 49.09 seconds, edging Palmer’s Ben Goodman. And the Trojans’ 400 relay placed second.
F-FC sophomore GinAsia Hamilton gave the Trojans a 5A sweep in the 400, holding off a charge from Rangeview’s Shilay Willis to win in 55.98.

“I caught (Willis) in my eye, and I saw her coming, so I was like, ‘Uh oh,’” said Hamilton, who won four titles — two individual, two relay. “So I had to go faster.”

Doherty senior Kenneth Chambers went into the stands Saturday to talk to “some of the high school greats.”

“Jeremy Dodson is up there,” Chambers said, referring to the former George Washington athlete who set the state’s 200 record in 2005. “And I really look up to him.”

Plenty of underclassmen now will look up to Chambers. The Missouri-bound sprinter captured his second title in as many days, winning the 5A boys’ 100 in 10.74. Chambers fought through a stiff headwind that whipped through the stadium all day.

“You definitely felt it when you got out of your drive phase and got up,” he said. “But I’m just happy I won — finally. After four years.”

Two senior Springs hurdlers — Trevor Brown from Wasson and Kita Alvares from Cheyenne Mountain — each won a second state title as well.

Brown, the Colorado State signee who won the 4A boys’ 110 hurdles Friday, won the 300 hurdles in 36.81 seconds — setting a personal and 4A record. Longmont’s Aaron Praska finished .36 behind, and the competition helped push Brown.

“In the 300, I’ve never had someone right behind me,” Brown said. “I think that scared me to go faster.”

Alvarez, who won the 100 hurdles Friday, won the 300 hurdles in 43.94. Her preliminary time in the event (43.59) tied the meet record.

Lewis-Palmer senior Morgan Griffin capped a season she termed “kind of rough,” with a victory in the 4A girls’ pole vault. Griffin battled mononucleosis during the year and also dealt with the death of a teammate with whom she was “really close” — Levi Patrick, who died in a car accident during spring break.

Griffin, who said she thought of Patrick during the meet, vaulted a personal-best 12-1. Her previous best was 11-6.

Widefield junior Boris Berian captured his second title by winning the 5A boys’ 400 (47.99). Unlike his victory Friday in the 800, where he got out to a big lead and had to hold off the field, Berian had to come from behind in the 400. Berian was in fourth when runners hit the final straightaway.

“Last 100, that’s where I usually kick it in,” he said. “I just told myself, ‘Go.’”

Mesa Ridge junior Kadeshia Rose and Falcon junior Kiah Hicks also won their second titles. Rose took the 4A girls’ 100 in 12.10, a day after winning the 200, and Hicks followed up her 4A girls’ shot put title by winning the discus with a throw of 142-8.

Doherty junior Alexis Cooks did not post her best distance — she hit 45 feet in practice Friday — but her toss of 40-3.5 was good enough to win the 5A girls’ shot put. And classmate Jordan Rand won the 5A girls’ triple jump with a 38-11.