It’s been 24 years since Bear Creek’s Gerren Crochet set the Colorado high school state record in the 300-meter hurdles, at 36.41 seconds, but if Longmont’s Teagan Malcom has anything to say about it, his mark won’t stand for much longer.

Coming into Friday’s drizzly Longmont Invitational at Everly-Montgomery Field, Malcom led the entire state in the event that earned him his first state crown last year. He won the 4A title with a 38.38.

“I came into that season not really expecting too much, and then at our conference meet last year, I had a pretty big PR that put me down,” he explained. “I think I was ranked first in 4A after the PR. (I dropped) like three seconds in one race. I hit my steps right, and it just kind of worked out for me. But that was definitely a little eye-opening of, OK, now I actually have a chance to kind of go out and really do this.

“I’d always been pretty confident that I was able to do it, but that was really kind of, the proof’s in the pudding, the hard work has paid off — and especially because that whole season, I’d been kind of plateauing. I hadn’t beaten my sophomore year PR until that meet last year.”

Malcom hit a PR in the event at 37.21 at last week’s Randall Hess Roughrider Invitational, and likewise won the 110 hurdles event Friday at 14.63. He bowed out of the 300 hurdles Friday due to a head cold that the weather certainly didn’t help, but he’s looking forward to what the next few weeks will bring.

He hopes to cut off three more seconds at the Granite Peaks League meet next week and credits his re-tuned starts to his successful season. He was also ranked No. 5 in his 110 event with a best time of 14.45.

“This year, I’ve really had my eye on the state record,” he said. “It’s 36.41, so that’s kind of been the number that I’ve had written down all season, and I’m starting to get a little closer now. I have a couple more meets to lower my time before state and then really go for it at the state meet, so I’m excited for that.”

Mastering her craft

Coming into the bone-chilling Friday meet, Mead junior Rylee Klatt was already turning heads.

Her performance through her three races at Everly-Montgomery Field were just a continuation of the stellar season she’s had. She entered the meet ranked No. 2 in the entire state — all classifications — in the 200-meter dash with a time of 24.55 seconds, and also sat at No. 8 in the 400 with a 56.68.

At EMF, the sprinter played a role in the 4×200-meter relay team’s victory of 1 minute, 44.86 seconds, then placed second in the 200 with a 24.83 behind Windsor’s Kiana Cumings. Her 4×400 squad then claimed the silver at 4:05.19.

“We’ve actually worked a lot more with my knees this year, and we worked on driving my knees up when I run,” Klatt said of her jump this season. “I’ve been thinking about tucking my hips under, driving my knees up. I feel like that has significantly made my times better.”

Klatt has hit personal records in every solo event she’s competed in this year, from the shorter sprints to her 800 and her long jump. She said that her emphasis on legwork has helped increase her explosiveness and shortened her stride, and that’s made all the difference.

A higher power has given her just the confidence she’s needed, as she looks to compete in the 100, the 200, the 400 and the 4×400 relay at the Class 4A state meet in three weeks.

“I would say it’s mainly just showing up to practice every day, and the support from my coaches has been amazing,” she said. “They always make sure to just kind of enter me in the races that I need to be entered in, make sure I’m taking care of myself, and then I’m also just standing strong in my faith. I feel like I just have been confident in myself this year a lot more than usual, and I feel like whatever happens, happens. I just leave it up to God.”

Family legacy

As Boulder freshman Calia Vaughn rounded the last corner of her 800-meter run, Merino’s Brooklyn Sutter started to strut past her. Up to that point, Vaughn had held steady at second behind Mountain View’s Madeline Clark, who won the race with a final time of 2:18.85.

Vaughn wasn’t about to let that fly.

“It’s always tough, mentally, to have someone coming around you in the last push of the race. It’s like you kind of have a choice, in that moment, if you’re going to give up here or if you’re going try to go hunt her down,” she explained. “I kind of decided there that that’s not how I wanted the race to go, so I gave it all I had in the last hundred. It’s always such a good feeling, especially in the 800, to come across the finish line. After a really hard kick, it’s definitely a relief.”

She managed to keep that silver (2:19.68) with that final slip into overdrive, a mark that only complemented the gold she earned in the 3,200 a few hours earlier. She clocked in at 11:12.29 in that event to beat out her second-place teammate, Sophia Africa, by more than four seconds.

Vaughn said she drew on inspiration from older sister and former Daily Camera runner of the year Kiki, as well as her father and former CU All-American Brent, to push her toward victory. Now, she thinks she’ll focus on the 800, the 3,200 and the 4×800 relay in her debut appearance at the Class 5A state meet.

“It’s great to have somebody to look up to and to talk to about everything, because they really understand it,” she said. “They’ve been through it themselves, especially my dad with the 3,200. He was able to give me lots of wisdom for that because that was his race in high school. It’s also really wonderful to have Kiki. I mean, she just graduated last year, so I get to go chase after her times.”

Staying elevated

A month after securing his PR of 14 feet, 6 inches at the Broomfield Shootout, Eagles pole vaulter Jacob Kress was back to his winning ways at the Longmont Invitational.

The weather forced him to bow out after 13-6 at Everly-Montgomery Field, but that mark was good enough to pull out a victory over Timnath’s Cameron Glasgow. Still, he was disappointed that the 14-foot mark didn’t work out for him. He wanted to shoot for a PR at 14—9.

“I’ve been having a good season, I think, but with the colder weather, it’s been kind of bringing me down a bit. It’s just cold,” Kress said. “It’s just hard to run. You feel a bit slower.”

The junior began his pole vaulting journey as a freshman with the Eagles and doubled up his efforts with the Above the Bar club out of east Boulder, which has produced state champions the likes of Peak to Peak’s Kourtney Rathke, Monarch’s Tyler Rowan and Silver Creek’s Megan Kelleghan over the past few years — among other top contenders.

“I think (Above the Bar) really helps,” Kress said. “I think it’s useful to have that ability to vault whenever I need to. If it’s really windy out or snowing, I can go there and just get a bunch of reps. There’s coaches there that help out, too, so I think they’re good.”

Kress said that this year, he’s added weight lifting to his usual training regimen, and that has helped him gain the extra four inches from the 14—2 PR he set at Longmont’s Invite last year. Now, he’s chasing an extra foot for the school record of 15—6. He hopes to achieve that by season’s end, but he knows he’ll need to clean up his technique — specifically with turning around the pole and his inverts — before he can shoot for that height.